Although I have a hard time justifying why this sandwich is being called a ‘banh mi’, it’s tasty enough to overlook the cliche. If you’re not a fan of tofu, this sandwich likely won’t bring you to the other side, but healthier eaters will love the exciting contrast of textures from the good crusty roll and the crunch of pickled daikon and onions. It’s not only healthy, but its extremely filling, but not heavy or greasy to induce an afternoon food coma. Serious carnivores will probably want to stick to their meatier fare, such as Mooncake’s excellent pork chop sandwiches, but for the lunchers looking to achieve their summer beach bodies, the tofu banh mi is a solid choice.

Mooncake Foods, 359 West 54th St (between 8th & 9th Ave). 212-262-9888

These past few weeks of Lent I’ve been giving recs for fish lunches for those who are observing and eschewing meat. Fried fish sandwiches are always a popular option and the new Shark and Bake sandwich from Trini Paki looks like a good option if you’re able to get there early, but what if you don’t like fish? Enter my go-to meatless option at the Shake Shack: The ‘Shroom Burger.

If you like portobello mushrooms this is a veggie burger alternative worth checking out. The ‘Shroom burger ($6.50) consists of a panko breaded and fried portobello filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheese, topped with lettuce, tomato and shacksauce on Shake Shacks soft rolls. The mushroom is crisp and that first bite yields a wonderfully melty cheese goo center. Pair this with an order of their custard of the day (it’s Fluffernutter, today!) and you won’t miss the fish.

Not feeling a fried sandwich? Fill up with a bowl of meatless ramen at Menchanko Tei or Oms/B.

Shake Shack Theater District, 44th St. and 8th Ave

Taim is a veritable New York institution at this point. The quality of their product has earned them a legion of devoted followers, plenty of superlatives from food media, and recently received the prestigious distinction as the “Best Falafel Sandwich in New York City” by the folks from Serious Eats. On the back of their popularity, they’ve spun off a sister restaurant, the upscale bistro Balaboosta, and they’ve recently hit the streets with a mobile food truck. A few weeks ago, downtown correspondent Andrea got a first look at the Taim Mobile truck, and last Friday, I was lucky enough to nab lunch from the Taim truck in my neighborhood of Midtown West.

We at ML make no secret about it – we’re omnivores through and through. We have a healthy respect for a lunch that’s filling, meaty and starchy enough to get us through the long work day. However, the falafel platter ($9.50) shook any convictions that meat is a requirement for a sustaining workday lunch. And at this price, it’s a bargain, given the sheer volume of food and many layers of flavor from a generous shmear of hummus, a falafel quintuplet, pita bread, a nutty quinoa salad, refreshing cucumber based Israeli salad, and various condiments.

I simply couldn’t ask for more out of their hummus. The healthy mound of ground chickpeas is lavishly rich from the tahini and a small pool of olive oil, lusciously smooth, and utterly satisfying. Tear into the pillowy soft, za’atar flecked pita, drag it through the dreamy hummus, and you get a bite of food that’s so good you’ll swoon.

Almost nothing is lost in translation with the critically acclaimed falafel during the transition from brick and mortar to street truck. These globes of deep fried chickpeas sported the reliably crunchy exterior and ethereally fluffy interior that I’ve enjoyed at the original Taim. Flavor wise, the falafel stand by themselves – pleasantly nutty and herbal from the well integrated parsley and cilantro. Add a drizzle of the fragrant amba (mango chutney), a dollop of spicy S’rug (Yemeni hot sauce), or a dip in the hummus, and you’re in flavor country.

It’s more or less the unfortunate case that warm blooded Americans build their meals around animal proteins, a habit I’ve certainly been guilty of. However, this was easily the best vegetarian meal I’ve had in recent memory, and one of the better lunches (vegetarian or otherwise) I’ve had in Midtown as well. With vegetarian food this good and this exciting, I’ve had a suspiciously crunchy granola change of heart – “hold the hamburger, and please pass me the hummus”.

The Taim Mobile truck is closed today but hope to be in Midtown tomorrow or Wednesday.  You can follow them on twitter, or the ML twitter tracker, and stay up to date on their menu and location on their website.

Last week Otarian, the much hyped “low carbon” fast food restaurant opened on Bleeker Street and their second location is set to open tomorrow on 8th and 56th. For Midtown Lunchers who prefer greenhouse emissions meat with their lunch this place is probably a pass, but for Sarah and the other ML vegetarians we’ve rounded up some pre-opening coverage.

Checking out the menu on their site, it looks like most lunch options are in the $7+ range. And while the Tex Mex Burger might have a “lower carbon impact” than a similar Tex Mex beef burger, it also has more calories and total grams of fat than a McDonalds quarter pounder with cheese. According to one Yelper the carbon impact of menu items is more prominently displayed than the price or nutrition info, so if healthy eating is a priority, be alert about your choices.

