Energy Kitchen

I’ve had Energy Kitchen on my list of veggie-burgers-to-try for awhile, so when I heard that they were doing a special promotion where all their burgers are only $5 for the month of June, I decided to move it up to the top of the list.



When I arrived at the 23rd Street location, I placed my order and was given this buzzer that would let me know when my burger was ready – I’ve seen these before at big sit-down franchise restaurants, but never at fast food places until now. There was a line of people all holding buzzers waiting for their food to be ready. I was here on a weekday at lunchtime, so this “line” was actually more like a crowded cluster of very hungry people!


This was how my burger was served – all wrapped up (doesn’t it look so round, kind of like an apple?)



The patty is a Dr. Praeger’s veggie burger – the girl who took my order said she did not know if it was vegan or not (I know some Dr. Praeger’s burgers are, but I’m not 100% sure which one this was). It was a mix of peppers, carrots, soy beans, and other vegetables. Crispy on the outside, and soft and mushy on the inside. It tasted seasoned, but nothing terribly special. Sort of like a vegetable soup. Half of it fell out of the bun as I was eating it, too.



The bun was a soft, flakey wheat roll. Pretty tasty, but once again, the girl at the counter couldn’t verify if it was vegan or not (she said she couldn’t even check… which sounded rather odd). Seems strange that such a health-conscious restaurant (Energy Kitchen boasts “nothing over 500 calories” and “everything grilled, steamed, or baked”) can’t even tell its customers what ingredients (hello, allergies???) its food contains.

The tomatoes were green in the center, but the lettuce and the avocado were good. Honestly, what saved this burger was the hot sauce packets that came with it. They gave the otherwise kind of boring flavors a much-needed kick.



Worth checking out during the $5 burger promotion this month, but I doubt I would go back and pay full price. I can buy a box of Dr. Praeger’s burgers at the grocery store and make my own, better burger at home. They had a vegetarian chili on the menu, which could be promising, and a full smoothie bar – so maybe if I came back I’d just try out a smoothie instead of a burger.

Cost: $5.00 + 99 cents for avocado (month of June only – regularly $6.99 + 99 cents)
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 3      Bun: 3      Toppings: 3

Energy Kitchen
18 West 23rd Street
between 5th and 6th Ave
New York, NY 10010
212.989.2323
Various locations in Manhattan- check website for addresses

YumVeggieBurger review #63

Goodburger

I did not have high expectations for Goodburger – it looks like your standard fast-food chain, afterall. But I have to admit, when I walked up to the counter to place my order, and asked the cashier if the veggie burger was vegan, her confident “yes” took me by surprise... as did her quickness to alert me to the fact that “the works”, which the veggie comes topped with by default, includes mayonnaise, but I could order it without if I wanted the burger to be completely vegan.

Then I saw this sign while I was waiting for my food:



Fast food that not only knows what vegan means, but advertises a menu item as such??? That’s something I had not expected at all! (the grammar might be a bit off, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

But, lest you get too excited (or fans of fast food too disappointed) – this is how my burger looked when I received it:



That’s more like what I had expected from such an establishment as this.

Barely-green iceburg lettuce, tomato slices that ranged from “okay” to “not ripe enough to eat”, red onions, pickles, ketchup and mustard. The bun was one of those generic pre-packaged ones, but at least it was whole wheat (another option which the helpful cashier had offered to me when I placed my order) and it was fresh – lightly toasted, but not stale like too many generic buns I have encountered over the course of this endeavor.



The best part of this burger was definitely the patty – I was surprised by how good it was, sandwiched between such mediocre buns and toppings. But it was grilled to a crisp on the outside, and warm and soft on the inside, and actually quite tasty. Filled with a mash of vegetables, I could pick out pieces of individual ones to identify: carrots, corn, red peppers, soy beans, and – the biggest surprise – zucchini!



Is Goodburger fast food or not? I don’t know – it’s not as bad as other fast food burger chains which shall not be named here…But the interior feels like a fast food place, and with six locations in NYC I think it qualifies. It’s actually a little more expensive than you would expect a burger to be from a fast food place – or at least you would expect that price tag to include fries, which this one does not! It's not "the best in New York" as their advertising tries to claim, but I still have to say it’s probably the best veggie burger I’ve eaten or will ever expect to eat from a fast food chain.



Cost: $6.20 (does not include fries)
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 4      Bun: 2      Toppings: 2

Goodburger
977 8th Ave
between 57th & 58th Street
New York, NY 10019
212.245.2200
five other locations in Manhattan - check their website for the addresses

YumVeggieBurger review #40

Hibernia

You know how sometimes you just want to eat a crappy burger with nasty American cheese on top?
That’s called being drunk.

Sometimes I’m so dedicated to this blog that I order a burger which I KNOW will be bad. Because someone has to review it, right? The world needs to know. So I “take one for the team” and eat a burger at a sports-type bar that clearly just added a generic “veggie burger” to its menu as an after-thought to capitalize on the increasing popularity of vegetarianism, without concern for the quality of said menu offering.

This was one such burger.



Generic veggie patty… check! And very dry, at that. I don’t know if it was just that bad to begin with or if they cooked it for too long with no oil, or what… but it was bad. That kind of imitation-meat texture, mixed with peas and carrots (why are the makers of generic veggie patties so uncreative when it comes to choosing what vegetables they include?)



The bun was pretty standard for bar food. The toppings were your basic lettuce, tomato, and onion, with a pickle on the side. The fries were definitely the best part of the meal.

