Currently viewing the tag: "chinatown"
Vegan Divas makes decadent treats for the health-conscious vegan… or the not-so health conscious vegan. The ladies predominantly distribute their goodies at the city’s upper-crust health stores. I nabbed this caramel pecan brownie at Elm Health, the wonderfully stocked space on 7th avenue and 14th street. Packaging is a bit wasteful, sure, but the brownie was rich and moist like a soft fudge.
I have walked by Chinatown’s House of Vegetarian many, many times to get to their sister restaurant Vegetarian Dim Sum House. This time I decided to give it a whirl. Though I have lost my taste for the mock meat and don’t often consider mock meat establishments a worthy option, home or when traveling, it was too hot to think. I got the mock pineapple chicken (bean curd sheets) and an experimental order of fried yam cakes.
B.A.D. Burger, an omni-spot in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with great vegan options, serves Breakfast All Day! Yes, they are open 24 hours a day… and deliver 24 hours a day! So my omni-friend can eat an entree of pulled pork with a neon blue raspberry lemonade while I can feast on green-fonted items on their menu: tofu scramble, vegan French toast, an assortment of veggie burgers and veggie dogs. They also can sub wheat-free, vegan pancakes in any of their specialty pancake dishes like strawberry, banana & blueberry swirled pancakes and the two waffle sandwich with a tofu scramble sub. Drool. That’ll be my next dish there.
This time I had their Vegan French Toast. It was 3 slices of eggy-like wet wonderfulness. I appreciated the whole grain flax bread but was turned off by the lack of real maple syrup and Earth Balance. It hit the spot, however. They also have house-made vegan desserts as well as RC on the fountain! The service was hot and cold but there is ample room in there… and it reminds me of Kate’s Joint in a way. Ok, those are all my thoughts. Can’t wait to go back and take a picture, I mean, eat their pancake concoctions.
Remember, faithful reader, my obsession with Kow Dom Mat, the local dessert I lived off of for two months in Thailand? Save for Sookk on Manhattan’s West Side, I have basked in memories of the street delicacy since then. Surface perusal of Asian bakeries in and about New York’s Chinatown were fruitless and, well, geared towards Chinese confections. But there was one lead I hadn’t pursued in my quest–a website bookmarked in subfolder “To Go & Eat”: Bangkok Center Grocery–a website that had been past on by a roommate-hopeful in my last search over a year ago. I was full of optimism as I set out for Canal Street in the sweltering heat.
Bangkok Center Grocery is located on Mosco street, a narrow little curve connecting Mott and Mulberry streets. Inside I was met with part confused-part amused glances from patrons and store employees, just like it had been in my Thailand travels. Unfazed, I was immediately mesmerized y the hum of the refrigerators. I knew I was onto something. I saw right away the bright, gelatinous confections I had once loved in Thailand! {See here and here and here} I think I started talking to myself and my nose was certainly on the glass when a young Thai women walked towards me, delighted in my delight. I conjured up my best Thai to ask for my beloved Kow Dom Mat. With an immediate spark of understanding, she hurried me to the freezer where there lay Kow Dom Mat–in banana and in tarot. I immediately began babbling on about how I loved them.
Here they are. Four big, frozen Kow Dom Mats or “Frozen Banana Dumpling”, exported by Sethachon or “Food Hut” and distributed in the states by the Maryland-based Eastland Food Corporation. For four big ones, I paid $4.00, far better than Sookk’s $6.00 for one.
Two babies wrapped up tight in banana leaf pose for a picture for a minute in the microwave.
The glistening coconut milk creeps from the folds of banana leaf as my first sits waiting on a doily. I broke out the fancy plate for this occasion.
Unwrapped. Remember the steamed banana turns pink… and those little black beans add some texture. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the sweetened coconut milk infused sticky rice.
Exactly how I remember it. Taste sure holds onto memories.
Perfect. Now I have a place to satisfy my Kow Dom Mat needs.
Along with the Kow Dom Mat, I just had to pick up some other sweet treats. These simple, sugar-laden Thai desserts use minimal ingredients and are all about the coconut. The green Kanom Chan is made of the highly-glutinous Chan flour (tapioca starch and sweet potato flour), coconut cream and sugar. These beauties are locally made in the Bronx by “O Thai Dessert”. $3
These are almost exact replicas of ones I ate in Sukhothai.
I also picked up “Cassava Dessert” made from cassava (tapioca), shredded coconut and sugar. These I bought because they reminded me of the coconut dreams pictured here my host Urai whipped up for me when I stayed in Bangsai. Here is Urai with some of the kids I met while I was there, from some Canadian guy’s Flickr photostream.
What a wonderful discovery! I will be returning to Bangkok Center Grocery real soon. And someday, back to Thailand to attend their Vegetarian Food Festival… but until then…
Six years of self-funded undergraduate school in the CUNY system while working: $ 18,475.95
Two years of graduate school loans at a prestigious Ivy League school: $ #!,%@#
Having summer days to spend with friends tasting the city I love: Priceless.
L-R, T-B: Pineapple sweetened ice water, KZ, mock shrimp dumplings, panfried dumplings, mock roast pork bun, dumplings & Buddha bean curd roll, KC, rice flour rolls with mock shrimp. All at Vegetarian Dim Sum House in Chinatown.
Bánh mì is the perfect summer eat. It’s vibrant, flavorful and not too heavy. It’s great on the go, is on-the-cheap and, thanks to a long lifespan of buzz… including a recent episode of This American Life, is sprouting up all over the place! Not to mention the portion is usually substantial. But where, in the international city of New York, can the best vegan Bánh mì be found? Here is quick guide–part 1–complete with exterior shots, to help steer you towards deliciousness in the often elusive world of Bánh mì. A word of warning, hit the ATM and know how to order: fast and furious.
