Best Vegetarian-Unfriendly Restaurants in NYC, plus bonus vegetarian and vegan places I actually like

 One thing I will miss in NYC are the fantastic restaurants. I particularly applaud the trend of restaurants that go whole hog and use real bone stocks and animal fat in their dishes. Obviously, these restaurants are pretty vegetarian-unfriendly and have been a little controversial. 

Unvegetarian, unapologetic animal eater restaurants

The Momofuku restaurants were instrumental in jumpstarting the pork belly and rich broth trends. There are several restaurants in the group (and one in Sydney and Toronto now). There are plenty of vegetables on the menu, but often they are drenched in delicious pork fat. One of the best dishes is chanterelles with bone marrow, a luxurious and fatty combination, but only available seasonally. The various traditional Southern Hams make an excellent appetizing and the offal dishes are not to be missed. 

I think Salt & Fat, which is in my neighborhood in Queens, is a little inspired by Momofuku and also be Williamsburg's excellent Traif. Their appetizer is bacon-fat popcorn, which is amazing. I recommend the yellowtail tartare, the delicious ribs with homemade BBQ sauce, the incredibly rich salads with all kinds of animal fat bits, and the hearty oxtail terrine. 

I'm mentioned Takashi like a zillion times, but that's because it's a temple of delicious meat and they do offal so well that it's the perfect place to try crazy things. I LOVE the sweet breads. They seem kind of scary at first, but they melt in your mouth. The liver is also not to be missed. I don't usually like liver that much, but their liver is marinated so perfectly that it's delicious raw. I've never had anything I disliked on the menu and I think I've eaten almost everything on it. 

I really like Fatty Cue because they use lots of delicious animal fats with dashes of fish sauce for flavor. The dishes are salty, fatty, tangy, and spicy. I particularly recommend the coriander bacon.

Because it's Brooklyn, they actually probably have some real vegetarian dishes at Palo Santo, but the chef here cooks everything else with real house-made animal fats and stocks. The cuisine spans many countries in Latin America and uses ingredients from many local farms. 

Vegetarian Restaurants I actually eat at: 

Saravanaa Bhavan is one of my favorite places for Indian food. I love idlis, which are steamed fermented rice/lentil cakes served with a spicy soup called sambar.

Rockin Raw makes an excellent raw-vegan cinnamon roll that's gluten, soy, and nut-free. When I crave a sweet treat, I go here.

Occasionally I get a weird craving for falafel. Organic Avenue's raw falafel is oil-free and gluten-free. To me, it tastes as good as the real thing.

Bacon Branzino @ Salt & Fat