$$ - average
American, Eclectic (Varied)
Tiny earthy/hippie veg cafe on Williamsburg's main drag
It's (surprisingly) one of the few fully vegetarian options in Williamsburg. Bliss offers simple, well-prepared vegetarian and vegan food in cramped, boho-shabby quarters. Though unselfconsciously hip itself, it's a perfect antidote to hipster-saturated Bedford Avenue.
With a basic herbivore menu–tofu, hijiki, seitan, beans, greens–the tiny open kitchen here turns out flavorful plates that arrive with thoughtful little touches. A generous pile of greens in a vegan Caesar is encircled by neat little squares of whole-grain bread; the wheat roll that accompanies a bowl of sturdy chili comes jauntily wedged on the rim of the bowl. Vegetables in entrées such as curried tofu and seitan in sweet citrus sauce are just this side of overcooked, but firm, fresh proteins provide good balance.
Delicious maple-sweetened desserts are all house-made but sometimes MIA; if it's the pastry chef's day off, you'll be lucky to get a vegan muffin left over from breakfast. The mostly local crowd (a veritable parade of hats, bangs, leggings, body modification, and oversized glasses) seems right at home with spacey service, mismatched wooden furniture, a wall of band flyers, and homegrown art.
Between N 6th and N 7th Streets
L train to Bedford
- Brunch
Added by Halfie Julia on Feb 15 04 (updated Apr 27)
Reviews
the coffee house is annoying if you want everyone in there to stare at you when you come in this is the perfect place... the cookie was gross though.
Yes - the place is small. But it is perfect if you want a cozy table for 2 (as long as you don't mind being close to the other cozy tables for 2).
Yes - the food can be bland and slightly inconsistent. But the last few times I've gone I've been pretty pleased with it and I believe they've changed things up a bit.
note: Their sometime special carrot ginger soup is delicious when they have it!
everything tastes a bit off:
90% of the food is extremely bland, and in bad need of salt and spice.
on the other hand, stuff like the 'citrus seitan sensation' is just way too tart
prices haven't gone up since rezoning , as they have with other places, but portions have gotten smaller. its just not a filling meal.
Since the place is pretty tiny, I wouldn't recomend going there with a big group of people, as I did. The atmosphere is very comfortable and as my friends and I usually do, we shared all of our food, and out of 8 meals aaalllll were delicious. especially the lentil soup! the wraps were very good also. the service is kind of slow but well worth it. moderatly priced too, and anything you don't finish is just as good taken home. the desserts, especially the 'blondie', are very good as well.
The space is tiny, but I love the old, wood tables (some which have matching benches) that remind me of a Norhtern getaway lodge in the woods.
The menu is pretty ecclectic and the servings are generous, with pretty low prices. I've only been for brunch, but I appreciated the many vegan options (beyond the now-mundane tofu scramble). I sampled my friend's tofu scramble bagel sandwich, which was good, but I preferred my vegan french toast with fresh fruit--although half of the fresh fruit was obviously frozen.
We also shared some vegan super nachos, which had a great tofu sour cream that appeared to be homemade. The chili on top was really good, but was a bit runny, and perhaps would have been consumed more easily with a spoon.