Red Bamboo and 'Snice
Red Bamboo was my first taste of vegan Fish Sticks. I don't generally like fish, to eat, or to look at. I was stung by jellyfish twice when I studied abroad in Costa Rica, and when I was in kindergarten I woke up one morning to see that one of my fish half ate another of my fish that shared its tank. And my first step to vegetarianism happened when I was four or five years old and got my first fish, and realized it was the same thing as what we eat, and stopped eating fish. I didn't extend the same logic to other animals, at that point. Also, when I was in kindergarten we had a fish tank in the classroom that wasn't properly covered and the fish would regularly jump out of the tank to their deaths, and someone told me then about suicide, and that was a really difficult concept for me, as a kindergartener. Why would people take their lives, and was that really the intention of fish? Also, my first job out of college we had no heat or health insurance but we did have this giant fishtank with fierce saltwater fish that had to be fed other fish every morning.
Clearly, I have a strong reaction to fish, and had to put that all aside and remind myself that the ones at Red Bamboo were indeed made of soy, but they tasted great! I highly recommend this place. The tartar sauce was exemplary and the cakes were some of the best ever, rivaled only by Teany, which I suspect may get their cakes from the same place (wherever this magical cake place may be!).
For great vegan lunches, I suggest 'Snice, at west 4th street (45 8th avenue)-- it's close to the A train 14th street stop. They have soy hot chocolate with vegan marshmallows (made with refined sugar, though) that you can get in coffee or cinnamon flavor. The sandwiches are amazing, and the baked goods are second to none. They also offer free wireless Internet, and the sandwiches are all about $7, each. The small soy hot chocolate with two marshmallows is $2 and the large is $3. Red Bamboo is a little more expensive, but also has great lunch deals, with sandwiches in the $7 and $8 range.