March 20, 2008
Flushing's Vege Eats Goes Beyond Gardenburgers
On the outskirts of Queens’ Murray Hill, which is best known for Korean barbecue and fried chicken, is a store that caters to a much less carnivorous crowd. Meat eaters who first see the green sign for Vege Eats, might think that all that's inside is Gardenburgers. But as the sign says, it’s a “vegetarian specialty food store,” which is putting it lightly.
The shop has a huge wall of freezer cases that offer products that go way beyond vegetarian bacon and Tofutti Cuties. There’s plenty of seafood on hand. For those who find mock salmon boring, there’s always abalone or mouth breeder fish. There are 14 types of veggie ham and sausages alone, including codfish ham. And of course there are chicken nuggets, and various other poultry replacement products.
The faux meat parade doesn’t stop there, though. If you have a craving for vegetarian mutton this is the place to be. Vege Eats offers not one, but two kinds of the mock mutton, which is made from mushrooms, among other things. Apparently there are vegetarians who miss ribs, as evidenced by Vege Bar.B.Q. rib, which consists of longish chunks of reddish mystery “meat.”
After a few minutes in the microwave, the faux rib meat is ready to eat. It has a spongy texture, with a touch of smoke flavoring and a little pepper. While it’s clearly designed to taste like Chinese ribs, it’s no substitute for Wo Hop. But it’s still probably the best fake rib meat made from soybean and wheat albumen.
Vege Eats Inc., 45-46 162 St., Flushing, 718-353-5090
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I think this fake food stuff is very weird. Not that I don't appreciate that people should eat what makes them happy and healthy. Vegetarians, vegans, whatever..... there are many great reasons to follow such diets, I hope they're all happy eating the stuff in this store.
But personally, I really hate stuff that's fake. I don't get it. If I don't want to eat a hamburger for whatever reason, then I certainly won't want to eat a fake hamburger! Even if you call it mutton, if it's made of soy or something, it's fake! DON'T CALL IT MUTTON! I see no need to pretend it is something that it isn't. Call it whatever it is and be happy.
Same thing goes the other way around... sometimes I want to eat vegetarian, so I'll have some vegetables that look like and taste like vegetables. Tofu burgers make as much sense as creating a tabouli-like concoction that's made of pork or something.
These veggietarian soonads want to eat something that looks and tastes like meat they should eat meat! Oobatz!
Some of the faux meat stuff is really good. It is a way for us vegetarians not to give into temptation and to have something different.
So I take it that the store just sells stuff to prepare later or does it have stuff to eat then and there?
Toby: you are correct they don't sell anything to prepare there.
Goomba: Ma perche no lasciami da solo? Che classe de parole e "soonads?"
Joey: So they just have stuff to take home. Thanks for the info.
Now, I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, but several of my friends are, and most of them believe that eating animals is morally wrong. Very few of them were raised with this belief. Like most of us, they grew up eating hamburgers and hotdogs and pepperoni pizza. Now they enjoy Gardenburgers and tofu dogs and tofu sausage because it lets them keep eating similar foods to the ones they've always enjoyed, now that they've eliminated actual animal products from their diets.
Makes sense to me. Their consciences are clear, and they still get to have traditional holiday meals every winter, thanks to tofurkey. One friend of mine believes that meat consumption is environmentally unsustainable and has committed himself to not eating it. Fake meat products help him eliminate temptation.
And I have to say, I'm pretty impressed by the "breaded chicken" I recently enjoyed at a vegan restaurant with some buddies. Realistic taste, realistic texture. Not quite the real deal, but it was still very nice...especially as there were no disgusting encounters with fat or gristle, which is the risk that you run with real chicken meat.
I think it sounds interesting! Is it close to a subway station?
Here's a similar store in manhattan:
http://www.vegieworld.com/index.asp