Nhá Tối
160 Havemeyer street between S. 2nd and S. 3rd streets (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
I am partial to my neighborhood, especially since I have demoted my metrocard to a pay-per-use for the summer without the daily treck to work (that’s a lot of prepositions), but also because I like a good walking destination. Let’s face it, sometimes the only thing that pushes me out of my apartment is a hunger pang. But that aside, Nhá Tối makes a solid, albeit pricey (at nearly double the Chinatown joints’ price), sandwich. Their vegetarian ham Bánh mì, the only veg-option, doesn’t skimp; with a layer of both salty faux-ham and tofu, an abundance of sweet pickled veggies and fresh herbs with a kick of soy sauce, it’s quite satisfying. Buuut I am suspicious of this faux ham. When I asked about the sandwich being vegan the friendly counter guy’s answer wasn’t confidently definitive. After a little research at the VV Desk on popular faux-meat purveyor May Wah‘s website I learned that their faux ham as contains albumen powder. As I don’t care to further any ickiness that may arise in the confirmation that I ate an egg product, I am going to think about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day.
Num Pang Sandwich Shop
21 East 12th Street between University and 5th avenue (Union Square, Manhattan)
Right next to the hell that is Union Square, the is nothing elusive about Num Pang’s location. And you pay for this convenience as their sandwich run a bit higher and baguettes a bit smaller. The roasted cauliflower Bánh mì is Num Pang’s only vegan sandwich option on the regular menu… but it is fantastic. This sandwich delivers a lot of flavor. It’s dressed with a savory Chinese & Thai eggplant spread that couples so deliciously with the pickled carrots, cucumber and soy-based chipotle mayo. Round out the spice with a their tropical fruit salad: fresh lychee, young coconut, mango, papaya, pineapple, watermelon with lemongrass and mint. Note that at the time of my visit they had another vegetarian sandwich option on their specials menu… roasted salt & pepper Japanese yam with sauteed chard and cipollini onions. Seating is available upstairs. Face the wall so no one catches sight of you ripping through it ravenously with a ring of chipotle mayo around your mouth. 
Paris Sandwich
113 Mott Street between Hester and Canal streets (Chinatown, Manhattan)
First let me say that this is real authentic Vietnamese Bánh mì joint. Even if judging solely by the location and clients alone, that much is abundantly clear. At the counter the older woman turned me over to a younger gal who spoke English and I placed my order for their vegetarian chicken baguette, the Bánh Mì Chay, their only veggie option. Chay, I have ascertained, means “vegetarian”. This I learned reading their menu in the eat-in area, which is more plentiful than most other shops. I’ll get to the sandwich in a second… so as I snapped the picture of the sandwich an employee came over motioning that I refrain from using my camera. Huh? I thought. But it’s mine now. I bought it! It was quite confusing until I remembered that episode of This American Life that I mentioned before where opportunistic entreprenauers were jumping on the Bánh mì craze and copying established eateries’ exact menus! So, I had to pack half of my sandwich to go, snap a pic of the exterior like a trained sniper and escape to a porch in Little Italy where I could photograph the sandwich safely kinda-sorta in another country. Ok, the sandwich. Paris has nothing to fear. Their product is quite standard. Standardly delicious of course, thanks to fresh veggies and warm bread. The vegetarian chicken, however, was a glutinous shredded mushroom-like layer that was a bit bland. I have to return for their desserts, whose descriptions are awfully similar to the coconut milk heavenly bits I devoured daily in Thailand a few years back.
Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich (sometimes referred to as Vietnam Bánh Mì Sổ 1)
369 Broome Street between Elizabeth and Mott streets (Chinatown, Manhattan)
Now if you’re a Bánh mì spy, hoping to open up your own, um, franchise, this is where you go to learn the ropes. Saigon does it theee best. They also have four, that’s right four, vegan sandwiches they note on their menu: the Bánh mì chay (a standard without mayo or meat, just veggies), the Bánh mì chay đạc biêt (with tofu and mushroom), the Bánh Mì Chay Đậu Hũ, Xả Ớt Rau (lemongrass tofu) and Bánh Mì Chay Cari (a curry tofu). No questionable soy science meat or thawed faux-meat concoctions. Tofu. Fresh, crisp veggies. Clearly-indicated vegan options. Like a whole bunch of cilantro. Very friendly service. Huge warm baguettes. (and close to Babycakes.) Perfect.
Ever since CandyPenny showed me the cross-section of Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich‘s vegetarian Banh Mi, I knew I had to check it out. My house special Saigon sub was the perfect stop after a day of errands. Warm, French baguette stuffed with delicious and contrasting textures, temperatures and colors: pickled carrots, cilantro, crunchy cucumber, warm shreds of mushroom and tofu. I sat in front of the tiny shop and chomped down the huge sub ravenously. I’ll definitely be returning to Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich for another taste. They have a vegan chicken Banh Mi I’d like to give a whirl.
As I shoved in the remaining nub of baguette into my mouth I thought, why the heck French bread?! Having a grossly inept database of global history, as many Americans do, this popular Vietnamese sandwich made little sense to me. As it turns out the sandwich, once known as the “salad sandwich”, comes from the days French colonials occupied Indochina. They mixed their baguettes and mayonnaise with what was sprouting up in Vietnam to create this very popular dish. Flash forward to today in New York City. New York declares the sandwich the new panino… what that means, I can’t guess. A Subway version?
Since I was already on Broome street my feet naturally gravitated towards Babycakes. But being a little light in the wallet and heavy in the belly from the foot-long Bahn Mi, I opted for a simple but decadently chocolaty brownie bite. The perfect balancer of the taste buds.
Vegan Reporting By Location
