Borough Vegetarian

Fung Tu - Innovative Chinese-Inspired Fare in Downtown Manhattan

In a part of town that is bustling with new, hip restaurants, Fung Tu stands out with its genuinely interesting and tasty food.  During an outing there last fall, our party completely stuffed ourselves on much of Fung Tu's menu, and almost nothing fell into the category of "standard."  The Chinese / Chinese American inspired menu also featured a variety of vegetarian offerings or items that could be adapted to be vegetarian.  

We started our meal with several appetizers, including the amazing fava bean curd terrine.  The smooth fava bean flavor was quite a treat with the fresh herbs and chili oil adding more complexity to the dish.  This is definitely a must-try starter! 

The other vegetarian starter we got was the steamed buns with mushrooms - while the buns had a great texture and exterior, I have to admit my general aversion to mushrooms remained with this dish.  

My entree picked the meal back up - the vegetarian curry pot pie had a great, subtle curry flavor and a perfectly buttery and flaky puff pastry top.

My only wish was that I wasn't so stuffed so I could have enjoyed more of this entree.  I guess that means we just have to return soon!

Fung Tu

22 Orchard Street

Lower East Side / Chinatown, Manhattan

3 - 4 blocks from the F train at East Broadway, and 5 blocks from the B/D trains at Grand St.

Dimes - A Downtown Vegetarian-Friendly Delight

Dimes is a popular downtown Manhattan restaurant that features a wide range of vegetarian-friendly dishes.  When I first went to Dimes I was struck by three, somewhat related features: one, the restaurant was incredibly small (maybe 8 - 10 tiny tables).  Two, it got incredibly packed by 6:30 or 7pm on a weeknight.  Three, the food and cocktails were actually really, really good - nice unexpected flavors that kept the dishes interesting.

I visited Dimes when it was located on Division Street, and it has since moved to Canal Street.  I don't know how much bigger (if it all) the restaurant may be.  So the first tip I would have is to get there early - the waits really seem to add up the later you get into the evening.

The second tip is to share dishes with your fellow diners.  I was definitely surprised by the depth of the dishes my friend and I ordered, and I would recommend trying to sample across dishes.  My meal was anchored by the "spicy quinoa" main dish, which featured an array of fresh and cooked vegetables, chickpeas, cheese, and a tangy sauce.  The dish seems to rotate vegetables and sauce based on seasonal availability, and my winter vegetable dish was really wonderful and filling.  

The third tip I have, assuming that the Canal location is similar to the Division location, is to not to expect much personal space in the restaurant.  My friend and I were seated at the only available table early evening on a weeknight, and we were definitely in very close quarters with the other diners (e.g., had to move our chairs when folks from adjoining tables were getting up).  It was still a very pleasant dining experience, but just a warning for those expecting another type of intimate dining experience!

Dimes

49 Canal Street

Chinatown, Manhattan

Closest to the F train stop at East Broadway, perhaps 10 minute walk from B/D at Grand Street, and J/M/Z at Essex

Xi'an Famous Foods and Biang! - Awesome Spicy Vegetarian Option in Multiple Locations

Xi’an Famous Foods - a New York City mini-chain with locations now in Flushing, East Village, Chinatown, Midtown, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, East Williamsburg, and Greenpoint (!) - serves delicious and inexpensive northwestern Chinese cuisine.  AND they clearly state which of there dishes are vegetarian, a major benefit to both this blog writer and readers.  

I love spicy food generally, and the combination of Chinese spices and oils with hand-ripped noodles is a particular treat that Xi’an consistently serves up, no matter the location (well, at least for the 3 locations I have visited to date).  And if you are looking for a sit-down restaurant experience with alcohol (i.e., a cold beer to wash down the spice), I highly recommend going to their Biang! location in Flushing.  

My favorite dishes are the hot oil seared noodles and the spicy tofu.  The portions are pretty generous so if you get two dishes, like I usually do, you’ll have plenty of great leftovers for another meal.

(Hot Oil Seared Noodles)

Multiple locations across NYC (Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn)

Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles - A Vegetarian-Friendly Rarity in Manhattan’s Chinatown

Like many small Chinatown restaurants, Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles on Doyers St. has an unassuming exterior and interior.  With many 4 - 5 tables packed in a very small space, everything about this restaurant is about efficiency.  All garnishes, condiments and silverware are packed onto the available table space, and it doesn’t seem uncommon to take what your table doesn’t offer from the other adjoining tables, which makes for a somewhat communal (though efficient) eating experience.

Adding to the efficiency is the hyper-speed at which the staff works to get customers in and out the door, and during weekday lunch time, to also fill what seems to be an insatiable set of take-out orders.

When we went to Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles for the first time during a weekday lunch period, we were greeted by not only this experience, but also an insane amount of food (the latter due purely to our over-ordering!).  

