Lunch (and Good Deal) at Dao Palate

The food at Dao Palate is, in so many ways, unexpected.

Dao Palate is a vegan pan-Asian restaurant with an original location on Flatbush Avenue and a new location that opened recently on Fifth Avenue near Union Street.

But Dao Palate is so much more that that. Though the menu boasts what appears to be standard Asian fare (General Tso, black-pepper stir-fry), everything is fresher, lighter, and generally a cut above your average pan-Asian eatery.

It was on one of these now expected, blustery February afternoons that I popped into Dao Palate for a bite, seeking solace from the chill of Fifth Avenue and something to warm my belly.

I ordered the Basil Soy Protein, thick slices of what I imagine to be tofu masquerading under a less appetizing name (and masquerading as what I don’t know), served alongside many strips of fresh basil, zucchini, crunchy asparagus and a light, citrusy sweet-and-sour sauce of some kind.

It was hearty and satisfying on a cold winter day, yet not so filling that I found myself fighting off a mid-afternoon snooze.

And best yet, for a mere $8 I received my entrée, a spring roll, a plump mound of brown rice and the most welcoming, steaming bowl of miso soup that I have ever eaten.

All of the eatery’s lunch specials are available from noon to 4 p.m., similarly priced and served with the same accoutrement – a deal considering that all of the restaurants entrees are otherwise $10 to $14.