Serious Eats: New York - The Vegetarian Option

The Vegetarian Option: Sophisticated Greek at Pylos in the East Village

2013-05-16T17:00:00Z

Crispy fried zucchini and eggplant with tzatziki. [Photographs: Lauren Rothman]

Despite the incredible diversity of the restaurant scene in New York, we tend to characterize its neighborhoods by cuisine: Indian in Jackson Heights; Mexican in Sunset Park; Greek in Astoria. In the past, when the city was really a collection of small towns settled by different immigrant communities, these distinctions likely held true: but today, they're a thing of the past, which explains why one of my favorite Greek restaurants is located inside a long, narrow storefront on 7th Street in the East Village.

We first visited Pylos back in 2010, when Maggie stopped by for her inaugural Vegetarian Option post (oh, memories!). What Maggie pointed out then is still true today: Pylos, serving modern, upscale Greek cuisine at more-than-fair prices, is a vegetarian's haven. Sure, there are meat and fish dishes on the menu, but the majority of the plates are completely meat-free. More than that, they truly showcase the bounty of Mediterranean produce: vegetables are, uniformly well cooked and adeptly seasoned.

Warm pita bread with lentil spread.

One of the highlights of a meal at Pylos, delightfully, is free: the warm, griddled pita bread served with a mild, subtly spiced lentil spread. It's good stuff, and the staff replenishes it throughout the meal.

Tsigarellia, wilted chard and spinach.

A side dish of tsigarellia ($9), wilted chard and spinach cooked with celery and and fennel and topped with feta, is a comforting mix of tender vegetables bound with a light tomato sauce. Celery—often a divisive vegetable—here lends a sweet, herbal note.

Maroulosalata.

Maroulosalata ($10), a mix of crisp shredded romaine, dill, scallions and feta, is more than meets the eye: the citrus-heavy lemon dressing is incredibly bright and refreshing, and copious amounts of fresh dill and salty feta cheese add lots of flavor and texture.

Fried zucchini and eggplant rounds served with tzatziki ($11, pictured at top) were the highlight of the meal at Pylos. The wafer-thin slices of vegetables are coated in a crisp, totally greaseless batter and dusted with parmesan cheese. The thick, milky tzatziki—studded with scallions, dill, and mint—makes a cooling spread for the hot, crunchy vegetables.

So the next time you're craving Greek but don't feel like heading out to Queens, give Pylos a try. An added bonus? Big Gay Ice Cream's brick-and-mortar is directly across the street.

Pylos

128 East 7th Street, New York, NY 10009 (map)
212-473-0220
pylosrestaurant.com

About the author: Lauren Rothman is a former Serious Eats intern, a freelance catering chef, and an obsessive chronicler of all things culinary. Try the original recipes on her blog, For the Love of Food, and follow her on Twitter @Lochina186.

The Vegetarian Option: Expertly Prepared Italian Classics at Luna Rossa in Carroll Gardens

2013-05-09T19:00:00Z

Mozzarella, tomato and basil pie. [Photographs: Lauren Rothman]

When we last encountered Luna Rossa, it was back in 2008 when Ed favorably mentioned the newly opened restaurant. He chose to focus on Luna Rossa's many varieties of pizza, cooked up in a combo wood/gas oven, but a quick look at the menu revealed a lot more vegetarian-friendly options: salads, pastas and casseroles.

The one thing I questioned about Luna Rossa's offerings is that they seemed a touch of date: items like greens with pears and gorgonzola and baby spinach with goat cheese seemed pretty '90s. But if you ignore fashion and are willing to just accept a good meal, this is a worthy place to have one.

Eggplant parmesan.

A starter of eggplant parmesan ($9.95) was a stand-out version of the classic dish, featuring soft, well-seasoned fried eggplant that practically melted into the pool of warm tomato sauce and gooey cheese surrounding it. There's nothing earth-shattering about eggplant parm, but when it's pulled off this well, you can bet your fellow diners will fight you for that last bite.

Homemade pappardelle with porcini.

A pasta course of pappardelle with porcini mushrooms ($13.95) took wide, springy ribbons of homemade pasta and crowned them with a rich, meaty, savory mushroom ragù. The well-cooked pasta provided the perfect base for the tender porcini.

Luna Rossa offers seven meat-free pizzas. I chose the Filetto ($13.95, pictured at top), a white pizza topped with fresh mozzarella, halved cherry tomatoes, and basil leaves. The pie was generously sized, with a super-thin, super-flavorful crust that was floppy with some nice char on the bottom. It disappeared quickly.

Luna Rossa's best qualities are the very ones that gave me some pause when I first looked at the menu. This is an old-fashioned, no-frills, comfy restaurant: there aren't any innovative dishes to be found, but who needs innovative when the classics are done this well? It's the type of spot that wouldn't have been out of place some decades ago, when Carroll Gardens was more a working-class Italian-American neighborhood. I'm glad it's open now.

Luna Rossa

552 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 (map)
718-875-1384
lunarossabrooklyn.com

The Vegetarian Option: Excellent Sichuan Options at Café China

2013-05-02T13:00:00Z

Steamed eggplant. [Photographs: Lauren Rothman]

Like any other trend, food fads in this city are cyclical: just as your mom's bell-bottom jeans experienced a comeback in the mid-90s (this time around dubbed "flares"), so, too, do the culinary styles our parents enjoyed when they were our age return and become stylish again.

