New Start

This past Saturday I ventured out to New Start Restaurant with Nicole and her friend Maggie.  New Start is a well-established vegan & vegetarian restaurant that has supposedly been around for about 16 years now.  When we arrived at about 7pm that Saturday the doors were locked.  We were trying to decipher the sign on the door that said something about their hours when a lady opened the door and explained that they were closed for a private birthday party.  We stood there for a moment with dumbfounded and disappointed faces but before we could interject she said simply "Just wait ten minutes and then you can come in."  Uh, ok.  

So ten minutes passed and we were able to enter the restaurant.  She explained that actually they are never open on Saturdays but today was special because there was a birthday party and so they were open.  (Wait, what?  A restaurant that isn't open on Saturday??)    Other than the birthday party people  the restaurant was completely empty.  We felt a little awkward but we pressed onwards anyway.  

.the restaurant. 

The food was for the most part really delicious.  It was great to be eating a wholly vegetarian meal that was full of variety.  They had salad, tofu-meat in a stir fry, veggie dishes, sweet potatoes, potato wedges, pumpkin soup, cabbage rolls, kimbap, fresh fruit, bread with both fig and peanut butter spreads and so on.  I especially loved the yams with a sticky sweet glaze topped with sunflower seeds.  I also had some of the best soy milk I might have ever had: thick and creamy and delicious.      

 

.the buffet row. 

.potato wedges in the foreground & pumpkin soup in the background.

 .oh hai.  I'm in the reflection of the window.

Perhaps one of the other nicest things about this restaurant is that they sell vegan snacks and some of the food that they serve at the restaurant.  Maggie loved the fig jam so much that she bought a giant mason jar of it.  Personally, always a sucker for the sweet stuff was eyeing the ice cream in the freezer but with a w13,800 price-tag for a pint of ice cream there was just no way.  

.$12.20 for coconut milk ice cream!? Are you kidding me?.

The all you can eat buffet costs w12,000 ($10.61 according to today's exchange) and in my opinion was well worth it.  If I was in the area and craving some non-meat action, I'd definitely go back again.  

Directions: (taken from the Happy Cow site) 

Subway Line 2 (green line) or the Bundang (yellow) line get off at Seolleung Station, from Exit 2, walk 50m past BurgerKing to the top of a small hill where you will find an intersection, on the left is an office supply store, Link O, turn left and walk until you see Hollys Coffee on your left, the restaurant is across the street (4th building on the right from intersection) and is located on the 2nd floor.