Hu Kitchen

This morning my sister and I woke up and took a grueling boot camp class in East River Park.  It consisted of a lot of running, strength exercises, and tons of squats!  Needless to say after that class and the walk back to the apartment, we were both pretty sore and hungry.  Upon thinking about where to go for lunch, my sister suggested Hu Kitchen, which is a healthy place near union square that we had been to twice.  The place was created with the Paleo diet in mind, and all of their menu items are gluten free and grain free.  Everything there is fresh, "healthy," and un processed.

The first time that we went, we just shared a gluten free grain free espresso muffin because it was after a class at the gym and we had already eaten breakfast but it was too early for lunch.  The muffin was so good and soft, that it is so hard to believe there is no gluten or grains in it.  It literally melts in your mouth and has a nice and strong espresso flavor to it.  The best part, however, is the small chocolate chunk that is on top of the muffin.  It is a bittersweet dark chocolate chunk (technically, it is cacao because it is dairy free), which is my favorite and was a nice surprise to find in the muffin.  After finishing the muffin and looking at all the food and menu items, we began to plan when our next visit would be.  We knew that our mom was coming into the city the next day and she tries to keep a gluten free diet and is sensitive to a lot of different grains, so we thought it would be the perfect place to take her for lunch.

We ended up going for lunch, and our impressions were mixed.  I got the baked chicken tenders with sweet potato hash on the side, my mom got a turkey meatball with roasted sweet potatoes and carrots on the side, and my sister got a bowl that consisted of quinoa and thai chicken, with a side of roasted brussels sprouts.  My sister loved her bowl, and I tried a bite and can attest to the fact that it was really good.  My mom and I made the mistake of ordering from the glass display case, without realizing that the food was cold and they could not heat it up for you.  The sides that we got, however, were from the hot bar so those came out nice and warm.  

The turkey meatball was really good, it just would've been much better if it were warm.  The chicken tenders that I got were extremely bland, and the fact that they were cold didn't help.  My favorite parts were the sides of sweet potato hash and the roasted brussels sprouts, which were both delicious.  

So, today when my sister suggested it, I was a little wary to return since my previous visit didn't turn out so great.  I decided to give it another try since I like the whole idea of the place, and I wanted another espresso muffin.  My sister and I split the grandmaster veg hot plate with 2 sides (we got the sweet potato hash and brussels sprouts again).  The grandmaster veg consists of roasted vegetables, cashew cream, and housemade marinara sauce, and it is gluten/grain/dairy free.  Upon first examination, it kind of looks like lasagna and it is a huge chunk, so it was more than enough to share. 

The grandmaster veg was much more delicious than it looks in the picture, I promise you.  The combination of the sauce with the vegetables reminded me of a vegetable lasagna, and the crust on top with the layer of cashew cream was the best part.  I would recommend sharing this (or just eating half) because it is so big and very filling.  The sides were very delicious again, and the sweet potato hash was definitely my favorite.  

Since we could not leave without taking something to go, we got two espresso muffins and a dark chocolate bar that is filled with almond butter and quinoa puffs.  We were both pretty full, but had to try a square of the chocolate, and it was amazing.  The chocolate is very dark and the almond butter filling with the crunch of the quinoa puff made it great.  I usually don't like almond butter, but the almond butter filling in this chocolate bar tasted 10x better than regular almond butter, in my opinion.

Overall, I am really glad that this experience at Hu Kitchen was great, because I really wanted to be able to love this place.  While you don't really know if their food/drinks are necessarily "healthy," in terms of fat content/calories since they don't provide the nutritional info, you do know that all of the ingredients are fresh, unprocessed, and grain/gluten free.  I do have to warn you that everything here is very expensive (The lunch with the two sides was about $15, and the chocolate bar, 2 muffins, and iced tea came to $17!) but you do get what you pay for.  Everything is high quality, and you are paying for better, more wholesome ingredients.  They also have a coffee bar, breakfast cereals, a breakfast mashbar, bowls, cold prepared food, warm food, bottled beverages, and snacks to-go.  If you are in the area, I highly recommend coming here and trying it out (just don't get the chicken fingers!)