M Noodle Shop and an Anniversary

I can hardly believe it, but BrooklynVegetarian is a year old! I thought a perfect way to celebrate would be a post about M Noodle Shop, the restaurant that was the feature of my first post on Serious Eats: NY. We were in the neighborhood to see our friend Justin‘s play, and we stopped by M Noodle Shop for a pre-theater meal. On the recommendation of a commenter on my SE:NY post I got the vegetable noodle soup, and then I also got some friend vegetable buns. The buns were great; pillowy soft on the outside, stuffed with flavorful mushrooms and veggies on the inside. The soup was delicious, full of fresh, crunchy vegetables and long, soft, udon-like noodles, perfect for slurping. And yes, the broth is vegetarian. My stomach had been a little upset earlier in the day, but this was comfort food for my belly.

M Noodle Shop — 549 Metropolitan Ave

Vegetarian Arepa From the Palenque Truck

A few weekends ago I went down to 7th Avenue to get lunch at the Cinnamon Snail truck (post to come), and noticed that parked across the street was the Palenque Truck, specializing in Colombian arepas. I had to check it out, and to my surprise they have several vegetarian options. You get your choice of arepa (traditionally a flat disk made of corn meal and water), which gets griddled until crispy. Hot off of the griddle it gets a smear of butter, which melts instantly on the hot surface, and then your choice of topping (I chose one of the vegan toppings, seitan). Then it gets a handful of arugula, some fresh cheese, and a generous squeeze of spicy mayo and a guacamole sauce. The combination was fantastic, though the arepa itself was a bit dry. Next time (and there will be a next time) I’ll spring for the sauteed tomatoes and onions for a little extra flavor and moisture.

Speedy Romeo

They take a lot of pride in what they do at Speedy Romeo, the new pizza joint in Clinton Hill. When I met for dinner with my friends Jess & Garrett our server explained that the food is cooked either on the grill or in the pizza oven, they don’t use gas to cook. The peppers that filled the cute jar were pickled in-house. It’s just too bad I didn’t enjoy my pizza more. I went with the restaurant’s namesake, the Speedy Romeo, a grilled pizza topped with ricotta, tomato, chili oil, and lemon. Our server had told us that the pizza wasn’t piping hot; the dough is topped with the fresh ingredients after being grilled, so it would be merely warm. It would not, she said, be cold. That may have been true if it had been served just after being made, but I watched the pizza cool as we waited for Jess & Garrett’s pizzas, and by the time it arrived in front of me it was most definitely cold. The crust was nicely seasoned and the ricotta and lemon made a nice pair, but the cold tomatoes were off-putting. I did enjoy the fresh mozzarella in my appetizer, paired with more chili oil and smoked eggplant on a big crusty piece of bread. I’d be willing to try one of their more conventional pizzas, and I usually do order the margherita as a litmus test for pizza places, but I don’t plan on making another trip there any time soon.

Speedy Romeo — 376 Classon Ave

Smorgasburg 2012

One of the very first posts I did on this blog was about last year’s Smorgasburg. It’s open once again, with even more vendors than before. I had some good food, and some not-so-good food, but my favorite item of the day was the margherita from Pizza Moto. Pizza Moto has been bringing their mobile pizza oven to events for a while now, but I’ve never had it before. Fresh out of the oven it’s a real treat; lightly charred crust, nicely seasoned sauce, and creamy mozzarella.

Some tips: Skip the paratha from Parantha Alley; though freshly made, they are greasy and not very flavorful. Do get the cheong fun from Noodle Lane; soft and silky rice crepes tossed with peanut sauce and some crunchy vegetables. There are a lot of vegetarian options at Smorgasburg, and it’s only there for a few months, so don’t waste any time.

Smorgasburg — 27 N 6 Street

Mapo Tofu At Tofu On 7th

Dear Readers, I am in love. Ever since Tofu on 7th got a new chef who’s actually from Sichuan Province, in China, they’ve been knocking the vegetarian mapo tofu out of the park. At most Americanized Chinese restaurants the dish is sloppy, sweet, and boring. At Tofu on 7th it’s an incredible dish. Silken tofu is drenched in chile oil and dried chiles, and sprinkled with Sichuan peppercorns. The creaminess of the tofu is broken up by the crunch of curled green onions. The spiciness of the chiles is offset by the electric numbing sensation of the Sichuan peppercorns. It’s an altogether addictive and captivating plate of food. I eat this dish almost once a week, and it never gets old.

By the way, although I try to order brown rice when possible, this dish all but DEMANDS to be eaten with white rice.

Tofu on 7th — 226 7th Ave

Naruto Ramen, Park Slope

So I have to admit that until the other day I’d never gone out to eat ramen. In my life, ramen is nothing more than the instant noodles I used to eat as a kid. Sure, I’ve seen paeans to ramen around NYC, but they seem to be reliant on a savory pork broth. I was walking by Naruto Ramen in Park Slope, and decided to break my ramen cherry. What better place than a ramen joint named after an anime character?

At Naruto they have three types of vegetarian ramen (which has a soy-based broth). I chose the miso ramen, which turned out to be a little bland — at least until I started adding toppings. These include fried garlic, soy sauce, chili oil, and chili flakes. The broth tasted much better after these had been steeping in it for a while. The noodles, on the other hand, were fantastic. I watched as the chef dropped the noodles into hot water and set a timer; one minute too long or too short and the noodles wouldn’t be right. These were great — chewy, slightly firm, silky… The vegetables that dotted the bowl — broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, bean sprouts — were basically raw, just heated through by the broth. The silken tofu was the same, though because of its texture the tofu was burning hot.

Naruto Ramen — 276 5th Ave

Toasted Cheese At Halyards

After the Beer for Beasts event, my friends and I decided we hadn’t had enough beer and food and so we headed to nearby Halyards. As always, I had low expectations for the food. As often happens, I was pleasantly surprised by the food. The toasted cheese and tomato sandwich was quite good, especially the chewy, crusty bread. I don’t normally like tomato on cheese sandwiches, but it worked very well in this case. The pickles were also excellent, I think they were from Brooklyn Brine. One of these days I’m going to have to readjust my expectations about bar food, at least here in Brooklyn.

Halyards — 406 3rd Ave