A few years ago, I began enthusiastically cooking and eating Sichuan Chinese food after reading writer Fuchsia Dunlop's excellent food memoir Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, an account of the time Dunlop spent in Chengdu, Sichuan province. When I mentioned to my parents that I had "gotten really into this kind of Chinese food called Sichuan," they both gave me a dumb look: Sichuan Chinese was the style of Chinese in New York in the '70s, when they first met, they told me. But when I was growing up, the Cantonese style reigned, and it was only recently, when Sichuan became fashionable again, that I had the opportunity to try it.

If the rebirth of Sichuan in New York brings places like Café China, which opened on 37th Street in 2011, to the city, then I'm all for trends. The restaurant is one of the city's better options for updated Sichuan food, as we discovered when we visited last year. In that review, we focused mainly on Café China's excellent meat dishes, but on a recent visit, I sampled several of the restaurant's vegetarian options.

Cold noodles.

An appetizer of Cold Noodles Szechuan Style ($6) was a classed-up version of peanut noodles: cool, springy wheat noodles were dressed with a smooth peanut sauce accented with just a touch of bright red chili oil, and topped with crunchy chopped peanuts, toasted sesame seeds, and sliced scallions.

Stir-fried mushrooms.

A main dish of Stir-Fried Assorted Fresh Mushrooms ($15) was refreshing in its spareness: a deep bowl of slick, chewy mushrooms hiding a layer of sweet, crisp pea shoots, the funghi were only barely seasoned, allowing their earthy, mellow flavor to come through. Anyone who thinks that Chinese food is too salty or too saucy or too whatever would do well to try this super-simple, super-light, but super-satisfying dish.

The star of the evening was unquestionably a plate of Steamed Eggplant Szechuan Style ($13, pictured at top). Now, I'm not normally a fan of steamed vegetables, but my waitress recommended the dish, and her pick was spot-on. Batons of tender, creamy, sweet Asian eggplant sat in a rice wine-fragrant sauce, with an unholy amount of fried garlic on top. Tiny green flecks of a briny vegetable that I couldn't name crowned the dish; a server informed me that it was pickled mustard green shoots. The salty bites were excellent scooped up with warm, fluffy white rice.

Café China

13 East 37th Street, New York, NY 10016 (map)
212-213-2810
cafechinanyc.com

The Vegetarian Option: Chennai Garden Still Serves Excellent Indian Fare

2013-04-26T15:45:00Z

Chana saag. [Photographs: Lauren Rothman]

There are some New York restaurants that stand the test of time: places that, no matter what trends storm the city—and then, inevitably, retreat—make excellent food, and stay true to their style regardless of what the times dictate.

Chennai Garden, the vegetarian Indian restaurant on Manhattan's Curry Hill, is one of those spots. For over a decade, it's been serving up southern Indian specialties like dosa, those huge, conical, paper-thin rice-flour crepes wrapped around savory fillings; vegetable curries in a variety of hues and styles; and flaky grilled breads. Though Lexington Avenue is lined with dozens of Indian options, Chennai Garden consistently sets itself apart with the freshness and intensity of flavor of its food. When eating the restaurant's rich dishes, you can tell that the spices the kitchen used were ground recently and toasted just right, and shreds of fresh cilantro and mint show up where other restaurants might not use the herbs at all.

Chennai Garden offers an expansive menu of appetizers, dosas, utthappam, or savory, spongy pancakes, vegetable curries and rice dishes, and when ordering, it's pretty much impossible to go wrong. But given that we reviewed the restaurant back in 2009, on this most recent trip, I chose some dishes we haven't written about on the site before.

Iddly with sambar.

Iddly ($6.45) are light rice- and lentil-flour cakes that arrive afloat in sambar, a tangy lentil broth studded with diced potatoes and zucchini and flavored with black mustard seeds that pop in your mouth. A sweet, hot chutney made with fresh coconut is served on the side.

Utthappam with mushrooms.

If you like sourdough pancakes, you'll love mushroom utthappam ($8.95). It's basically a large pancake, the batter made with gram bean and rice flours, with sautéed mushrooms and cilantro cooked right into the top. Fluffy and stretchy, it, too, is accompanied by the aforementioned sambar and coconut chutney.

Navaratna koorma.

Chennai Garden offers over 20 varieties of vegetable curries. Navaratna koorma ($9.95) is a truly addictive mix of potatoes, carrots, onions, flat green beans, and tomatoes in a rich, buttery cream-based sauce. The vegetables are perfectly cooked, tender but not overdone, and are accented with just a touch of garlic and ginger.

Good Indian food tends to do well by the humble chickpea, and Chennai Garden is no exception. Its chana saag ($9.95, pictured at top) features the tender legumes and creamy fresh spinach in subtly spiced tomato gravy. It's wonderful spooned over the restaurant's fluffy, pea-studded basmati rice, or scooped up with any of its breads.

Southern Indian food is always a great option for vegetarians, and Chennai Garden's fare is a cut above its competitors.

