Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Caravan Of Dreams

Once again, I’m using this website a an excuse to try out restaurants I’ve been dying to dine at for ages… Caravan of Dreams has been on that list for awhile. I can’t even count the number of times I walked past, but I never had a good excuse to go in – until now.

I met my friend John here around 6pm – at that time of day, the lighting was beautiful in the restaurant. I fell in love with the place immediately. Rich, comfy colors, potted plants all around the windowsils… it felt like someone’s bohemian kitchen where I would have been perfectly content to spend hours eating, talking, reading, etc.

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unsuspecting diners who I rudely photographed without their knowledge

The veggie burger comes with a side salad (which was pretty tasty) but I also splurged and ordered a chilled avocado coconut soup as an appetizer. FYI, it was delicious.

But I was most excited to taste the burger itself - and it was great. The sprouted-grain bun was positively overloaded with sesame seeds (I’ve never seen that many on one bun before!). As a little kid, I would have probably bee horrified by this sight. But now as an adult, I loved it. The grilled onions and peppers were fantastic, too. Grilled onions are one of the best things you can put on top of a burger, in my humble opinion.

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Although the patty tasted wonderful, it did not hold together well at all. I’m all for a burger that falls apart as you eat it. Some of my favorite ones are those which leave a big mess in your hands and on your plate as you eat them. But they have to hold together just enough so that you still get an even ratio of bun, toppings, and patty in each bite. This one had issues with that – the patty squished and oozed out of the bun as I started eating it so that after a few bites I realized I was only eating toppings and bun, and most of the patty had slid out and onto my plate.

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That’s what forks are for, though! Because it was delicious: potatoes with other vegetables and grains (it was all mashed together so it was hard to pick out individual ingredients), grilled. And clearly a house-made patty too, nothing pre-packaged or generic about it.

And I’d love to return to Caravan of Dreams to try some of their other dishes another time… even though it wasn't the best veggie burger I've ever had, it was still a good one. And clearly they know how to cook good vegan food - there were a lot of things on their menu that I would have been tempted to order if I hadn't gone straight to the veggie burger. And it’s always great to have another vegan restaurant I can confidently recommend to someone.

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Cost: $13
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Burger patty: 4:       Bun: 4:       Toppings:4

Caravan of Dreams
405 east 6th Street
between 1st Ave & Ave A
New York, NY 10009
212.254.1613

YumVeggieBurger review #24

5 comments:

  1. Ooh, that patty does look good even if it is a little messy. And the avocado coconut soup sounds super yummy!

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  2. I've been meaning to try CoD too. Gorgeous photos!

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  3. Beautiful photos!!
    I have an odd question for you. Do you have a favorite recipe for a dairy and gluten/wheat free veggie burger? Would love for you to share it with me!

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  4. Aaah! You read my mind! I've been planning to go there!

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  5. you're driving me nuts!!!! I just found out your website ... I just freak out when I see a veg-burger, but here...you're great! I'd love to take a burger tour but unfortunately we are not so open minded here in Italy...
    Just remember: you have a brand new fan from today...and I'd really love to be in your shoes when you bite e veggie burger....
    Clo

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