Panorama Café: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

Panorama Café, formally The Panorama of My Silence-Heart, is a vegetarian and vegan café at 84-73 Parsons Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens. The café serves no meat, and the weekly specials sheet marks dishes as vegan, vegan upon request, or gluten-free. You can eat here as a vegetarian or a vegan and never worry about what’s in the soup.

Meditation students of Sri Chinmoy own and run the café, which opened in August 2007. Sri Chinmoy lived in the Jamaica and Briarwood neighborhood until he died in October 2007, and he chose the café’s name. The owners aim for a peaceful atmosphere. A customer quoted on the café’s homepage says the same.

The menu splits into two parts. The all-day menu covers breakfast, fresh salads, sandwiches, coffees and teas, and fresh juices and smoothies. From 11am to 3pm, the chefs add a daily soup and a daily special. Every soup is vegan and comes with a roll and butter, and vegan butter and gluten-free bread are available on request. A small soup costs $5.95, a large costs $8.50, a soup and salad combo costs $12.95, and the daily special costs $14.75.

The specials rotate by weekday, and the list for the week of October 27 shows the range. Tuesday brought a Red Thai Curry with Veggie “Beef” over basmati rice. Wednesday served a Vegetarian Neatloaf with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. Thursday’s Souvlaki Fountainopolis paired veggie lamb with brown rice, tzatziki, and a Greek salad with olives and feta. Friday’s Japanese-style Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry came with jasmine rice. The soups that week included Cubed Potato and Mushroom, Curried Zucchini, Creamy Vegan Dal, Creamy Tomato Basil, and Mulligatawny.

Weekend brunch adds a make-your-own omelet. You choose three vegetables and one cheese for three organic eggs, and the plate arrives with oven-roasted sweet potato wedges and toast or salad greens. You can swap in vegan eggs and vegan cheese on request. The café also serves an award-winning Challah Bread French Toast with peach butter, strawberries, blueberries, an orange slice, organic maple syrup, and whipped cream.

Fall brings the Pumpkin Spice Latte back. You choose espresso, green matcha, or caffeine-free dandelion as the base, and the café adds a housemade syrup of pumpkin purée and spices sweetened lightly with organic maple syrup. Freshly whipped cream goes on top.

Eggs, dairy, and vegan dishes come out of one kitchen, and the café publishes nothing about separate prep. Vegetarians face no meat cross-contact. Vegans can order the V and VR items, and anyone with a strict vegan or allergy need should tell the counter when ordering.

The café opens Tuesday through Sunday from 9am to 3pm and closes on Mondays. It sometimes closes for a day, such as Sunday, November 1, so check the website or call (718) 206-4960 before you go. You can order online for in-store pickup or get delivery through Uber Eats, and the café sells gift cards. Soup starts under $6 and the daily special costs $14.75.

If you go on a weekday, order the daily special and a cup of soup at the 11am start. On a weekend, build an omelet and split the Challah French Toast with a friend. Add a Pumpkin Spice Latte with an espresso base.