Chennai Garden

129 East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016 (map)
212-689-1999

The Vegetarian Option: Nha Toi Serves Up Great Vietnamese Fare in Williamsburg

2013-04-18T14:30:00Z

Veggie fries with sauces. [Photographs: Lauren Rothman]

It feels rarer and rarer to find an undiscovered gem in Williamsburg, but Nha Toi is one of those diamonds-in-the-rough.

It's not as if Nha Toi is totally undiscovered—the tiny, 15-seat Vietnamese restaurant opened on Havemeyer Street in early 2009, and has plenty of devoted fans that happily squeeze into the matchbox-sized space to devour excellent bahn mi at lunch or slurp down rich, steaming bowls of pho at dinner. But there's just something about Nha Toi that makes if feel as if it's off the beaten path.

Maybe it's the space's quirky decor: every available inch of the restaurant's wall space is crammed with framed photos, paintings, and random memorabilia, such as a risqué drawing of a scantily-clad Marge Simpson primping in front of a mirror. Maybe it's the overhead TV screen, which is usually turned off but which occasionally, in the middle of a slow day, will screen Star Wars or Rocky. Most likely it's the restaurant's complete lack of pretense: there's no table service, so customers pick up their orders from a counter dividing the closet-sized kitchen from the teensy dining room, and no fancy cocktail menu: in fact, Nha Toi doesn't even serve alcohol. In a neighborhood where artifice and manufactured cool abound, Nha Toi feels refreshingly honest.

But of course, a restaurant's funky interior design and straightforward attitude matter not a whit if the food isn't any good: luckily, Nha Toi's food is great. The menu offers a healthy mix of meat and vegetarian dishes, and since I'm an omnivore, I can attest to the quality of the former. But we're here to talk about the meatless fare, so let's, shall we?

In keeping with Nha Toi's casual style, there's but one menu in the joint: it's paper, and it's posted on the wall near the kitchen where you place your order. Surrounding that menu is a haphazard smattering of yellowed post-it notes listing specials. You'll want to pay attention to those notes, because a few of the restaurant's great dishes are advertised on them.

One such dish is the ordinary-sounding veggie fries with sauces ($6, pictured at top), which, in fact, are no ordinary fries but a diverse mix of cooked vegetables that are pounded together, seasoned heavily with cumin, cut into stubby wedges, and deep-fried until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Chef Fred Hua wouldn't reveal exactly what's in those fries, but he did say he uses Chinese broccoli, beets, and two kinds of beans. The fries come with an addictive spicy mayo and a little dish of what looks like ketchup but which is actually a sweet-hot sauce made with red chiles and puréed roasted beets.

Vegetarian pho.

Even those unacquainted with Vietnamese food probably know pho, the hearty rice noodle soup that's heaped tableside with crunchy bean sprouts and fresh herbs, squeezed with lime and drizzled with spicy sriracha and sweet hoisin. Pho broth is traditionally brewed from beef bones, but Nha Toi offers a satisfying vegetarian pho (small, $8) made with a flavorful, not-too-salty broth and filled with noodles, jewel-green baby bok choy, earthy, mushrooms and a few nuggets of silken fried tofu. The small size is incredibly generous and a steal at $8.

Pea shoots.

Nha Toi's menu offers a couple of cheap sides, all priced at $3 or below and all vegetarian. The pea shoots ($3) are simply steamed until crisp-tender, seasoned heavily with salt and pepper (mix together before eating), and drizzled with sesame oil, a light touch that allows the natural sweetness of the vegetable to shine through.

Bun with portobellos and spring roll.

The restaurant offers a handful of varieties of bun, or cold, thin rice noodles heaped with vegetables and toppings of various textures, such as roasted peanuts, fresh mint and pickled vegetables. One vegetarian option is piled with roasted portobello mushrooms and vegetarian fried rolls ($9), and it's just about as flavorful and filling as vegetarian entrées get. The springy noodles sit atop a fresh salad of shredded lettuce, thinly sliced cucumbers, and minced fresh ginger. A tangle of bright, vinegary daikon and carrot are mounded next to the real star of the dish: thick, meaty, chewy slices of portobellos that are dredged in crisp shards of fried garlic, like some delicious hybrid of mushrooms and onion rings. There's more good fried stuff off to the side in the form of a thin, crispy vegetarian spring roll that adds a touch of indulgence to an otherwise super-healthy dish. Finally, Nha Toi's bun distinguishes itself by providing crunch not just in the form of standard crushed peanuts, but also with toasty chopped almonds and pistachios.

In a dining landscape that can sometimes feel too homogenous, Nha Toi's originality and playfulness stand out. It's an ideal destination for vegetarians, and gluten-free diners as well: the dinner menu is 100 percent wheat-free.

Nha Toi

160 Havemeyer Street #6, Brooklyn, NY 11211 (map)
718-599-1820
nhatoi-nyc.com

The Vegetarian Option: La Mujer Gala, Bringing Tapas to Prospect Heights

2013-04-11T14:15:00Z

Popcorn with Spanish paprika. [Photographs: Lauren Rothman]

In a case of rapid New York City restaurant turnover, the space that once was Aliseo Osteria Del Borgo, the Italian spot on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights, is now La Mujer Gala, a tapas and small plates restaurant that leans more heavily on true, Spanish-style tapas than on the generic small (but typically expensive) plates offered all over town these days.

Pan con tomate.

