Restaurant Review: Mamoun's Falafel Restaurant

Since I am staying in a closet with a teeny kitchen with room only for fairies to do their cooking, I am eating out a lot.  Luckily I am living in a great neighborhood for just this type of situation.  From what I have been reading, New Yorkers and New York tourists and posing New Yorkers rave their socks off about Mamoun's falafel.  Seriously.  Even Bethenny Frankel mentioned it on her show when interviewing the Napoleon Dynamite assistant.  Anyway, tonight I went there for what is supposed to be the quintessential falafel sandwich.

First Impressions:

This place is not meant to be a lingering location.  Stand in line, walk through the narrow "dining area," exchange awkward glances with the people in front of you when it's your turn to squeeze up to the counter to place your order, order your falafel sandwich (or lamb shawarma, which will be my next choice), pay $2.50 for said falafel sandwich, and 1.5 minutes later, your lunch/dinner/late night snack is ready.

The Food:

Yum!  However much one could rave about a falafel sandwich, and even if the raving could ever be excessive, this sandwich was really good.  The falafel is not overly anything, just right, and it's nestled into a pita stuffed with shredded romaine, tomatoes, and tahini sauce.  Real green leafy stuff!  It's pretty much  worth every bit of the two dollars and fifty cents that I spent on it.

It looks messier than it is.

The Service:

Quick. Quick. Quick.  I feel like this category is almost n/a for take-out this quick.  What do I say?  The cashier's eye contact was really meaningful?  The way he took my money made me know that I was a valued customer and he really appreciated that I stood in line for five minutes? 

Food     mmmm

Service     mmm

Decor     mm 

Je ne sais quoi     mm (this place is not meant for je ne sais quoi, and for this place that's not necessarily bad)

Overall     mmmm

119 MacDougal Street

New York, NY 10012

http://mamouns.com/

p.s. Please forgive typos.  If there are ever any, I never notice them until a post is published.

About the ratings:

mmmmm        would eat there again tomorrow

mmmm           looking forward to eating there again

mmm              not in a hurry to eat there again

mm                 likely not going to eat there again

m                    would try my best never to eat there again. ever.

I reserve the right to grade on a curve for the overall score, despite the average.

Restaurant Review: Soho Sushi

First Impressions:

Even for the brief second I was in here, the place is very inviting.  Mellow green walls, simple tables, not a lot of swag.  I could happily dine in.  They have a tv showing the World Cup.  

The Food:

I just wanted a quick cheap Sunday lunch.  My roomie and I decided to share one of the lunch specials, a three roll option that comes with soup or salad.  She got two rolls, and I got a tuna avocado roll plus the miso soup.  If you want quick food that isn't pizza or a hot dog, this place is for you.  We called it in, and in five minutes, it was ready.  A huge bonus of this place is that the lunch specials run on the weekends, too.  It's hard to mess up a tuna avocado roll, I know.  Well, this one wasn't messed up.  Next time I will be more adventurous.  For today, though, this was exactly what I wanted.

The Service:

Quick and friendly.  They chatted us up about the World Cup a little.  Not much to complain about, which makes sense because it was a take out order. 

Food     mmmm

Service     mmmm

Decor     mmmm

Je ne sais quoi     mmmm

Overall     mmmm

231 Sullivan Street

New York, NY 10012

http://www.sohosushinyc.com/

p.s. Please forgive typos.  If there are ever any, I never notice them until a post is published.

About the ratings:

mmmmm        would eat there again tomorrow

mmmm           looking forward to eating there again

mmm              not in a hurry to eat there again

mm                 likely not going to eat there again

m                    would try my best never to eat there again. ever.

I reserve the right to grade on a curve for the overall score, despite the average.

Food Foto Friday

A Two-fer.  

Today my roommate and I walked 4 miles over 4 hours, during which I consumed the following:

Magnolia Bakery's Famous Banana Pudding!

Dreamy, Creamy, and Whipped.

Papaya Dog's Papaya Drink and Turkey Dog.

At $1.50 each, my pocketbook was smiling.