KarmaFree Cooking

It’s funny…  I lived in NYC for almost 3 years.  I travel to NYC at least once a year, but there used to be a time where I went there on business travel almost every 2 months…  and I have never before hung out in 14^th street as much as I did on this last trip.  To be honest, I do not remember ever being on Union Square.  I recognized the Subway stop, but I have always been a girl who roamed from 23th street and above…

Well… on this trip I actually got to know the area a bit, and all that walking back and forth visiting the Union Square Green market made me hungry…   so I went to eat somewhere nearby.

On 14^th street between 1^st and 2^nd Aves you can find Curly’s Vegetarian Lunch.  It’s a very small but quaint place…  It opens for lunch and dinner.  I have read on the internet how they serve breakfast items all day long, so I actually tried to eat breakfast there the first time I went by…  Ooops!!!  It opens at 11AM.  I had to satisfy my hunger with a bagel with cream cheese… darn.

So when I came back, I was ready for lunch…  I ordered Honey Ginger lemonade, a Suna Salad sandwich with onions on a whole-wheat Hero with Curly Fries and a Crabfake, a vegetarian version of a crab cake.  Everyone raved sooooooo much about them on the internet, that I had to try them.

The staff was super helpful and very patient… I am the one who looooves to read the whole menu after I ordered to make sure I didn’t miss anything I might like.

My sandwich was excellent.  I ordered the onions and the hero bread because the original on the menu was on sliced bread.  (I have issues with mayo based sandwiches and sliced bread…they turn soggy and I do not like that.)  The fried were good too…  as good as any dinner, but better… because I know that nothing animal based was fried in the same oil, and that makes them taste soooooo much better.

The Crabfake… another story.  But I should not be one to judge.  I have never really eaten a proper crab cake to compare.  What I do know… it was good, but did not rock my world.

I would definitely recommend Curly’s to my vegetarian and even non-vegetarian friends… I am actually looking forward going back to have that breakfast I couldn’t the first time…

When I was recently in NYC, I invited my friend Jesiel to dinner one night.  We needed to catch-up big time…  she recently took a leave of absence from her work and left on a 10-week travel adventure thru India, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Israel and who knows where else… I am sure I missed a few countries.

She suggested Zen Palate a vegetarian restaurant she walks by almost every day and has meant to go in, but never before had.  I was her perfect excuse to try it for the first time.

Zen Palate is a modest restaurant located on 9^th Ave and 46^th street. On 9^th Ave you can find their take-out counter and the main entrance to the dining room is on 46^th street.  They serve Asian-inspired dishes.   It’s small and cozy, but nothing out of this world.  The photos on their website are far prettier than the actual restaurant I visited.  What I did like was their philosophy on cooking… 

The name Zen Palate is derived from the Japanese word Zen, meaning “sudden enlightenment,” and the French word Palate, meaning “sense of taste.” Our goal is to enlighten our customers through their sense of taste by offering delicious, vibrant, freshly prepared and beautifully presented vegetarian dishes, served by our passionate servers in a tranquil and modern environment. For over 16 years we have insisted on using the freshest and highest quality vegetarian ingredients (which covers more than 60 different plants and flowers from various culinary cultures!) prepared by our expertly trained chefs.

So while Jesiel is putting me up to speed on her travel experiences, we decide to take a culinary adventure in Zen Palate.  We ordered the Pan Seared Vegetable Dumplings, the Hong Kong Curried Noodles and the Sizzling Medallions on an orange sauce with asparagus, mushrooms and carrots.

The food arrived super fast.  The dumplings were good… but to my taste, a bit greasy.  Something I would find at any dim sum restaurant in the city or any Chinese restaurant here in PR, for that matter – non-eventful in my opinion.

We barely had finished our appetizer when the food came…  Curried Noodles and the Sizzling Medallions.  The noodles were good, but too spicy for my taste…  I have to be careful when ordering curried or other spicy foods in restaurants because my system can’t take too spicy. I know… sounds wimpy for a foodie, but that’s the way it goes.   Jesiel enjoyed most of those.  The Sizzling Medallions, made from seitan, were awesome!!!  I ate them with a side order of brown rice and I only wish there was more sauce for me to drizzle over the rice.  Jesiel, a non-vegetarian, was impressed of the flavor and the texture. 

We didn’t have any dessert because after all of that we were FULL.  And Jesiel is super figure conscious, so I wasn’t going to eat a dessert all by myself…

Zen Palate was very appropriate for my dinner with Jesiel and her Asian continent stories and adventures…    let’s see where our real-life adventures take us next, so we can find another fitting restaurant to de-brief.

I first learned about Zen Burger by reading the Serious Eats brother blog – A Hamburger Today.  They mentioned how they were a truly vegetarian fast food joint.  I always have my doubts, so I visited their website and even forwarded an email to their management to make sure their ingredients were OK for all types of vegetarians to enjoy.

Their reply confirmed that they only used Vegenaise as their veggie mayo, that most their products were soy based, they also have veggie patties, and none include eggs.  I was sooooo happy. I immediately put them on my TO VISIT list the next time I was in NYC.

You will find Zen Burger in Mid-town Manhattan on Lexington Ave. between 45^th and 46^th streets.  It looks like a regular fast food joint, but it is so much different than any fast food joint I have visited, starting from the sign at the door.  Love it…

I first visited the place without looking to eat there at the moment.  So I talked for a little while with one of the cashiers (I was lucky it was early and no one was ordering anything at the time…) We discussed the menu, the food, how the food was made and the secret Zen sauce.  She was not allowed to tell me the ingredients, but when I saw it, I just “guessed them” right away.   She was relay nice and gave me reassurance of what I should order.   Here is a copy of their menu for your reference.

Inside, you can see that everything has an environmental twist to it.  All the napkins are made from 100% recycled materials and the TV screens communicate messages on the advantages to the environment on eating less meat.  Even the tray liners have educational messages.  They are appealing to the environmentalist in all of us… enticing you to eat vegetarian because it’s good to the earth and the environment… the humane part is just a by-product.  I think it’s a good approach.

But after you get those environmentalists in the door… how does the food taste???  I ordered the Zen Burger with fries and a drink.  The friend I made at the register told me it was their most popular item on the menu and as such it was delivered to me in less than 30 seconds.  I do not kid you.   It’s a soy based patty with onion, pickles, lettuce and tomato and it also has a Zen Sauce – which is like a mayoketchup.  Let me tell you, it tasted like I remember the BK Whoopers.  The looks of it were not the best, but the taste was really good, and the fries were delicious too. 

As you can see from the menu above, they have a wide variety:  they have “chicken nuggets”, fish fillets, BBQ patties and many other sandwiches very reminiscing of other fast food joints, but here you can order without hesitation or reserves that it was made in the same area as other meat products.  I love that…

I mentioned Zen Burger to a friend and she highly encouraged me to eat here.  She is a non-vegetarian and has lunch At Zen Burger frequently thanks to a vegetarian co-worker.  She told me she eats there not only because of the proximity to her office, but because the food is really good.

I encourage you to visit Zen Burger.  It’s a vegetarian fast food joint.  Expect good fast food.  It does not have

I wished I had stayed in NYC a bit longer so I could have tried some other menu options…   I guess I’ll need to plan a trip to NYC sooner rather than later, no??