Aliseo shut its doors in early February, and La Mujer Gala opened just a few weeks later, the restaurant's interior remaining unchanged and its head chef, Jennifer Cole-Ruiz, also staying at the helm—but totally redoing the menu. Cole-Ruiz has plenty of experience with Spanish food: she worked under luminaries such as Juan Mari Arzak of Arzak and Andres Madrigal of Balzac during her 15 years abroad, and was the opening chef of the luxurious Eurostars Madrid Tower's restaurant. (She also competed—and won—on season 8 of the popular Food Network show Chopped.)

At La Mujer Gala, Cole-Ruiz has created an expansive menu of appealing tapas plates that includes a bevy of vegetarian offerings, which comes as a welcome surprise given the tendency of pork to show up in many a Spanish dish. Dishes are small, but generous compared with many of the city's small plates, and prices are fair.

Each meal starts with a little bowl of complimentary popcorn dusted with Spanish paprika (pictured at top). It's crunchy, salty and smoky, a perfect match to a glass of the restaurant's cava.

No trip to a Spanish restaurant is complete without an order of pan con tomate ($4, pictured above), grilled bread rubbed with garlic and tomato and drizzled with olive oil. One of the simplest Spanish dishes, it can also be one of the best, the crunchy, garlicky bread topped with sweet but acidic tomato and luxurious with olive oil. La Mujer Gala's version was strong, using good-quality bread and buttery Arbequina oil, but it suffered from a lack of salt (a general problem at the restaurant). Now is perhaps not the best time of year for the dish, as the tomato flavor was a bit wan.

Catalan flatbread with roasted vegetables.

Another topping-on-bread option is coca de escalivada con queso de Alt Urgel ($7.50), or roasted vegetables with Alt Urgel cheese on Catalan flatbread. The dish sounded appealing, but fell flat (no pun intended) due to the bread underneath, which wasn't a flatbread at all but rather a rectangle of commercial puff pastry that wasn't all that crispy. The roasted eggplant, red peppers, and onions piled atop the puff were sweet, and the soft Alt Urgel was rich and oozy. They would make great toppings were they matched with a better foundation.

Lentils with a poached quail egg.

A basic but flavorful dish of Spanish lentils ($6) was more successful. A simple lentil stew is topped with a perfectly poached quail egg and a drizzle of fresh herb oil. The dish as listed on the menu comes with a Serrano ham crisp; just ask the waitstaff to omit the ham for a vegetarian option.

Seared vegetables with Romesco.

I was surprised at the form seared vegetables with Romesco sauce ($6) took. Instead of a rustic approach, thinly-sliced eggplant, green zucchini, and red pepper were rolled around an asparagus and onion interior, with a dollop of intensely flavored Romesco—typically prepared with ground almonds, roasted red peppers, sherry vinegar and lots of garlic—on the side. The textures of the dish were solid, but disappointingly, the vegetables weren't actually grilled—some smoky char would have been welcome.

Fideua with mushrooms.

The restaurant's one vegetarian main dish, fideua de setas ($14) or toasted angel hair pasta with mushrooms, is its strongest offering by far. Fideua is a bit like paella made with noodles instead of rice: ultra-thin spaghetti is browned in olive oil until toasty and crispy, then topped with saffron-infused broth and, typically, seafood, then baked in the oven until the pasta absorbs the broth and becomes tender. In this case, earthy, perfectly cooked mushrooms are used, and the noodles underneath are soft while the top crust remains crispy. La Mujer Gala's menu is full of intriguing options. Hopefully, with time, more of them will rise to the level of this dish.

La Mujer Gala

665 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238 (map)
718-783-3400
galarestaurantbk.com

The Vegetarian Option: Café Katja, a Lower East Side Favorite, Now More Veg-Friendly

2013-04-04T15:30:00Z

Butternut squash farro risotto with roasted vegetables and toasted hazelnuts. [Photographs: Lauren Rothman]

Café Katja is just the type of cozy, unassuming New York restaurant where you want to while away the evening: its handsome, softly lit interior beckons as you pass the Orchard Street storefront's large glass windows; it's full of original details that call to mind the neighborhood's history, most notably the beautifully patterned off-white tin ceiling. On most nights, every table is occupied with diners sipping crisp Austrian wines or gulping robust German beers as they tuck into generous plates of sauerkraut, sausages, and dumplings.

The restaurant looks better than ever after a recent expansion into the storefront next door, opening up space for 27 more seats as well as a U-shaped bar in the middle of the dining room. And for vegetarian diners, Katja's makeover wasn't purely aesthetic: after its October reopening, the restaurant added several vegetarian dishes to its previously meat-heavy bill of fare.

Red cabbage salad with lingonberry, apple and toasted walnuts.

An appetizer of red cabbage salad ($7) featured crisp, sweet cabbage and tart apples sprinkled with fresh chives, with some nice crunch from toasted walnuts. Though I couldn't detect any of the lingonberries mentioned on the menu, and the dressing is on the sweet side. This is your standard cabbage salad.

Creamed spinach with roasted vegetables, semolina dumplings and a poached egg.

But things get way more interesting with the entrées. My dining companion and I were amazed at the size of the creamed spinach with poached egg and roasted veggie ($14). It's lightly creamed fresh baby spinach brightened by a touch of fresh nutmeg; a pile of well-seasoned, expertly roasted Brussels sprouts, carrots and parsnips; two feather-light semolina dumplings called griessnockerl; and a perfect, runny-yolked poached egg. This is exactly the type of main dish vegetarians look for when eating out: satisfying but not too heavy, with plenty of flavors and textures.

