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Yellow Juice Bar in Center City, Philly
It’s kind of ridiculous how much I love green juice. I’m probably the last person (/vegan blogger) who would tell people to eat something that doesn’t taste great just because it’s good for you. But guess what? Veggie juice, when done right, is AMAZING. It’s like my favorite thing after hummus and Ron Swanson. So how happy am I that a new juice place has opened in Philly?
Philly has been screaming for more juice bars, at least in Center City. (At least in my head.) I needs my juice! And with more vendors creating more competition, the prices are getting much more affordable. I’m tired of spending upwards of $10 in the suburbs for a juice that I down in about 9 seconds. (I drink juice fast.) No juice should cost almost a dollar per second! Luckily, the new Yellow Juice Bar, right across from Helium Comedy Club at 2046 Sansom, is not only well-priced but delicious.
Upon entering, I was delighted to see that Yellow Juice Bar offers smoothies with protein add-ins, some vegan food options, and banana whips in addition to juice! Also, adorably, they call the banana whips Banana Twirls. It’s like ballet dancing for fruit.
Philly has been screaming for more juice bars, at least in Center City. (At least in my head.) I needs my juice! And with more vendors creating more competition, the prices are getting much more affordable. I’m tired of spending upwards of $10 in the suburbs for a juice that I down in about 9 seconds. (I drink juice fast.) No juice should cost almost a dollar per second! Luckily, the new Yellow Juice Bar, right across from Helium Comedy Club at 2046 Sansom, is not only well-priced but delicious.
Upon entering, I was delighted to see that Yellow Juice Bar offers smoothies with protein add-ins, some vegan food options, and banana whips in addition to juice! Also, adorably, they call the banana whips Banana Twirls. It’s like ballet dancing for fruit.
Before getting to the important stuff (what I ordered and how it tasted), can we just take a moment to appreciate those prices? Yes, it’s still a lot of money for a drink, but not compared to what other juice bars charge for the same if not inferior products. $6 for the biggest size is good in my book for a place in Center City. I do wish they had a 24oz. size, though.
Usually my juice tastes veer towards veg-heavy and fruit-light, so I ordered the 16oz. Green Day juice: spinach, cucumber, celery, kale. With no apple in it to balance all the green, I asked the guy if he’d add some ginger so, because I love ginger. He added a bit of lemon and ginger, and had me try it before declaring it finished. I don’t know why, but when he said, “Do you want me to add more ginger?”, I said yes. Oops! It was pretty spicy, but it wasn’t overpowering and I still tasted mostly green. Pretty nice!
I also ordered a shot of wheatgrass. At $3, it’s on the more expensive end of what wheatgrass shots should cost, but this could have been the best shot I’ve had of the stuff. It was really sweet and had no aftertaste, which in itself is worth an extra dollar. So good. And, it comes with a frozen orange bite, which I adore. I can’t abide places that don’t give a piece of orange with their wheatgrass.
I was nearly awash with juice, but then the two guys working behind the counter offered me a shot of ginger. I stood by the counter and the three of us clinked our little shot glasses and downed a fresh ounce of pure ginger. Umm, have you ever had just pure ginger juice before? It is ROUGH. I mean, I loved it, but it is rough! My insides were on fire for a good 3 hours. Hot damn! You have to try this! It was so nice of them to offer me some after I made my love of ginger known. There were a few other patrons watching as my face and body went through convulsions for a good minute, so that was a little embarrassing, but then I felt kind of amazing. So much juice!
I’m definitely going to frequent Yellow Juice Bar, and I’m eager to try the smoothies, the food, and of course the dancing yellow fruits. Did I mention that they have a bathroom? And it’s pretty clean? Another point! And they deliver! If you’re into that sort of thing.
The only thing I really dislike about this place is that it opened now, after I’ve moved out of the building literally a block away. Other than its bad timing, it’s pretty great. I’ll be going here often! Hopefully they will institute some punch cards for frequent customers, because I love me some punch cards. Almost as much as I love green juice. (No, not nearly as much as I love green juice.)
I was nearly awash with juice, but then the two guys working behind the counter offered me a shot of ginger. I stood by the counter and the three of us clinked our little shot glasses and downed a fresh ounce of pure ginger. Umm, have you ever had just pure ginger juice before? It is ROUGH. I mean, I loved it, but it is rough! My insides were on fire for a good 3 hours. Hot damn! You have to try this! It was so nice of them to offer me some after I made my love of ginger known. There were a few other patrons watching as my face and body went through convulsions for a good minute, so that was a little embarrassing, but then I felt kind of amazing. So much juice!
I’m definitely going to frequent Yellow Juice Bar, and I’m eager to try the smoothies, the food, and of course the dancing yellow fruits. Did I mention that they have a bathroom? And it’s pretty clean? Another point! And they deliver! If you’re into that sort of thing.
The only thing I really dislike about this place is that it opened now, after I’ve moved out of the building literally a block away. Other than its bad timing, it’s pretty great. I’ll be going here often! Hopefully they will institute some punch cards for frequent customers, because I love me some punch cards. Almost as much as I love green juice. (No, not nearly as much as I love green juice.)