As for the early word? Planet Green endorses Otarian’s Sweet Potato Chiplets and Tandoor Mushroom O Panner Wrap, vegan bloggers decry the inclusion of dairy on their “ignorance based” menu while Fork in the Road has a feature on the restaurant and owner, Radhika Oswal, and her sustainable restaurant mission as well as some interesting questions about the carbon footprint her own $70 million mansion in progress. I wonder how many Tex Mex Burgers you’d need to eat to off set their 17 car garage?

Otarian, 947 Eighth Avenue at 56th St, 212-489-3270

Fork in the Road just reported that Otarian, a new fast casual Vegan/Vegetarian spot that touts itself as being “low carbon”, will be opening on Bleecker Street April 19th.  What they didn’t mention was that there is a second location opening in Midtown on the same day, on 56th Street and 8th Ave.  You know we don’t usually get super excited about this kind of stuff but one of us we’ll sacrifice ourselves for the good of  the vegetarian Midtown Lunch’ers.

Grill 44 (on 44th btw. Lex+3rd) joined the kati roll revolution back in 2008 by adding ‘Indian burritos’ to their usual stream tray assortment of samosas, curries, lamb vindaloo and tikka masala. Now 44G is packing even more into their tiny storefront by serving a South Indian menu. It’s always dubious when a restaurant adds too many different items to one menu, but 44G seem to be pulling it off. I’m not a dosa expert by any means, but my taste buds know flavorful delicious food… so I set forth to expand my horizons.

Each dosa is made to order and the cooks are congenial and seem to take pride in what they serve. I went with the Masala Dosa for $7.95. It a thin rice and lentil crepe stuffed with seasoned potatoes served with sambhar, coconut milk and mint chutney.

My first thought was that’s pretty pricey for something that doesn’t even come with meat. However, those thoughts vanished when I saw how enormous this bulging torpedo looked once I pulled it out.

Each piece of potato was infused with a yellow saffron spiced coating. Mixed in were grilled onions, peas and some bits of herbs (maybe cilantro or parsley?) I didn’t care much for the watery coconut dressing, and the fairly small cup of sambhar I could take or leave, but the spicy mint sauce was excellent and added some heat to this potato packed starch fest.

For a vegetarian lunch, you’d be surprised how tasty and filling this dosa can be. If you feel extra gluttonous, I’d pick up a small order of samosas ($3.95) or an egg and chicken tikka kathi roll for an afternoon snack ($5.50.)

Related:
Grill 44 Brings Kathi Rolls to Midtown East

Even though the meat lovers on Midtown Lunch outnumber the vegetarians, sometimes we like to shine a light on some of the less offensive meatless options being offered for under $10 (some of you may remember the days of Zen Burger!?) The latest spot is Vegan Hut, a just out of bounds chain that opened a few months ago on 7th btw. 29+30th… and we figured what better to assess it’s awesomeness (or suckiness) then by bringing in Lunch’er “Sarah”, our resident Vegetarian commenter, for a heads up point/counterpoint with me- a bonafied meat eater. In other words, we have something for everyone today. It’s a tale of he said she said. Meat eater vs. vegetarian. Both sides of the story. How will Vegan Hut hold up!

Note*: Sarah and I ate different burgers. She opted for the more vegetarian-like of the two burgers. Her’s was also a special written on a chalk board. I picked the ‘faux meat’ that is on the menu. Part of this is to show that a vegetarian and a meat eater would tackle a vegan place with different strategies. Also, I’ve uploaded a photo of Sarah’s burger.

Meat Lover: The Loving Hut burger was just $5 dollars and came with some tortilla chips. So far, so good! The rabbit food they stack on the burger was also bright and fresh. If McDonald’s would use lettuce and tomatoes like this, then I’m sure there would be a lot more happy people out there. For buns, they used these thick, bread-like buns that were a little stiff. It was a little difficult to eat the burger because the buns weren’t so squishy. As for the taste… I have to give them credit for making the “meat” resemble some meat-like characteristics. What the patty might have lacked in flavor, it made up for in texture. Being a meat eater, I found the texture to be slightly off from real meat. But if you put this patty in a big mac, I’d probably eat it happily.

Photo credit: Sarah

Vegetarian: I already decided when I saw the specials board outside that I wanted the “Crispy Vegan Burger Special” which claimed to come with “chips salsa and guacamole” for $6.50. Back at my desk I was disappointed at first to discover just a handful of tortilla chips thrown in with my veggie burger. The burger itself was on a huge bun though, and after dissecting it I found a fair amount of guacamole hiding beneath the bread. Despite lackluster appearances: It was DELICIOUS. I was a little wary of the bun because sometimes vegan bread can be dry and gross, but this bun was large, soft, super yummy.