The next dish to arrive was a farro risotto with butternut squash and roasted vegetables ($15, pictured at top). The chewy, nutty grain was cooked just right and folded into a rich purée of sweet, bright orange butternut squash, then topped with a scattering of roasted Brussels and cubes of squash and finished with toasty chopped hazelnuts. Incredibly satisfying, the dish was just a touch too rich: the risotto was drizzled with a too-generous spoonful of brown butter, a sound idea that faltered in execution. Hopefully the over-dressing was an aberration, because with just a touch of the butter, the dish would have been near-perfect.

Katja's expansion has been so successful that the restaurant is already planning another one. Let's hope that the next reopening brings even more of these stellar vegetarian options to the menu.

Café Katja

79 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002 (map)
212-219-9545
cafekatja.com

The Vegetarian Option: Malai Marke, a Standout Newcomer on Curry Row

2013-03-28T13:00:00Z

Paneer Khurchan, grated mild cheese in a rich creamy tomato sauce. [Photographs: Lauren Rothman]

There are certain neighborhoods we learn to shun even as tourists flock to them: Little Italy's schlocky red sauce joints, Midtown's hodgepodge of chain restaurants. Another is Curry Row, the stretch of East 6th Street between First and Second Avenues in the East Village.

The dim, Christmas lights-draped restaurants with their complimentary mango ice cream desserts and their eager waitstaff singing "Happy Birthday" can be charming, in their own way. Sometimes their dyed-red chicken tikka masala, spooned over that metal dish of basmati rice, hits the spot. But if you're seeking more complex Indian cooking, you have to venture farther afield to the street food of Jackson Heights and the giant, crispy dosas of Lexington Avenue's so-dubbed Curry Hill.

But in a city that thrives on reinvention, you can never be too sure of the existence of a cliché. That's why, when I heard about the recent opening of Malai Marke on Curry Row, I headed to East 6th Street to try it out. The restaurant had solid credentials: its owner, Shiva Natarajan, operates a number of modern, moderately-priced south and southeast Asian spots all over the city, and its chef, Karti Pant, comes from the Michelin-starred Junoon. As it turns out, this isn't your typical Curry Row restaurant, and it has a wealth of vegetarian-friendly food.

Pappadum.

Malai Marke's complimentary pappadum were the first clue that I wasn't dining at just any old Curry Row spot: the lentil crackers were unusually crisp and greaseless, and the standard trio of chutneys served alongside—onion, cilantro and tamarind—each had clean, true flavors.

Gobi Karare, smoky fried cauliflower with onions.

The appetizer Gobe Karare ($7) was described on the menu as "spicy smoked cauliflower with onions," so I was surprised when a plate of crisp-fried cauliflower arrived. The soft, tender vegetable is coated in light, wispy rice flour batter, and the smokey element comes in the form of smoked paprika flecked throughout the coating. The cauliflower is the perfect vehicle for scraping up the last bits of tamarind chutney that had accompanied the pappadum.

Ragara Patties, soft potato patties with chutney and diced onion.

Ragara patties ($6) are a favorite street food in southern India: soft griddled potato patties topped with a riot of garnishes that provide color, flavor and texture. Here they come with yogurt, tamarind and mint chutneys, chopped red onion, torn cilantro, and sev, crisp-fried chickpea noodles that add a ton of crunch.

Malai Marke's menu is enormous: it offers many meat-based dishes, but also has two large sections of vegetarian and vegan plates. I was intrigued by the description of Paneer Khurchan ($14, pictured at top), grated creamy paneer cheese with fenugreek. Paneer, a mild, easy-to-make white cheese that is added to many Indian dishes, is incredibly versatile; it can be chewy, crunchy, creamy or oozy, depending on how it's cooked, and it has a rich milky flavor. This dish is incredibly luxurious, consisting of soft bits of cheese folded into a tomato-and-cream sauce much like tikka masala, with a mild, lingering spiciness to offset the sweetness of fenugreek leaves.

Bindi Sasuralwali, dry-fried okra with onions.

How can you resist a dish that bills itself as something you would eat at your in-laws' house? That's how Malai Marke's menu described Bindi Sasuralwali ($13), dry-fried okra with bits of sweet cooked-down onion and tomato clinging to the crispy pods. The okra is well cooked, with nary a hint of the sliminess that okra is known for, and is fragrant with cumin and cayenne.

When my friend and I sat down to eat at around 6 p.m., our waitress looked around the empty restaurant and asked us if we had made a reservation (we hadn't). About a half hour into our meal, we saw why: the room had completely filled with diners. When we left at 8 p.m., we passed a cluster of hopefuls eying the restaurant's seating plan, which was displayed on a computer monitor near the door. New Yorkers seem to have taken note: Curry Row is cool again.

Malai Marke

318 East 6th Street, New York, NY 10003 (map)
212-777-7729
malaimarke.com

The Vegetarian Option: Gu Shine, a Taste of Taiwan in Flushing

2013-03-14T13:00:00Z

Cold Noodles Cheng Du Style [Photographs: Howard Walfish]

Having recently returned from a trip to Taiwan, I've been wondering about the state of Taiwanese food here in New York. It doesn't get the same attention that the regional cuisines of China enjoy, and is certainly found at fewer restaurants.

