THE BEST VEGAN DIM SUM IN NYC

Dreaming of dumplings? You don’t want to miss out on the BEST vegan dim sum in NYC!

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🇨🇳 BODAI KOSHER VEGETARIAN
🥟 STANDOUTS ON THE MENU
🥢 HONORABLE MENTIONS

🇨🇳 BODAI KOSHER VEGETARIAN

Location: Chinatown, NYC
Address: 77 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10013
Hours: Monday – Sunday 11:00 AM – 09:45 PM
Notes: Kosher certified and several gluten-free options. Both indoor and covered outdoor seating available.

Don’t worry. We know the feeling, friends. You’re a vegan and a dim sum lover, but the only offerings available at a given restaurant are the usual panfried or steamed veggie dumplings to satiate you dim sum hankering. But you want more! You want the pushcarts, the bamboo steamers, and the paper check-off menu with expansive options. You want crystal dumplings, baos, and taro cakes.

Does a true vegan dim sum experience even exist? It does at Bodai Kosher Vegetarian in NYC, which despite the name, is a one-hundred percent vegan restaurant. While the pushcarts might be missing, the flavor, authenticity and variety are not. The menu mirrors a traditional dim sum menu, and you’ll be able to notate your selections on a paper check sheet. The service was fantastic, the food fresh and flavorful, and the prices fair.

Bodai Kosher Vegetarian is often compared to Original Buddha Bodai—another solid vegan dim sum joint a block away. You may be wondering which vegan dim sum purveyor reigns supreme. Not only does Bodai Kosher Vegetarian offer a wider selection, it left us wanting more. In fact, we returned for multiple dumpling-drenched meals during our quick five-day jaunt to NYC recently.

🥟 STANDOUTS ON THE MENU

1. Steamed shrimp dumplings (har gao): An etherial translucent crystal dumpling wrapper serves as an edible gift wrapping enclosing meaty, delicately seasoned vegan shrimp—which if we had to guess, is likely made from konjac. Har gao was one of our dim sum favorites in our pre-vegan days, and Bodhi Kosher Vegetarian’s version really understood the assignment in terms of flavor and texture.

2. Steamed spicy rice shumai (Shanghai shumai): Mounds of sweet-and-smokey barbecue pork-studded glutinous rice are partially enclosed by the classic yellow shumai wrapper, and it is a delight.

3. Fried taro dumpling (wu gok): These light-as-air taro puffs are perfectly fried and are stuffed with flavorful savory filling.

4. Steamed barbecue pork baos (char siu baos) (Not Pictured): The buns were pillowy soft and the vegan barbecue filling equal parts sweet, tangy and sticky.

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