Thyme, Newark, NJ

Upon landing at the Newark Airport in Newark, NJ, I did a quick Google search for vegan in the airport. Lo and behold, I found that there was a vegetarian restaurant in this airport. Despite all the horrible reviews, I wanted to try something there. And it was conveniently located at the gate at which I was departing. It couldn't have been any easier.

Thyme is a small cafe in the airport. Apparently, the owner of Dirt Candy, a vegetarian restaurant in New York, partnered with United Airlines and OTG to create a vegetarian-friendly restaurant in this airport. The only problem is that nothing is labeled as vegan or not.

Upon entering the restaurant, which is really self-service, I asked the hostess what was vegan. She had no clue and didn't seem to care. I asked if she could check with the chef. The chef came out and was incredibly helpful. She basically said almost all of the salads, sandwiches, and entrees could be made vegan.

I ordered the Mushroom Tacos made with oyster mushrooms and topped with thinly sliced red onions, microgreens, and tomatoes in a flour tortilla. They were good, but didn't taste that fresh. The mushrooms were somewhat lukewarm and the tortillas tasted like they'd been reheated on a plane. I liked them, but they definitely need something else. I did order them without the creme fraiche as that is not vegan. And for $13.50, I expected a little more.

The bad reviews tend to focus on the lack of service and I'll agree. Newark does the iPad ordering thing. There is an iPad at the table and that's how you order. There really isn't any service other than the chef dropping off the food. That kind of sucks.

Other options include the veggie burger, green falafel sandwich, smoked beet club, spaghetti pomodoro, roasted maitake mushrooms, and other various salads and soups. I truly hope this restaurant survives, but adding an element of service and fresher food will definitely help this.

Thyme
Near Gate C75
Newark Liberty International Airport