One of the perks of working in Chinatown is that it is really easy to get a great quantity of cheap Chinese food.  Potluck Cafe is one establishments that provides voluminous quantities of food for very little.  Located in a dingy alley in Chinatown, you get what you’d expect from their lunch combination of 3 dishes + rice + soup for $5.50.  This works out great for meat eaters, as you can pick any three dishes from their assortment of entrees under heat lamps.  However, for a vegetarian, there is a limited selection, as almost everything either has chicken, beef or pork in it.  Fortunately, there are usually 2-3 entrees that are exclusively vegetarian, so you too can partake of this bargain.

On my excursion over to Potluck Cafe, I was only able to find two entrees that didn’t have meat.  One tofu dish, and a garlicky spinach dish.  I was unaware of an eggplant dish on the far side of the register, beyond the fried octopus and chicken legs.  It would seem more logical to me to put all the dishes that are vegetarian in one place, especially considering how intimidating Potluck Cafe is.  Asking whether there is meat in something and getting an understanding response is almost impossible in Chinatown, (as I’ve said a hundred times before - “Chinatown doesn’t give a f*** about you”).  So, it is somewhat disheartening and discouraging to try and figure out which seemingly interesting dish doesn’t have chicken in it.  After eating the tofu and spinach, I understand why everything has meat in it, the food is so tasteless and bland, that you have to add meat to flavor it.

I didn’t eat the soup, but I thought I’d take a picture just to show how disgustingly inedible it looks.  If the pond water appearance was not off-putting enough, the chicken broth that was used to make it (confirmed by helpful and adventurous Vernon) sealed the deal.

I understand why my meat-eating colleagues go to Potluck Cafe - you can get really cheap food and in large quantities.  Some of it actually might taste mediocre.  However, I’d rather spend a little more for food that I like that doesn’t require me haggling with people to figure out a way to not get meat in my food.  So, for this hassle and the fact that the food is not very good, I’ll give Potluck Cafe one cheese sandwich.

Potluck Cafe
7 Knapp Street
Boston, MA 02111-1601 
(617) 482-1188