Obviously, no one comes to this bar just to eat the veggie burger. I’d love to do a survey someday to see how many veggie burgers places like this sell per week… I can’t imagine it’s a large number. Guess frozen burgers keep for months, though!

But if you like sports bars filled with tons of people at 2am in Hell’s Kitchen, by all means do not let my review of one menu item deter you from enjoying that scene.

Cost: $9 (add $1 for cheese)
Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 1      Bun: 2      Toppings: 2

Hibernia
401 west 50th Street
between 9th and 10th Ave
New York, NY 10019
212.969.9703

YumVeggieBurger review #25

5 Napkin Burger [Astoria]

UPDATE: The Astoria location of 5 Napkin Burger is now closed. Manhattan locations are still open, see website for addresses. Original review of the Astoria location archived below:

I thought it rather serendipidous that just after I had conceived the idea to start this blog, I heard about Five Napkin Burger opening a new location in Astoria. I checked their website to see if they served a veggie burger, and not only did they list one on the menu – they also featured a delicious-looking photo which made me very eager to sample it.

So a couple carnivorous cohorts and I finally went over to check the place out one evening. It was a slightly nostalgic event as well, since the last time I had been in this building was back when it was known as Cup Diner (I ignored its brief reincarnation as “Café Bizarre” or whatever it was), one of my earliest memories of this neighborhood. The place has been given quite a makeover now – the layout is about the same, but the whole inside feels a lot shinier, and although you might not notice them immediately, there are meat hooks decorating the ceiling - as if you had come to dine in an abattoir.

It was dinnertime, and a bit busy, so we opted for a table instead of waiting a little longer for a booth. While my friends debated which of the meat-burgers they would try, I read the description of mine: “5 Napkin Veggie Burger – housemade with 5N sauce, b&b pickles, lettuce & tomato, multi grain roll”. Yum.


Look at those pickles!

I was a bit confused when, after our burgers were served, we were each still left with only the one napkin that had been at our place setting when we arrived at the table. Shouldn’t a place called “5 Napkin Burger” actually give you five napkins to eat your burger with? The food looked too good for me to ponder this for long, however…




Mmmmmm.
I had told my friends that (after seeing the aforementioned website photos) I had a hunch this could be a contender for another 5-star burger… I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high, but I was right!

It is not too different from my first 5-star burger, actually. Both patties rely heavily on grains and beets. I’m starting to think beets are the secret ingredient to the best veggie burgers on the planet. Also beets are just amazing on their own – but no worries if you are not a fan of them, I swear you won’t be turned off by their presence in these burgers! Honestly, I ate Houston’s veggie burger before I even liked beets, but they are so well-mixed in with everything else that they do not stand out although they definitely contribute to the overall quality in the best way possible. 5 Napkin’s burger is not quite as crispy on the outside as Houston’s (I can’t help it, comparing the two is inevitable, as they are the only 5 star burgers I have encountered so far!), nor is it as richly flavored with sauce cooked into the patty.



But the toppings make up for that – the pickles are amazing, and whatever the 5N sauce is (I’m assuming it’s dairy-based... although the patty itself contains eggs, if ordered without the sauce it could at least be a dairy-free burger), it is delicious as well. Thick juicy tomato slices, bright green lettuce… yeah, perfect toppings.

The bun is hearty, almost a little too thick to the point that it could have overwhelmed the rest of the burger, but I forgave it because, well, look at all those grains and seeds on it!

So it’s definitely another 5-star burger. Does it knock Houston’s off its throne? Not quite (honestly that is a feat that will take some miracle-work to accomplish) but it is definitely in the same league. And I would most decidedly happily return to eat it again at the soonest possible excuse. I also feel less guilty for liking 5 Napkin than I do about liking Houston's, since it's not as big a chain restaurant.

Cost: $11.95
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Burger patty: 5 stars       Bun: 4 stars       Toppings: 5 stars

Five Napkin Burger
35-01 36th Street
Astoria, NY 11106
718.433.2727
multiple locations in Manhattan - check their website for the addresses

YumVeggieBurger review #20

Zen Palate

A coworker and I came here for lunch one afternoon – I had read good things about Zen Palate’s veggie burgers and was eager to check them off my list.

Our waiter took awhile to get around to taking our order, but once we got his attention he was very apologetic and friendly so although the service continued to be a bit inattentive throughout our meal, we forgave him. I ordered from the lunch special menu – $8.95 for the “zen burger with yam fries” and a pineapple iced tea. Not a bad deal.



My first bite was pretty satisfying. The bun felt like it was just starting to go stale, but the toppings were good enough to mostly make up for that – lettuce and a garbanzo bean spread beneath the burger, tomato and sprouts on top.

The patty itself tasted great. I could see bits of corn and a few other vegetables, but they were mixed together so well you didn’t taste a different one in each bite (which is often a complaint I have about some lower-quality patties). It wasn’t the most mind-blowing burger I have ever eaten, as described by some reviews I had read online prior to this lunch. But it was a pretty darn good burger anyway – a solid three stars.



And the yam fries were amazing. I have to give them credit for 1. Offering yam fries as the default side instead of regular potato fries, and 2. Not charging extra because they are yam instead of potato. More restaurants should do this, in my opinion!

The rest of the menu had some pretty tempting-sounding dishes as well, so I wouldn’t mind returning to try something else. Although if I am in midtown and craving a veggie burger again, I also wouldn’t mind returning to eat this one again.


Cost: $8.95 lunch special ($9.50 on the dinner menu)
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 3    Bun: 2      Toppings: 3

Zen Palate
663 9th Avenue
between 45th and 46th street
New York, NY 10036
212.582.1669

YumVeggieBurger review #2