Sunday, September 4, 2011

another 24 hours fal-FULL of good eats.



last night i reunited with two old friends i have been missing for the last 3 and a half months. one of those friends was human. the other was taim falafel and smoothie bar in the west village.

from the outside it looks like this:


a tiny little cave in the wall. i'd guess it sits about 6 people. max. but it's always crowded inside and out. why? because it is the best.falafel.ever. just look at what they got going on...


uhhhh yes, please. they serve three kinds of falafels, as well as mediterrian platters and an assortment of salads. last night i got the only thing i've ever had there. i really wanna try like, the whole menu, but i just keep going back to this baby because it's so delicious. this would be the harissa falafel sandwich (which comes with like, 5 falafel balls, hummus, israeli salad, tahini, and amba sauce) on whole wheat or white pita (i usually get whole wheat, but they were out wahhh). here's a picture. i assure you it tasted much prettier than it looks:


harissa is spicy, and has tuscan spices mixed in. i have no idea what is in that spice blend. but i'm guessing there is probably some crack. this is, without a doubt, the most delicious falafel i've eaten in my life. in fact, the first time i tried it, i was walking and had to sit down. i also shouted some profanity in delight through the quite streets of the west village. it was a little embarrassing, but delicious, nonetheless.

after my friend, mom and i savored these giant sammies on a bench, we were all stuffed (if you want to be as full as long as possible for $6.25 - get one of these) and just enjoyed some nice strolling and retired early for the night. 

i was so full i didn't even want to eat a bedtime snack. that is unheard of for me. it was almost uncomfortable / scary.


this morning, my mom and i did a little more west village strolling, this time to the original magnolia bakery.


the place is pretty cramped, but super cute and old school. there is surely something comforting about it. maybe its the smell of freshly whipping buttercream.


i love magnolia cupcakes. probably because of their simplicity. i own their cookbook and all their recipes are simple, made from real ingredients and honest. and they all taste amazing. you can taste that they are made fresh daily from scratch and are not massed produced. i dig that.


i also think they are cute. some people like crumbs cupcakes. i prefer magnolias. i feel crumbs are all huge and ookey and all for show. like yeah, your cupcake is like, 9 different colors and has 18 kinds of candy in/on it. but it tastes kinda stale and icky. so what's the point?


the lonely, damaged, neglected cupcake... (i'll still eat it!)


i didn't get one (too early for me for all that sugar) but my mom got a couple to bring back home. we then did some sampling/shopping at chelsea market:


which also happens to be the food network headquarters, and where many of the shows are filmed. 


after i bought/ate an organic peach that weighed almost a full pound, we walked along the west bank over the city on the highrise. the highrise is an elevated sidewalk, basically. it's pretty neat. you can see the river and it has some nice views of the city.


we then saw this pimp trying to see dog jewelery...no further explanation needed for this feisty critter.



lunch today was, as i half jokingly said, the same thing i had yesterday: heirloom tomato, watermelon, feta & mint salad at le pain quotidien. my mom also hopped on the delicious train and had it too. the afternoon was shopping, unpacking, and hanging with friends. and now i'm officially pooped.

have a wonderful holiday !

what's more important to you -- taste or eye appeal?
do you repeat foods you like over and over?

4 comments:

  1. I'm going to have to pick up that recipe book. :) Visual appeal is all well and good for photography, but if it taste craptacular then what's the point. I am definitely a repeat food person. If I find a recipe that is simple and tastes really good, I'll start making it all the time.

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  2. that falafel and the cupcakes look amazing! such a fun day enjoying nyc!

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  3. Taste is definitely more important than aesthetics... but if you're serving it to other people, well, I think it's human nature to judge things by the way they look! Which means that there's more ugly yummy food for me. Everyone else can keep the pretty food that doesn't taste good. ;)

    <3 <3

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  4. I love le pain QTD. I like these little questions you ask at the end of your posts. Kinda cute. Awhh. Idk. I'm liking this.

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