I was ready to revel in meatlessness, to romp through a menu stocked with bread and vegetables, to fill my belly with fibrous things. In short, I’d become a struggling Vegetarian in a carnivore’s world and I was so excited to try Madras Café I was hopping up and down on the sidewalk.

There’s a dark, unfathomable gap between behavior and inner reality. In fact, a near-constant tummyache recently sent me to the doctor, who was reliably unimpressed. Her pricey professional advice was: change your diet. Go meatless. “Try it as an experiment.”

Doomed to gastric distress or life without sliders, pork buns, and fattened duck livers, I sought comfort at Madras Café. While just around the corner from Indian Row’s hecklers and chintzy glitz, Madras is in a different league—quiet and welcoming with warm rust-colored walls, and a veggie-vegan-kosher-friendly menu that clearly marks dairy content and spice level. You might see one of the rare lone diner species, or even actual Indian people, eating here.

Highlights are the dosas: thin, non-greasy rice crepes wrapped around savory fillings like potato masala, peas and onions, and served with a side of spicy tomato sambar, and a grits-like, tongue-scorching chutney. At $9, it’s pricier than a visit to the Dosa Man but for a nice sit-down place, what do you expect? The samosas ($5) are two crisp vegetable turnovers filled with potato, nuts and spices, perfect for sharing. For a main dish, the Kofta Curry ($10–pictured) arrives as three falafel-like veggie meatballs covered in a buttery tomato sauce. I can’t resist a decent mango lassi, a silky-sweet yogurt drink that doubles as dessert, although I prefer the tartness of Lassi’s. Beware of the lentil donuts, which were leathery and weirdly resisted soaking up their bath of creamy curry sauce.

Will I stay a vegetarian? I doubt it. But I do like experimenting.

Madras Café, 79 Second Avenue Mon-Sat noon-11pm, Sun noon-10pm