Today my camera and I took a long lunch down at Washington Square Park, to get one of my favorite meals in the city: a dosa from the NY Dosa cart at West 4th St. and Sullivan. I got to the cart at 2:45 PM, well before the dosa guy usually sells out, which is around 4 PM. But today must have been busy; when I ordered my customary pondicherry, he laughed and said he was all out of pondicherry and dosa filling. But he told me that he could throw together a few things to make a "meal" for me, including extra lentil soup. "OK," I said, and stepped aside to wait.
He ended up giving me a "veggie stick" (some egg roll type fried thing) in a dosa wrapper, a "drumstick" in a moderate pool of barbecue sauce, and two cups of lentil soup. All for $5! A bottle of water and a $2 tip and I was out a mere $7.
But the thing is, the consolation dosa wasn't nearly as good as the chubby, potato and veggie-filled pondicherry I'd grown accustomed to. The meal was filling, and the lentil soup was excellent, as usual. But it just wasn't the same thing. The "drumstick," by the way, is a gluten-based chicken leg analog on a wooden stick (exactly the same as the one served by V-Spot in Brooklyn). I appreciated his improvising with what he had, and giving me a break on the price. But I'll have to go back again soon to get the real experience.
But the thing is, the consolation dosa wasn't nearly as good as the chubby, potato and veggie-filled pondicherry I'd grown accustomed to. The meal was filling, and the lentil soup was excellent, as usual. But it just wasn't the same thing. The "drumstick," by the way, is a gluten-based chicken leg analog on a wooden stick (exactly the same as the one served by V-Spot in Brooklyn). I appreciated his improvising with what he had, and giving me a break on the price. But I'll have to go back again soon to get the real experience.
On the way back to work I grabbed a coffee and, feeling a little unsatisfied by my consolation lunch, swung by Green Symphony on 43rd St. between 7th and 8th for a snack. Green Symphony is a great little buffet/deli that offers a surprising amount of vegan food. They have a lot of homemade bars and cookies, almost none of which can be metabolized for under 600 calories. I got a "BMW" bar, the name of which is an acronym, but for what I can't remember. Maybe "Body, Mind, Wellness?" I don't know. It's filled with walnuts and apple chunks and raisins. It's mushy and filling. It may very well be gluten free. It tastes like it looks. I don't recommend it, unless you're starving and have few other choices.
The cake bar crumb thingy actually looks good to me.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's what I thought while I was fogging up the display case glass.
ReplyDelete