gobo

[robert brown]

En route to buying two artichoke vinaigrettes at Lorenzo & Maria’s and a rotisserie chicken at Eli’s Manhattan, I saw on the NW corner of Third and 81st Street a new restaurant that had replaced one of these yuppie bar-restaurant places (Mad River Café, perhaps?) called Gobo. It bills itself as a Zen vegetarian. I looked at the menu they had posted on the exterior, and the offerings looked intriguing to me, if not leaning in places toward a bit convoluted. Among them were a salad of kale, seaweed, beets and candied walnut salad ($9.); steamed spinach dumplings ($5); a small plate (one of a dozen) of avocado tartare with wasabi lime sauce ($8.) and among 14 main courses butternut squash risotto with toasted almonds ($16). The interior was de rigueur Asian blonde. If I had wanted to cheat on my wife at 5:45 P.M., I could have been the restaurant’s first client ever. Instead I asked for a menu and who was behind the restaurant. The hostess told me that there was a Gobo on Sixth Ave. and 12th Street. If anyone has been to the original Gobo, what do you think of it? I imagine I will go to this one over the weekend and try to report back. The UES has some of the worst restaurants in town. Therefore I am hoping that this is a good, honest and interesting addition to the neighborhood

[baw]

Despite my initial skepticism about the whole Zen-like scene and the "food for the five senses' tag line (give me a break!), I've eaten at the downtown Gobo several times and thoroughly enjoyed it every time. I went just this past Saturday with my friend who could not imagine a veggie/vegan place worth eating at .. but was convinced otherwise by our meal (although he was not as enthalled as our veggie dining partners). I particularly like the roti canai (ask for an extra piece of roti), veggies with pine nuts and lettuce wraps, and the grilled asparagus and musrooms. Im not a big fan of the dumplings or the sweet and sour soy nuggets. I also like the bread they serve with pumpkin spread at the beginning of the meal. I look forward to your report on the uptown branch!

[Bond Girl]

Not sure if the Gobo uptown is connected with the one in the village. If so, it's owned by the same people who owned Zen Palate. I find them to be a bit in the Hangawi vain, some people really liked it, others, like me, find it a bit bland.

[tcavallo]

It's actually the kids of the Zen Palate folks... I think mom and pop funded them to set up the first one, which has been doing pretty well... I also saw the UES location for the first time a couple days ago; I would imagine that since they were doing so well downtown, they wanted a piece of Candle Cafe's UES action, what with their newer location only a few blocks away.

[Bond Girl]

I find Zen Palate bland as well. They supply the food to my mother's buddahist temple, and I simply never took a liking to the food.

[robert brown]

I am hoping to write something about my dinner there last night. I'll try for tomorrow or Monday. All I found out about ownership was from one of the owners, a young Taiwanese fellow who came here when he was 4 years old. He owns the two places with his brother. They must be the sons of the Zen Palate people.