Meat eater: Another thing the burger had going for it was the ’sauces’ they added. On one of the buns, they smeared some guacamole and what tasted like thousand island dressing. These two key components really made the burger taste better. I’m not going to say this burger reminded me of real beef, or that I’m going to start going all vegan… but if you mix the right sauces then it’s definitely going to be better than you expect it. Just don’t go in expecting this to be a replica of a real beef burger.

Sarah the Vegetarian: The burger patty was not some store-bought veggie burger- you could see flecks of veg throughout and it was nice and crispy (fried???) on the outside. The generous scoop of guac and the not-in-season tomato kind of did blend with the consistency of the burger to be a whole lot of mushiness in a few bites, but the burger was topped with lettuce, cucumbers a red onion, so there was a nice contrast of crunchy texture as I chomped along. The burger was also flavored with some kind of sweet, slightly tangy sauce, that I think could have used a bit of heat (was that supposed to be salsa? I hope not) but overall was a solid, yummy lunch. I (almost) didn’t even miss the cheese.

Meat Eater Side Note: Loving Hut does have a secret weapon up their sleeves for us meat eaters… Dumplings. These probably are some of the best vegetarian dumplings you can get in Midtown. The wrappers are hand-made and as you can see from the pictures, they look like little white pillows. As far as vegetarian dumplings go, my main criticism has always been that I never feel full when there’s no meat in the filling. And with seven dumplings per order, you’re not going to fill up on these puppies. They’re $5 per order so if you’re relying on dumplings for lunch, you might have to push up against the Midtown Lunch limit of $10 just to feel full. I think they’re quite fantastic dumplings for having only mixed Asian vegetables for the filling.

Clearly, vegan food is never going to be a full time genre in the Midtown Lunch canon. Most of us are street meat people (and proud of it).  But that doesn’t mean all Vegetarian options should be painted with a broad stroke. Did my burger taste as good as a real burger? Of course not. But for a vegan burger, it was pretty good, and for those who’re interested and intrigued enough to try, I say go for it. I learned that just because a place is vegan, doesn’t mean the food necessarily has to taste like cardboard. I mean, usually it does (!) but it doesn’t have to… and the vegetable dumplings are the perfect example of that.  We all started out wanting to find that hole-in-the-wall with kick-ass food that beats out the generic Midtown spots, and I have to say that Loving Hut kind of fits the bill.  The dumplings are proof that sometimes you might find that kind of lunch in the most unlikely of places.

THE +

• I’m Vegan and there is nothing for me to eat in Midtown!
• I want to eat a fried “burger” thing, topped with guacamole and pretend it’s healthy

THE -

• Where’s the beef?!
• I don’t care how good it tastes, I’m ain’t eating anywhere that doesn’t at least kill a few animals to make its menu.
• Seriously dude, where’s the beef?

Loving Hut, 348 7th Ave. (btw. 29+30th), 212-760-1900

It’s a little out of bounds, and you know most of us aren’t really down with the vegetarian stuff (save for Zach’s weird obsession with the now shuttered Zen Burger) but if you are a vegetarian or vegan you’ll be excited to hear that a branch of the international vegan chain Loving Hut opened on 7th Ave. btw. 29+30th a few months ago.  Everything on the menu is under $10, and “all dishes are free of animal ingredients. NO MSG. NO MILK. NO EGGS. All items are 100% vegan.” [via GirlieGirlArmy]

Loving Hut, 348 7th Ave. (btw. 29+30th), 212-760-1900

Unlike the thick cubes of tongue stewed in red sauce you get in the Mission’s La Corneta, the El Rey del Sabor version is chopped finely and grilled on their flat top. A completely different taco experience, but totally enjoyable. The tongue is easily El Rey del Sabor’s most tender option, but it also had some of the little crispy bits you miss out on when getting stewed tongue. Topped with onions, cilantro and their fairly spicy salsa verde, it was muy delicioso and I’d recommend it to anybody- even those who don’t think they’d like tongue. The one downside is they don’t always have the tongue… you just have to get lucky.

As a side note, I had a good friend of mine with me who is a vegetarian (yes, I have friends who don’t dig the swine) and he decided to try their pumpkin flower quesadilla (known in Spanish as flor de calabaza.) It’s a pretty standard Mexican dish, and happens to be the only vegetarian option at the El Rey del Sabor cart (aside from just getting plain cheese empanadas or quesadillas.) Stupidly I didn’t try any of it, but he was completely blown away. So if any of you are vegetarian, and have steered clear of El Rey del Sabor in the past, here’s something you might totally enjoy!

El Rey del Sabor (3 Locations)

• NW Corner of 49th & 3rd
• SW Corner of 60th and 3rd
• NE Corner of 43rd & 6th