Gluten-Free Beer!

Souen Organic Ramen
326 East 6^th St. (between 1^st & 2^nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
212.388.1155
www.souen.net

Souen is SWEET!

• Recession friendly: All entrees are under $15 – Check
• Organic gluten-free rice noodles – Check
• Gluten-free beer – Check – Oh, yeah!
• Vegetarian dishes: yuba, kale, mushroom, ume or tofu! – Check
• Desserts without sugar, eggs, dairy or wheat – Check my pulse, I think I am going to pass out!

I stumbled upon this new noodle outpost of Souen Organic Macrobiotic Restaurant by accident. Lucky for me the wait a few doors down was entirely too long to stomach. I didn’t shy away from the generic street signs, paper menus and underwhelming décor. I was too busy reading the poetry written in beautiful black font on a glistening white paper blowing in the breeze – “gluten-free soy sauce served”.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

For those unencumbered gluten eaters – the second ingredient in soy sauce is wheat. We rarely get to partake of the wasabi-soy yumminess that you carelessly eat with abandon. Yes, gluten-free soy sauce is REALLY a big deal in our world.

What Souen lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in the kitchen. Curry ramen, black sesame ramen, miso ramen, shoyu ramen, ramen salad are all available gluten-free. They serve a delicious macro plate with steamed greens, vegetables, brown rice, beans and seaweed with a side of carrot, tahini dill or sesame vinaigrette dressing. I opted for the tahini dill, which was just so-so.  I’ll go with the sesame vinaigrette next time.  The desserts included a fruit kanten with raspberries and blueberries; chocolate creamy parfait with vanilla soy cream and granola; and a home-made rice milk ice cream. If you have never had rice milk ice cream, now is not the time to start.  It is as undesirable as it sounds.

The service was nothing to write home about considering my friend’s entrée was forgotten altogether.  Souen is what it is – a fast, friendly, not completely accurate, but completely delicious noodle bar. Come for the gluten-free noodles and beer, not the service, and you won’t be disappointed.

Souen Organic Ramen
326 East 6^th St. (between 1^st & 2^nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
212.388.1155
www.souen.net