Borough Vegetarian

Franchia - A Pan-Asian Vegan Delight

I am generally not a fan of vegan or pure vegetarian restaurants, or restaurants that span too many genres. With the former, I generally find that all-veg restaurants can too often focus their menus on meat-like elements or mock meat to be enjoyable for me.  With the latter, I generally have found that if restaurants try to do too much, they end up doing too much poorly instead of well.

As such, I was pleasantly surprised when I made it to Franchia, the more casual, pan-Asian vegan outpost of Hangawi, the excellent albeit pricey Koreatown vegan restaurant.  Although pan-Asian and with a huge menu (featuring Korean, Thai, and Japanese-inspired dishes) with a lot of mock-meat type dishes, I found that the diverse flavors at Franchia were quite good.

A friend and split three items at lunch - a summer roll (standard but good appetizer), the lunch special hot pot, and the spicy okra and eggplant curry stew (my main dish).

(Spicy Okra and Eggplant Curry Stew)

Both of the entrees arrived boiling - literally, as shown in the picture above - and were spicy with a ton of vegetables.  Each item could have easily served two people for lunch, especially because they were both served with rice.  

The service was also efficient and quick - perfect for a mid-week lunch.  I definitely look forward to returning.

Franchia

12 Park Avenue, btwn. 34th and 35th Street

Midtown, Manhattan

Steps from the 6 train at 33rd Street, and 10 - 15 minute walk from the B/D/F/M/N/Q/R at 34th Street/Herald Square

Mapo BBQ - Not Intended for Vegetarians, But Vegetarians Can Still Enjoy

My husband loves Korean barbecue, and his current favorite Korean barbecue restaurant in the five boroughs is Mapo BBQ in Murray Hill, Queens (near Flushing).  His love of Mapo has brought me there a few times, and while the restaurant was clearly never intended for vegetarians, I have been able to pull together good meals there.

Mapo has a few vegetarian starter/side dishes, including some of the bon chon and creamy corn dishes that are served with meat orders.

I have to admit that while others love the creamy corn dish, I have never been a fan because I think it has too much mayonnaise/egg taste for my liking. 

I do like the meat and egg-less dolsot bibimbop, which is a healthy serving of food, to say the least.

I am also a huge fan of the rice cakes, which come in a spicy sauce with vegetables and a whole boiled egg (which I generally avoid).  

I could definitely eat those rice cakes alone as a meal, but for some reason, they always come at the tail end of our feasts, when we are almost too full to eat them!

So while I know I will be returning to Mapo, I think it's not a bad Korean bbq choice for vegetarians because of these dishes.  One flag though is that like other Korean bbq places, the meat is cooked via charcoal heaters on the tables, so there is a strong smell of meat cooking in the restaurant.

Mapo BBQ

149-24 41st Avenue

Murray Hill/Flushing, Queens

Easily accessible from the Murray Hill LIRR station

Natural Tofu - Great Korean Vegetarian Tofu Stew in Queens

When we first moved to Sunnyside, Queens, some of my husband’s co-workers told him that their favorite Sundubu Jjigae (Korean soft tofu stew) restaurant was in our new neighborhood.  

In disbelief because of our love of Cho Dang Gol in Midtown, we forestalled a visit to Natural Tofu, a mere two blocks away from our new apartment, for several weeks this summer.

When we finally went to Natural Tofu, we were definitely impressed by their sundubu jjigae.  The vegetarian version is a complete meal, a steal for only $9.  Spicy, creamy and good vegetable flavor as well, I can definitely see Natural Tofu becoming a regular weeknight meal during the winter months. 