A Taiwanese friend recommended Gu Shine in Flushing as one destination, and sure enough they offer some intriguing vegetarian options, including chou doufu, the love-it-or-hate-it dish of stinky tofu. You'll have to navigate around some of the more common Chinese menu items to get to the Taiwanese ones, there are plenty to reward your efforts.

The cold noodles Cheng Du style ($4) should taste familiar to anyone who has ordered a cold noodle dish in an American Chinese restaurant. The thin egg noodles are dressed with a sweet and salty sauce, with a faint hint of spiciness at the end. Slivers of raw cucumber are provided for a textural contrast; the crunch that they lend the dish is a good counterpoint to the softness of the noodles.

Nappa With Bean Curd Skin.

The napa with bean curd skin ($9) ventures into less familiar territory. Bean curd skin is the thin protein layer that forms on top of heated soy milk, where it can be peeled off like, well, skin. It has a delicate, slightly-chewy-pudding-skin texture, and here it's stir fried with large pieces of crunchy cabbage. The sauce is flavored with the herbal punch of fresh ginger and a few hunks of reconstituted black mushrooms. Though the flavor and texture are delicate and subtle, it's a fantastic dish.

Fried Smelled Bean Curd.

But if you really want to feel like you're in Taiwan, order the fried smelled tofu ($5.50). Stinky tofu, as it is commonly called here in the U.S., is tofu that has been allowed to ferment like a cheese. It takes on a unique pungent aroma, which has been likened to rotting garbage or some unseemly bodily odors.

It is undeniably an acquired taste, and one that I have not quite acquired myself. But Gu Shine makes the tofu more manageable, serving it in a small saucer of thick sweet and salty dipping sauce. When you first bite into it, the taste isn't any different than a cube of regular fried tofu, but then the aroma hits you mid-chew. Take it slow and let yourself become accustomed to it. It did indeed transport me back to a roadside stand in Taipei, where I tried stinky tofu for the first time.

When you enter Gu Shine there is a refrigerated case selling Taiwanese snacks, and a counter with a big pot of tea eggs, a popular Taiwanese dish. Although it's tucked in among all of the other Chinese restaurants in the neighborhood and offers some of the same dishes, with a little judicious ordering you can get a taste of the real flavors of Taiwan.

Gu Shine

135-38 39th Avenue, Flushing, NY 11354 (map)
718-939-5468

About the author: Howard Walfish is a Virginia native who has been living in New York since 2003. He is, in fact, a vegetarian, and is the co-founder of Eat to Blog and the creator of BrooklynVegetarian. Follow him on Twitter @bklynvegetarian.

The Vegetarian Option: Hangawi Gives a Vegan Edge to Koreatown

2013-03-07T14:00:00Z

Fritters galore. [Photographs: Howard Walfish]

There are a few things you should do to prepare yourself for a visit to Hangawi. First of all, if you're going for dinner, it's a good idea to make a reservation. Even on a random weeknight, this upscale vegan Koran restaurant in the heart of Koreatown was packed to capacity. Second: wear nice socks. You'll be asked to remove your shoes before entering the main dining room. Finally: make sure you're limber. The tables are set low, and you'll have to kneel and tuck your legs underneath them, so that you're sitting at ground level while your feet sit below on a heated mat.

Ready to go? Good, because you're in for a great meal.

Although we ordered fritters galore ($17) based mainly on the name, they made a fine start to the meal. The mix of vegetables was expertly and lightly fried, not greasy at all. Some of the the items were easy to identify—the large sliver of slightly sweet kabocha squash, the thick starchy taro—but others were a mystery. No matter, they were all good, and all of the pieces paired well with the sweet and tangy dipping sauce.

Sesame leaf tofu patties.

The sesame leaf tofu patties ($10) were plated in an overly fussy way, but were fantastic. The patties were surprisingly plump and moist, made of a combination of minced oyster mushrooms and tofu, then fried until crisp and topped with a dollop of slightly spicy, slightly sweet Korean red pepper paste.

Herb noodle salad.

My favorite of the appetizers was the herb noodle salad ($11). The mugwort noodles were thick and chewy, and they come tossed with mixed greens and a spicy dressing. The noodle salad was served cold, a refreshing contrast to the two fried dishes above. I enjoyed these noodles more than the whimsically named vermicelli delight ($9), a rendition of jap chae, in which the noodles were overcooked.

Bean curd with kimchi.

An entree of bean curd with kimchi and vegetables ($18) looked small at first, but beneath the strips of fried tofu lurked a generous mound of kimchi. The tofu itself was bland, as it often is, but its mildness became an integral creamy part of the kimchi-soaked whole. It's a purely vegetarian kimchi, a nice change from the fishy versions found at most other restaurants. Although Hangawai doesn't bring out an assortment of complimentary small plates (banchan), they did serve two types of kimchi, one mild, one spicy.

As we dragged ourselves from out beneath our table, we realized just how much food we'd eaten. Hangawi is not a cheap restaurant, but you get a lot for your money, including a peaceful atmosphere well removed from hectic Koreatown. Before we knew it, we were presented with our shoes and shown the way towards 32nd Street.

