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| - Way back when in my fledgling vegan years, this spot used to be a place called Veggie House that I loved and adored until it recently closed down. My friends and I would come to this spot for dirt cheap vegan Chinese food in a low key food court setting, and all would be well.
So, after losing Veggie House and White Oak II at around the same time, I was pining for tasty food in Chinatown again. Zen-e-Lunchbox has certainly met and exceeded my wishes. I visited recently- same exact set up, and a very similar menu. I got to speaking with the owner and he is extremely friendly. He took his time to listen to my rambles about how happy I was to seem them open, and to talk about vegetarianism. When I asked if I had a take out menu, he said he only had the copy of the menu in its little plastic sheet, then took it out and GAVE it to me, and said he would print off a new one. He insisted I take it, and I was very humbled by the friendly gesture.
I wanted to order hundreds of dollars of food just supposed him, even though it was just me and one of my pals. We did get to try a variety of items though; shanghai noodles with mixed vegetables, ginger "beef," stuffed tofu rolls, and pan fried dumplings. Man, everything was delicious, dare I say even better than when Veggie House was on its last legs a couple years ago!We were absolutely thrilled with everything on our plates. The ginger "beef" was seasoned perfectly, and won over my omnivorous friend who said she would prefer it to the real thing. I was particularly charmed by the tofu rolls and dumplings and will probably go back just to stuff my face with those. We left stuffed full of deep fried veggie gluten goodness.
Trendy health food vegans, beware! This place is not for you, and I am warning you so that I don't have to read complain-y reviews about this later. However, if you are a fan of Buddhas, or pining for some amazing Chinese take out, then definitely pay the lovely folks at Zen-E-Lunchbox a visit. I can't wait to keep supporting them and dragging friends here for lunch dates.
Welcome, Zen-E-Lunchbox. Stay around awhile!
Review 31/30 of Yelp's 30 Day Challenge 2012
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