Quick, Cheap & Good with Room For Improvement
4
Posted on 11 / 10 / 2012
The Good: If you want an awesome vege cheeze burger (or double cheezeburger!), or a quick, cheap, and decent veg meal, then "The Vegetarian Schwarma" is a great choice.
The bad: This place has a limited menu, in terms of flavors, contents, and your control over the menu. Unlike its competitor, Buddha Burgers, there is no Tempeh or Seitan used here (only Tofu and Soy Fake meat). The flavors are also limited. You cant choose a sauce, carb, and protein and have a stir fry made for you. The stir fry has one sauce and that's it. It's fast food, with as few choices as necessary for the customer.
Although the restaurant is called "the Vegetarian Schwarma" my dining partner and I, were very unimpressed with the signature dish which was pretty bland. I think it's ironic that while many real Schwarma places have self-serve salads galore, the "healthy" vege Schwarma place puts a few pickles and some Israeli salad in beforehand and gives you almost no choices.
Meanwhile, the vege burgers here are the best in Tel Aviv and MM MM Good! They only have 1 type of burger and you can get it as a vegan cheeseburger. The cheeseburger was delicious as was the sauce and I detected a hint of flax seed in the burger.
I also tried the Pizza, Salami Sandwich (Naknik), and tofu stir fry. The Pizza was great (maybe the best vegan pizza in tel aviv along with "Taste of Life"), and I ordered it with Vege-Pepperoni. The vegan cheese wasn't the perfect consistency but it was very good and the crust was excellent (Note: at 39 Shekels for a personal pizza, this was the only overpriced item on their menu). The salami was a major disappointment. It was basically a few slivers (of the same pepperoni they use on the pizza) cut up and thrown in a baguette with Israeli salads. I asked for Sour Kraut and got Israeli pickled cabbage, the whole thing tasted off and cheap. Lastly, their stir fry (which is called teriyaki, but is much more sweet n sour) was okay but nothing to write home about, in terms of flavor or contents.
The place is conveniently located just 1 block from Dizengoff center which is a huge plus. While it doesn't have the variety of flavors, vibe, or overall quality of Buddha Burgers, it's quicker, very fairly priced, and most of the offerings are solid. While the Vegetarian Schwarma, certainly has plenty of room for improvement, for a place which recently just opened, it does the trick and has me really craving for my next vege cheeseburger!
Pros: Good Prices, Great location , Quick pleasant service
Cons: Not Kosher (open on Shabbat), Limited Menu , Limited Street Parking