Hangawi isn't the place for an everyday meal, to be sure, but as an occasional destination, it's a transporting treat.

Hangawi

12 East 32nd Street, New York, NY 10016 (map)
212-213-0077
hangawirestaurant.com

The Vegetarian Option: Moldova, a Journey to Eastern Europe Through Midwood

2013-02-28T15:15:00Z

Fasolita. [Photographs: Howard Walfish]

I wasn't sure what to expect from Moldova in Midwood—before eating there I couldn't have pointed out Moldova on a map. But after eating there I want to know everything I can about the country, which I now know is sandwiched between Romania and the Ukraine. Sometimes we food obsessed people talk about beginning to understand a culture through its cuisine; that's exactly how I feel about my meal at Moldova.

An appetizer to get you started: fasolita ($6.59), a white bean purée topped with cold fried onions and a healthy drizzle of olive oil, served with slices of heavy dark brown bread. The onions added some sweetness, and paprika added a subtle smoky spiciness to the thick purée, which seemed to blend Mediterranean flavors with Eastern European.

Coltunasi.

The coltunasi ($6.99) is listed as a hot appetizer, but it was a big enough plate to serve as an entrée. Here was pure, simple Moldavian fare: paper-thin dumpling skins filled with salty farmer's cheese (you can also get potato or meat filled dumplings), dressed with melted butter and served with thin sour cream. It was a humbling reminder of how good simple ingredients can be when you don't mess with them too much.

Mamaliga.

The most traditionally Moldavian dish of the night was mamaliga ($5.99). To eat it, use a fork to flatten out the warm cornmeal porridge (similar to a thick polenta), which is topped with a little melted butter. Then scoop on copious amounts of crumbled feta and sour cream and mix it all together. The fine grains of the cornmeal mingled with the chewy, salty nubbins of feta, and the sour cream added a tangy richness. The mamaliga usually comes with fried pork belly as a garnish, but the kitchen had no problem leaving it out for me.

I left Moldova (the restaurant, not the country) feeling quite full; the food is heavy and rich, and though it's simple stuff, it's not short on flavor. This was real stick-to-your-ribs fare, and I could imagine using it as a bulwark against a cold wind blowing in off of the Black Sea. My server's obvious pride in his country's food was well justified.

Moldova

1827 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11230 (map)
718-998-2892
moldaviancuisine.com

The Vegetarian Option: Woodside Cafe, Must-Eat Nepali in Queens

2013-02-21T15:15:00Z

[Photographs: Howard Walfish]

When I first approached Woodside Cafe in Queens I did a double-take. The awning advertized Italian, American, Nepali, and Indian food. Italian andNepali food? But there's nothing Italian on the menu anymore (pizza stopped recently); instead there are dozens of Nepali and Newari dishes, many of which I you won't find at other Himalayan restaurants. The meal revealed to me unexpected combinations of flavors and textures, making for one of the most exciting meals I've had in recent memory.

I started with an appetizer of musta palu ($3.50), which starts with ordinary salted, roasted soybeans. The crunchy little beans are tossed with mustard oil and chili powder, and served with large slivers of raw garlic and ginger. Each bite combined elements of spiciness, saltiness, and (depending on the bite) the unique punch of the raw garlic or ginger. It was one of the most addictive snack foods I've had in a while.

The anta ko roti tarkari ($6.95) matched spicy roasted potatoes with cold pickled radish. Using the whole wheat flat bread as a delivery device, I mixed chunks of the creamy potato with the crunchy bits of sour radish to create a fantastic combination that just got better with every bite. This combination of potatoes and radish is one that pops up again multiple times on the menu, so it's worth ordering in whatever form appeals to you.

A more familiar menu item is the steamed vegetable momos ($5.95), dumplings filled with potato and leek and flavored with ginger. The skin is thin with a slight chewiness, and if you find the filling was to be on the mild side, give it a dunk in the accompanying dipping sauces. The dark red is a fiery chili sauce; the orange, which I preferred of the two, is more smoky and tangy, like an amped up cocktail sauce that complements the momos wonderfully.

I've been to other Himalayan and Tibetan restaurants before, but I've never been to any place quite like Woodside Cafe. It's a unique experience, even by queens standards, and with plenty more vegetarian options on the menu, I can't wait to go back.

Woodside Cafe

64-23 Broadway, Woodside, NY 11377 (map)
347-642-3445
woodsidecafe.com

The Vegetarian Option: Indian Road Cafe in Inwood

2013-02-14T15:15:00Z

[Photographs: Howard Walfish]

Indian Road Cafe may just be the most north-westerly restaurant in all of Manhattan. It is literally across the street from Spuyten Duyvil Creek, separating Manhattan from the Bronx, and looking out from the restaurant provides a commanding view of the Henry Hudson Bridge. The menu, at first glance, reads like standard upscale bar food, albeit one that makes sure to point out the vegan and gluten-free options on the menu. But a closer look reveals a menu with a little more creativity to it than you may think.

The cold wind coming in off of the water may have you craving a bowl of soup, and sometimes the daily offerings—rice, bean, & tomato ($6.50) on this visit—are meat-frree. So full and thick it was almost a chowder, the soup was overflowing with lima, kidney, and black beans, as well as bits of spinach and chunks of carrot. I found myself scraping the bottom of the bowl before I knew it.

