Bagel shop has alternatives to meat, eggs and cheese

NORFOLK

Yorgo’s Bageldashery tries hard to appeal to vegans, offering specials and menu items including a tofu “egg” salad, chixette salad, a vegan burrito, as well as Tofutti cream cheese for its bagels.

I’m an omnivore, happy to try new things, and I increasingly find such stuff appealing – not only for the taste, but for the novelty. I discovered “chicken of the woods,” now my favorite mushroom, at a vegetarian restaurant.

Which brings me to my recent order Yorgo’s vegan “BLT.”

Instead of bacon, Yorgo’s loaded up my bagel with lettuce, tomato, an herbed mayonnaise substitute and tempeh – a high-protein food made with cooked soybeans, often served as meat substitute.

It was ready in minutes, served on a paper plate.

Yorgo’s dozen or so tables were full during lunchtime, and a steady stream of customers lined up to take out salads, soup, bagels, and sandwiches – including a pastrami special.

I studied what resembled a thin slice of meatloaf protruding from my bagel, and tentatively nibbled the tempeh.

 “It tastes nothing like bacon,” I told my companion, who had elected to go with sliced turkey on a bagel. Still, the musky, earthy, smoky taste spread on my palate, and was not at all unpleasing.

I decided it was reminiscent of bacon, though not nearly as salty.

Coupled with the toasted fresh sesame bagel, crisp lettuce, tomato slices, and fake mayonnaise, it was tasty and satisfying – and a bargain at $3.90.

Matthew Roy, matthew.roy@pilotonline.com