Veggie Heaven in Denville, New Jersey
Before spending a week in New Jersey, I asked my PPK friends where I would be able to eat. They came through with plenty of suggestions, as always, but the overriding theme seemed to be ‘Eat at Veggie Heaven above all else!’ Of course, they were right. Veggie Heaven, an Asian vegetarian restaurant in Denville, was all-around delicious, with superb sushi, decent dumplings, and wonderful faux meats used in fun ways. I set out to over-order, as is my wont, and everything was very good.
Adding another plus, they had fresh juice! I first asked for a shot of wheatgrass, but the waitress informed me that they don’t make that anymore because no one wanted it. (They need to take it off the menu, or bring it back when I go!) So, I got the Veggie Special Juice, with apple, carrot, celery, and beet, and asked to add spinach to it, though I’m not sure if she did because I tasted mainly beet and carrot. It was a nice juice though!
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Next were the Steamed Spinach Dumplings. With a very mild and pleasant flavor, they were almost necessary to counteract all the spicier and heavier dishes I ordered. I love steamed dumplings much more than fried, and it was nice to have a solely veg filling instead of faux pork or something thrown in with it.
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The next dish was actually a mistake, but a very delicious one. I ordered the Crispy Veggie Chicken Salad, but was brought the Crispy Chicken Wrap. It’s probably my bad, mumbling or something, but it was no big deal because look how pretty! With crispy soy chicken, avocado, spicy mayo, tomatoes, and mixed greens, the wrap was light and delicious, with the fresh veggies thankfully more prominent than the chicken. Also, spicy mayo makes everything delicious. (Except cake. That would be disgusting.)
Since I have a love affair with appetizers (you can order so many!), I only got one entree, and I couldn’t even eat it! The Tom Yum Chicken arrived just so I could take a picture and then ask for it to be packed up. Too much food. Luckily, it provided me with two dinners. The flavor was great. I usually hate Americanized Chinese food entrees, with their sauce-logged components that all seem interchangeable. However, this sauce was not overpowering at all. It had touches of ginger and scallion complementing tons of basil leaves, spinach, and I think mustard greens, all mixed with crispy chicken strips that were perfection. Also, I love that the waitress asked if I wanted white or brown rice even before I could request brown rice. My kind of place! I enjoyed this dish and would recommend it, but I think next time I’d stick to appetizers. I just like being able to try smaller bits of lots of things.
My favorite thing, naturally, was the sushi roll I will definitely be getting more of someday. The Fashion Roll, as it’s called for no apparent reason, combines faux crispy shrimp (my favorite faux thing, probably because I used to love imitation crab meat. So gross. Don’t judge) with spicy mayo, cucumber, and avocado. You know how I feel about sushi, and this roll reinforced my obsession. It was so good! I used to love all the crazy crispy shrimpy rolls, and this roll totally satisfied my constant craving.
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Another standout was the Autumn Roll, a delicious, deep-fried mixture of veggie ham, jicama, and black mushrooms, all rolled in tofu skin and fried to crazy levels of friedness. So good! It was pretty heavy, and I usually don’t enjoy super-fried oily stuff, but this was really good, I admit. But I don’t think I could have eaten the entire dish myself, even if I hadn’t ordered other stuff, because it was so dense and filling. Even so, I’d probably get it again. Have you ever had deep-fried tofu skin? It’s like the coolest kind of wrapper ever! Look at that color! And it provides the perfect kind of bite and chewiness.
I was pretty impressed with Veggie Heaven and I definitely want to return next time I’m in the area. It’s like my version of Pan-Asian comfort food. There’s a lot of heavy, fried food, but it’s easily balanced by many light, fresh-tasting options. I didn’t get the chance to try their vegan desserts because I was counting on Silk almond milk soft-serve at the TCBY around the corner, but of course they didn’t have it. It sucks, because I really want to know if their Fried Tofu Ice Cream is vegan, and if so, what on earth it tastes like. Lesson learned: Always get dessert when you have the chance, and the worst that can happen is extra dessert!
I was pretty impressed with Veggie Heaven and I definitely want to return next time I’m in the area. It’s like my version of Pan-Asian comfort food. There’s a lot of heavy, fried food, but it’s easily balanced by many light, fresh-tasting options. I didn’t get the chance to try their vegan desserts because I was counting on Silk almond milk soft-serve at the TCBY around the corner, but of course they didn’t have it. It sucks, because I really want to know if their Fried Tofu Ice Cream is vegan, and if so, what on earth it tastes like. Lesson learned: Always get dessert when you have the chance, and the worst that can happen is extra dessert!
Veggie Heaven, Denville NJ
- Water speed: Amazing, upholding the Chinese restaurant stereotype
- Bathrooms: Nice single-serves off to the side
- Service: Decent, though I wish my many app plates came at a slower pace
- Food: Yummy!
- Bonus: Juices, vegan desserts, spicy mayo