The lunch menu has a few vegetarian sandwiches, such as the vegetarian version of a BLT" an avocado, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. Above is the IRC Open Faced Grilled Cheese ($11), topped with roasted butternut squash and Monterey Jack cheese. The sweetness of the squash was accentuated by an apple-onion relish, both apples and onions cooked until soft. Monterey Jack, not the most assertive of cheeses, helps balance out the sandwich to keep it from being excessively sweet. All of this is perched atop a crispy toasted roll.

In the middle of the plate, in an inexplicable and unnecessary lettuce cup, is a wheat berry salad. The chewy wheat berries, which are dressed with a simple mix of oil and vinegar, are mixed with dried cranberries and tiny bits of bell pepper, a mix of sweet and savory amidst the nutty grains.

Indian Road Cafe makes many boasts on its website: some of their chairs were taken from the set of Nuovo Vesuvio on "The Sopranos"; they have an electric fireplace for the winter; and of course they have those wonderful views of Inwood Park and the water. Interestingly, they don't boast about the food, which seems like an oversight. Given the amount of thought and skill that went into my meal there, I would have placed the food at the top of that list.

Indian Road Cafe

600 W 218th St #3 New York, NY 10034 (map)
212-942-7451
indianroadcafe.com

The Vegetarian Option: Spring Street Natural

2013-02-07T15:30:00Z

[Photographs: Howard Walfish]

Lunch is the best time to eat at Spring Street Natural in Soho. You can grab a seat near one of the large windows that line the dining room and watch the busy intersection of Spring and Lafayette Streets. You can also enjoy some of their lunch-only specials, which include several vegetarian and even vegan options.

The daily specials include two soups, which on the day of my visit were both vegetarian. I chose the minestrone ($6), made with a vegetarian tomato-based broth. It's ideal comfort food for winter, chock full of vegetables like kale, carrots, and celery, not to mention two kinds of beans: chickpeas and white.

There are several specials available for lunch; one offering on my visit was a Vegetarian Gyro ($12). Instead of lamb there are chunks of seitan seasoned with spices like cumin and oregano. When topped with tzatziki sauce and served on a warm pita-like wrap, it's as good as a veggie gyro gets, down to the mushy out of season tomato.

Along with the lunch sandwiches you get an order of the sweet potato fries, which are crispy and salty on the outside and soft and sweet within. The housemade ketchup is sharp and sweet, a nice counterpoint to the fries.

The vegan options continue on the dessert menu, and they don't skimp on flavor. The warm pear, grape, and apricot crisp ($8.50), served with a scoop of mango sorbet, is one such vegan treat. Crack the crust with your spoon and mix the gushing juices with the sorbet for a mix of tart, sweet fruit, and crunchy nuts. It's proof positive that you don't need butter or cream to make a satisfying dessert.

Spring Street Natural has kind of an eclectic menu; tossed in among the mostly Mediterranean specialties there are also many Asian-sounding dishes like spring rolls and stir-fried vegetables. Based on my experience with similar menus elsewhere, I'd suggest skipping them and focusing on the more Mediterranean food. It's paid off for me, especially at lunch.

Spring Street Natural

62 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012 (map)
212-966-0290
springstreetnatural.com

The Vegetarian Option: Lavagna, Upscale Italian with Trattoria Prices

2013-01-31T15:15:00Z

[Photographs: Howard Walfish]

New York is home to hundreds of casual Italian "trattorias," and Lavagna, a restaurant in the East Village, identifies as one. It's more formal than most, fitting for a nicer dinner, but it keeps the uncomplicated, satisfying food at reasonable prices that trattorias are known for.

Take, for example, the appetizer Carciofo al Forno ($9), a roasted artichoke heart. It comes in three components, each with their own flavors and textures. There's the artichoke heart itself, mildly lemony and cooked until just tender; a smear of white bean purée, almost meaty in flavor and with the texture of a fine porridge; and cremini mushrooms, earthy and cooked so they are crunchy on the outside yet juicy within. Nothing too bold, but each component makes its presence known in a quietly pleasant way.

See also the Fedelini Fini ($14), one of the two vegetarian pastas on the menu. Fedelini is a long pasta, in thickness somewhere between spaghetti and cappelini, and it is dressed with a simple tomato sauce. The bright sweetness of the tomatoes is the dominant flavor, with dots of heat provided by garlic and freshly ground black pepper. Nothing different than I could have cooked at home, perhaps, but it speaks to the confidence the kitchen has in their ingredients.

A contorno of Broccoli Rabe ($6) was cooked expertly; first blanched, then briefly sautéed with large pieces of garlic. The broccoli rabe, left in large chunks, was almost buttery in flavor, betraying only a hint of its characteristic bitterness. One portion is large enough for two to share.

The word "lavagna" in Italian means a slate, or blackboard. Perhaps it's the straightforwardness of the food bringing out the poet in me, but I like to think of the name as appropriate to the food it serves. The ingredients themselves are a blank slate, with which the chefs can create almost anything; at Lavagna they are content to let the ingredients be, simply, themselves.

Lavagna

545 East 5th Street, New York, NY 10009 (map)
212-979-1005
lavagnanyc.com