(Pan-fried vegetable noodles - $6.25)

To share, we ordered both the pan-fried vegetable noodles and the fried vegetable dumplings - both vegetarian.  Each of these items could have been a full lunch on it’s own, and given the price tag, you can definitely leave this restaurant with the rare combination of a full wallet and a full stomach.

(Pan-fried vegetable dumplings - 10 for $7.25)

Both of these dishes were fairly simple, and not particularly flavorful, but nothing a little hot sauce can’t cure!

For my “main course,” I ordered the tofu and vegetable soup with vegetarian broth and the knife-pulled noodles (you have the option of choosing from a range of homemade hand-pulled noodles).  The tofu was served separately from the soup, and due to an apparent miscommunication, I thought the spiced tofu was an extra order instead of part of my dish.  So instead of combining the otherwise somewhat-bland soup with the tofu to make a complete dish, I ate them separately. This approach was to the detriment of the soup, but not to the spiced tofu which was great.

(Tofu and Vegetable Noodle Soup - $6.00 for both dishes pictured above!)

In short, I definitely recommend Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodle for any vegetarian visitors to Manhattan’s Chinatown.  

Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodle

1 Doyes Street

New York, NY

Accessible from the F train at East Broadway, B/D trains from Grand St., J/Z at Chambers St., or 6/N/Q at Canal St.  All trains are approx. 5 - 12 minute walk from the restaurant.

Spicy Village - Cheap, Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurant in Chinatown

My husband works in Chinatown, and one of his favorite restaurants is Spicy Village.  Spicy Village specializes in a range of hand-pulled noodle dishes, from soups to sauteed options.  And unlike many restaurants in Chinatown, Spicy Village has several meatless options for vegetarians to enjoy.

On my first trip to Spicy Village, which has an unassuming storefront and interior decor to say the least, I ordered the Spicy Scallion Red Oil Hui Mei.  The noodles were really fantastic, though I think this topping may have been a little too onion-y (and I love onions!).  The dish also wasn’t that spicy, but nothing a little bit of their in-house hot sauce couldn’t cure.  I definitely will return to Spicy Village, but likely to order the Spicy Vegetable Hui Mei or Black Bean Sauce Hui Mei as well as try out their range of inexpensive vegetarian appetizers.

Spicy Village

68 B Forsyth St.

Chinatown, Manhattan

Easily accessible from the B/D (Grand St), J/M/Z and F (Delancey/Essex St), or 10 minute walk from 6/N/Q/R (Canal St)

Wo Hop - A NYC Chinatown Institution Since 1938

A friend recently told us about Wo Hop, a mainstay of the NYC Chinatown, that her father has been going to for decades.  Andy and I had never heard of Wo Hop before, and were excited to check out this restaurant that has been in NYC since 1938 - a far cry than what seems to be the 1 - 2 year existence of so many city restaurants.  

When we went on an early Friday evening, we were pleased to find no wait for a table.  And it quickly became evident that had we shown up later - after 6:30pm/7pm - we would have had trouble finding an open seat given the emerging crowd in and around the restaurant.  

We ordered a somewhat overwhelming array of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, many of which seemed to be Americanized versions of Chinese food from decades past.  We started with the egg rolls, which were vegetarian and chock full of cabbage with some carrots and scallions as well.

I have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan of the egg roll - it was fairly greasy, and I would have preferred more variety to the stuffing instead of just mostly cabbage.  It also had a high stuffing to fried exterior ratio, and I generally like a higher amount of fried dough with all of my fried food favorites :-)

In any case, the meal definitely went way uphill as we continued getting our food.  The vegetable chow fun, the wide noodles, were surprisingly tasty with a nice char from the stir-frying of the noodles with the vegetables, which were also cooked well.

The Szechuan eggplant was also surprisingly good - the eggplant was cooked to creamy perfection, and the sauce was both just slightly sweet and spicy.  I think the eggplant was the highlight of my meal, even though I can be very hot and cold when it comes to Chinese eggplant dishes, which some restaurants prepare to be a sweet, sloppy mess. 

The mushroom fried rice, which was the last vegetarian dish we ordered, was also very tasty with a rich, almost caramelized flavor from the high heat stir frying of the rice.  And while I am not a fan of mushrooms generally, I had to admit they added a level of complexity to the fried rice that one doesn’t generally find with vegetarian fried rice.

So all in all, we had an extremely satisfying Americanized Chinese experience at Wo Hop and I wouldn’t be surprised if we returned one day, despite all of the other fantastic offerings in the area.  In particular, I think what may attract us to the restaurant also reflects the one downside of the meal - the salt!  Almost all of the dishes had a heavy salty flavor (though online I read they don’t use MSG?), but sometimes that flavor more than works.  

Wo Hop

17 Mott Street

Chinatown/Two Bridges, Manhattan

Accessible from the 6 train at Canal Street or Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall, or the J/Z at Chambers Street