We were so excited that a new vegan burger joint was opening up in New York City. Knowing that we were headed out of town a few days after their opening, the suspense would have been too much to wait until we were back from vacation. So, last Friday, we headed out on their second day to try their offerings for lunch.
Bunked in with The Hummus and Pita Company on Broadway between 11th and 12th streets, V Burger’s menu states that they donate 10% of their proceeds to Mercy for Animals. How awesome! We felt sure we were off to a great start! The menu is inviting; multiple burger and sandwich options and all the sides you’d ever want with that burger. We opted to try as many items as possible. We ordered the slider combo, allowing us to mix and match and try more than just one burger. We ordered the V burger Classic, the Einstein Burger and the Fried Unchicken Sandwich. We also ordered the potato salad, coleslaw, onion rings and regular fries.
The potato salad was mildly seasoned with a very nice balance of light mustard-flavored mayo and black pepper. But be prepared—it’s loaded with celery (which I really enjoyed.)
The coleslaw was slightly disappointing to me but, in all fairness, this was because I’m more of a creamy than vinegary guy when it comes to coleslaw. This slaw was very light on the creaminess and heavy on the vinegar. Also throwing me was the unusual inclusion of cilantro (a.k.a. “Satan’s weed”) in this purple cabbage and carrot-loaded slaw.
The onion rings were surprisingly delightful. While a little bit too greasy, the heavier chickpea-based batter crisped up to a nice light flake. We both really liked these onion rings that have a very unique and great flavor.
The fries looked delectably crispy but were a strange cross between crisped on the outside and soggy on the inside. They were not particularly well seasoned, they lacked flavor and within a few bites, we decided that these weren’t worth the calories and we ditched them.
We started the slider trio with the V burger classic. The moment I bit into this slider and tasted that familiar patty, I looked at Michael and said, “These are Gardein Beefless Sliders!” We argued about this a bit but I knew this burger and insisted I was right. We continued to disagree for while though we both agreed that this slider was lacking anything unique; a leaf lettuce, red onions and a slice of tomato with their “special sauce”. Oh, and the bun was stale.
Then we tried their Einstein Burger. This original cauliflower-based patty was interesting. It had a slightly Middle-Eastern flavor to it, largely thanks to the healthy amount of cumin on it. I thought it was fin (minus the stale bun). Michael, not being a fan of cumin, didn’t care for it.
We tasted the Fried Unchicken Sandwich last and, it too was a Gardein Chick’n Slider patty on a stale bun.
V Burger also offers dessert selections from Vegan Treats and a nice array of beverage options including Kombucha on Tap. We were offered a sample of their vanilla milkshake and it was truly delectable.
After trying these burgers, the two of us kept going back and forth about whether these were original products that happened to taste like Gardein or not. I simply could not believe that a new restaurant would open in New York City selling a commercially available frozen vegan burger without placing that info on their menu, so I went up to the manager and he confirmed that we were right.
Honestly? We’re more than a bit shocked and terribly disappointed. Of course we’re always happy when new vegan food options open up, that’s a given. It would be one thing if this were a new restaurant in a small town in the middle of nowhere and this was THE vegan option in town. But in a place like New York City- one of the vegan Meccas of the world where there are so many original restaurants serving their own vegan burgers- this doesn’t really add much to the landscape of our vegan food options. It would be totally fine with us if they openly advertised the fact that they are serving Gardein frozen products. In fact, it would be just the same as any of the number of vegan Asian food establishments around the city where it’s common knowledge that they (mostly) use MayWah vegan meats. But V Burger isn’t open or transparent about this on their menu. In fact, they’re quite deceptive. Their menu boasts,
“At V Burger, a healthy vegan lifestyle is our passion. Using time-tested recipes and the freshest cruelty-free natural ingredients available, we have mastered the art of plant-based cuisine to create an authentic vegan burger joint in New York City. We are your destination for delicious vegan fast food, all with your health in mind.”
A healthy vegan lifestyle? Seriously? I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m a full-gluten, full-fat, full-oil, yes-please-fry-that-for-me kinda guy but I don’t pretend that French fries, onion rings and processed vegan meats are healthy simply because they’re vegan. Moreover, V Burger prepares commercially available frozen vegan burgers poorly (read, “stale buns”) but they don’t really bother to dress it up in any unique or special way. They attempt to pass these off as their “time-tested recipes” from “the freshest cruelty-free ingredients available” when they’re not making these things from scratch, but heating up a frozen patty and bun. When they do this, we New Yorkers feel like we’re getting ripped off. I feel like we’d all do better to make these awesome Gardein products for ourselves at home and send the difference in cost as a donation to Mercy for Animals. I don’t know about you, but when I make Gardein’s sliders at home and follow the instructions on the box, the buns come out soft and deliciously fresh-tasting.
