Nestled in the West Side, Parlor City Vegan brings a creative and delicious take on plant-based vegan dishes. With its daily changing menu, the establishment strives to put a twist on traditional comfort foods often inspired by the co-founder, Sara Liu’s, classic family recipes. Their produce is locally sourced from regional farmers and the owners can often be found at the Broome County Regional Farmers Market selecting ingredients for their unique culinary inventions.

Upon entering the establishment, Jacob, my photographer, and I immediately noted the warm ambiance and careful consideration of the aesthetics that the founders crafted. Plants lining the windows and shelves, fairy lights stringing from corner to corner and black and white mosaic tiles which checkered the floors, set the scene for a cozy and homely dinner. We were promptly greeted by the co-owner, Lei Liu, and an attentive server who sat us down at a two-person table by one of the windows. Beside us, a young couple with their infant enjoyed their dinner together — and Jacob and I remarked how sweet it was to see families out and about in Binghamton, discerning how much of a rarity it was on campus.

After receiving two glasses of water, Jacob and I carefully selected our choices from their Restaurant Week dinner menu. This year, Parlor City Vegan offers a three-course $15 lunch menu and a three-course $30 dinner menu including an appetizer, main course and dessert.

For the first course, Jacob went with the garlic bread and I chose the dumplings. The garlic bread came filled with an orange-colored cream cheese and was topped with a leafy green. Jacob described the bread as fresh and similar to a sourdough with a little bit of a spicy kick to it. The dumplings came in a set of four and had a tofu and chive filling which paired well with their dumpling sauce mixture. The soft filling was thoroughly combined and contrasted with the crispy crunch of the dumpling skin.

Shortly after finishing our first course, our server brought us our second course and cleared our plates. I immediately gravitated toward the bibimbap option, so when the dish was set in front of me, I quickly dug into the meal. Jacob, who was eager to try his (soy) chicken curry, was pleasantly surprised by the inviting flavors of the dish. Funnily enough, we were so engrossed in our meals that we didn’t speak a word to each other for the first five minutes of devouring our meals.

The bibimbap was an assortment of crispy tofu, marinated cucumbers, cooked mushrooms, shredded carrots, soybeans and a brown sauce at the center — which I can only assume is a reinvention of the egg yolk center of a traditional bibimbap. The veggies laid over a bed of rice and were topped with sesame seeds and drizzled gochujang sauce. The various levels of flavoring and unique mix of textures which all seemed to cohesively mesh together were among my favorite aspects of the dish — and had me yearning for more.

Something that stuck out to Jacob about the curry chicken was how close in texture the soy chicken was to conventional chicken, noting that he was pleasantly surprised by how authentic the dish tasted. He described a nutty undertone in the curry, which was accompanied by peppers and a multitude of spices, including cumin. The meal was served with several slices of crispy flatbread and a warm bowl of steamed rice.

Our meal was topped off with the third course which was an option between a glass of their house bubbly which was crisp and dry, and Thai ice cream which we shared. The Thai ice cream was sweet and packed with several spices and flavors, which tasted adjacent to a chai, and was topped with a sweet herb.

If you’re looking for a unique culinary experience and you’re open to trying vegan dishes, Parlor City Vegan is the perfect place for an intimate and lip-smacking dining experience.