Midtown Lunch

I ducked into a vegetarian restaurant the other day thinking I’d get a lunch that’s a little healthier than usual, and I managed to walk out with something that has more calories than a Big Mac. Classic! The restaurant was the new Soom Soom (46th btw 5th+6th), and I had a sandwich that was so delicious and so greasy I felt like I needed to take a shower after I ate it. The sandwich in question was the feta cheese burekasabich.

Understand that before today I had never tried a sabich (eggplant and hard boiled egg sandwich on pita bread) or a burek (stuffed pastry topped with sesame seeds that happened in this case to be filled with cheese), and Brian didn’t seem to be a huge fan of their regular sabich.  But once you replace the pita bread with a bureka all bets are off.  There was no question this thing was the most interesting thing on the menu.

A Midtown Lunch’er had mentioned loving the potato burekasabich in a comment on this post a few weeks ago signaling the arrival of the new location of Soom Soom on 46th. I could see why. I share the love for its feta counterpart. The $7.50 sandwich has oil-saturated eggplant, brown boiled eggs (haminados), and tahini all between a sliced burek stuffed with feta. It was served with juices from chopped tomatoes (is there an actual name for this?) and pickles on the side. I almost needed a fork and knife to eat the sandwich because it was very moist and the burek was delightfully greasy. The sesame seeds on the burek added a nice nutty flavor.

The eggs were creamy and had a somewhat different taste than regular eggs. And, the feta was not too overpowering. Here are some pics, open and shut. Those are totally not canned mushrooms as they might appear to be, but the “whites” of brown boiled eggs.

Even if you normally shy away from vegetarian restaurants, I would recommend giving this sandwich a try. And the vegetarian bar doesn’t look half bad, either!

SoomSoom Vegetarian Bar,

• 670 Lexington Ave (btw. 55+56th), 212-712-2525
• 8 West 46th Street (bw 5th and 6th)