Taking the ethnic out of Zen | NYC's Zen Burger at Schema : more than ethnic

Taking the ethnic out of Zen | NYC's Zen Burger

Though vegetarianism appears to be on a general decline in North America, so-called 'flexitarianism' and semi-vegetarianism appear to be holding strong. Until recently, dining options for vegetarians were slim - largely comprised of Buddhist-style meatless 'meat' dining or the lonesome 'vegetarian option' in other restaurants. If you were fortunate enough to live in a city with enough similiarly inclined people, you could probably find a vegetarian restaurant but it would be one that borrowed heavily from existing vegetarian cuisines of Asia, bean-heavy Latin-American dishes, or cheese - think New York's Angelica Kitchen (a vegan organic restaurant), Vancouver's The Naam or San Francisco's Herbivore.

But what does one do when one craves the fried boot-shaped deliciousness of a chicken nugget? Or a decent veggie burger, milkshake and fries? When you want a vegetarian meal but aren't interested in all those strange ethnic flavours (like exotic black pepper)? A new concept has arisen in NYC to address the gap. ZEN BURGER presents veggie renditions of such American favs as chicken burgers, egg mcmuffins, and fried shrimp baskets - all under one kid- and white-people-friendly roof. Owners of Zen Burger have plans to export this brilliant concept to other markets so a 'not dog' may be landing in your neighbourhood soon. Joy.

More: Zen Burger @ www.zenburger.com

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Comments

I had a veggie dog (sausage) for the first time for breakfast last week. Couldn't quite get it down without some hot salsa to provide a diversion. Some textures aren't eaten widely, for good reasons.

Now, vegetarian dim sum at Bo Kong in Vancouver...that is a treat! My family went for Christmas dinner (not for dim sum, of course), and one of my relatives wryly pointed after (after waving hi to her friends) that there were more non-Asian than Asian people there, including at least 2 tables of 12 people.

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