Battle of the Planta Queens
Chicago vs. NYC
I have had the pleasure of dining at Planta Queen twice now. Once in Chicago and once at the NoMad location in New York City. While both restaurants are lively and booming, the Chicago location’s decor was a touch nicer, with deep fuchsias, dragons, and silky booths, in comparison to the NoMad location which was painted with green banana leaves that were less “Instagrammable.” The experiences were slightly different in that I was able to try a variety of dishes the first time I dined in Chicago, while my trip to Planta in NYC was solely for Maki Monday.
The owner and chef have built a trendy vegan restaurant chain that serves Pan-Asian-style dishes that are near perfect. Their marketing team was smart in offering deals every other night such as Maki Monday (unlimited for $27), or Disco & Dumpling Friday ($20 dumpling platters). These offerings allow their restaurants to be lively and booked out on weeknights rather than relying on bringing in all of their revenue on weekends.
The chili crisp tofu offers a myriad of textures and a mouth-watering sauce. I didn’t think I would enjoy a cold, soft tofu dish, but I was proved wrong. The sushi is addictive and with multiple people, we just kept ordering more and more. The two dishes that fell short for me were the avocado lime tartare and the baked crab roll. While the avocado lime tartare was tasty, it didn’t quite fit on the menu as a pan-Asian alternative to tuna tartare. The description states “beetroot tuna,” but this does not quite resemble an Asian dish. It is served with Taro chips that, in my experience, were not drained off after being fried, and more so reminded me of South American cuisine. While I wanted to enjoy the baked crab roll, it lacked flavor and a pleasant mouthfeel. The soft soybean wrap combined with the stringy hearts of palm did not have much textural contrast which is an important attribute in recognizing or enjoying different foods. As a vegetarian, I enjoyed the ability to eat any dish off of this menu - especially the interesting alternatives to fish such as hearts of palm in the baked crab roll, or watermelon tuna in the spicy crab roll. Although I love hearts of palm, this attempt at mimicking crab did not meet my expectations. Other honorable mentions include the unagi eggplant nigiri, and truffle fried rice.
I will savor these two dining occasions and would happily recommend Planta Queen to anyone who relishes pan-Asian cuisine. The trendy restaurants have been open since 2016, and seem to be successful as they are continuing to open locations across the U.S. and Toronto too.
⭐Rating: 7.8/10⭐
By now (Feb. 6th 2024) it seems that you had visited 3 of Planta's locations (Chicago, NYC, Miami) and the assumption is that you liked the food in each of these restaurants. I dined only in Miami.