The others we went with tried some other Korean meat options - bibimbap and some grilled meat, which were also enjoyed.  One downside of Natural Tofu though is that their pancakes (jeon) all have meat and they can’t make a vegetarian version :-(

(assorted banchan)

Natural Tofu

40-06 Queens Blvd (south side of street)

Sunnyside, Queens

Across the street from the 7 train at 40th Street/Lowery

Danji - Upscale Korean Restaurant with a Dedicated Vegetarian Menu

While I love Korean food, it can be hard for me to find Korean restaurants that serve vegetarian options beyond a bibimbap sans meat or maybe some japchae.  

While my new favorite Korean restaurant in NYC, Cho Dang Gol, does actually mark its vegetarian options on its menu, I haven’t been to a NYC Korean restaurant that actually prioritizes vegetarians such that there is a full vegetarian menu.  (The obvious exceptions are the exclusively vegetarian Korean restaurants in NYC, Hangawi and Franchia.)  

That focus on vegetarians is what brought me to Danji, an upscale, Michelin-starred Korean restaurant in Midtown West/Hell’s Kitchen, that also features its vegetarian menu on the restaurant website.  While the vegetarian menu is not huge - 5 items - it’s still a dedicated selection that does make vegetarians feel welcome.

The vegetarian food at Danji is also quite good, though not the spice-fest that you’ll potentially find at other city Korean restaurants.  I started with the tofu with ginger-scallion dressing small plate, which featured insanely soft, pillow-like tofu enveloped by some sort of panko-type breading for a great texture contrast.  

The japchae main course was slightly less exciting, but included different flavors and textures in the dish (sesame seeds, saltiness from the sauce, and the crunchy cooked vegetables).  I have to admit I wish I had more spicy sauce to make this dish more memorable, but nothing was inherently wrong with it - just a little boring.  

So while Danji will probably be a repeat with my meat-eating husband, it hasn’t displaced my other favorite Korean restaurants in the city.

Danji

346 W. 52nd

Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan

Most easily accessible from the C/E at 50th Street 

Cho Dang Gol - My New Favorite Korean Restaurant and Midtown Lunch Spot

Although I have walked by Cho Dang Gol dozens of times and have seen it on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list, I didn’t think about going there until I was searching recently for an affordable (and tasty) lunch spot in Midtown. 

I looked up their menu online, and was pleasantly surprised to find a number of specifically marked vegetarian options.  I was also pleasantly surprised by the $10.95 lunch special price given how expensive Midtown restaurants can be.  

The two times I have gone to Cho Dang Gol for lunch, the food has been consistently cooked well, included strong flavors, and remained affordable even when we added in a number of items not on the lunch menu.

The first time I went, our meal started off with some house-made soft tofu, which was both creamy and slightly sweet.

In addition to this starter, which was accompanied by banchan side dishes as well, the first time I visited the restaurant, we also ordered the vegetarian Kimchi Jeon (pancake) to start.  

The pancake was pretty flavorful, not too oily, and had a decent amount of crispness on the outside and softness in the inside.  That being said, I was a bit shocked by the $18 price tag, especially seeing that it wasn’t the enormous jeon that some Korean restaurants serve.

In addition to these starters, both times I visited, I ordered the Vegetable Cham Dubu, a spicy stew of vegetables, a ton of chiles, and more soft, fresh tofu.  The cham dubu is served with a plentiful serving of rice, which makes it a spicy and completely filling main course.  And at only $10.95, it more than made up for the expensive jeon course which one definitely didn’t need to feel satisfied with their lunch.

One additional tip I can share having now gone there for lunch twice is that to get a table without a wait, I would recommend showing up by 12pm.  The place is completely packed by 12:30pm, such that when I first tried to go to Cho Dang Gol, I couldn’t stay because of the 20-minute quoted wait, which frankly seemed like it would be a lot longer given the line out of the door.  

The food is definitely worth it though if you have time to wait for a post-12:30pm lunch or you can there on the earlier side.  I know I’ll be certainly returning!

Cho Dang Gol

55 W. 35th Street

Koreatown/Midtown, Manhattan

Easily accessible from the B/D/F/M/N/Q/R trains at 34th Street/Herald Square