In other news, I am directing a play right now that makes mention of two foods: ramen and falafel. We open the show this week, which means I have been craving ramen and falafel for about a month. Yesterday, I decided to take care of that with ramen for lunch and falafel for dinner. It was heaven! I just made straight-up ramen (boil water, open package, cook for three minutes, feel your heart race from the toll of all that salt for 2 hours) in the afternoon and that was great. Nothing like slurping a bunch of salty noodles to start the day off right.
But for dinner! Oh, there was falafel from Mama's Vegetarian on 20th Street here in our fair city of Philadelphia. Not only is it cheap and good, it is really close to the theatre, making it the perfect answer during tech rehearsals.
My first introduction to falafel was via my favorite Parker Posey movie, Party Girl. She meets cutie Mustafa at his falafel cart and always orders the same thing.
Can I have a falafel with hot sauce, a side order of Baba Ghanoush and a seltzer, please?
I am not a huge fan of baba, so I tend to skip that one, but the hot sauce and tahini and hummus and salad and tomato? Oh yes, so great. I always get a small because I just cannot handle any more than that, but I have heard the large is deeply satisfying. Mama's is highly recommended, though keep in mind they close early on Fridays (3 PM) and are not open on Saturdays.
Mama's Vegetarian
18 S. 20th Street
Philadelphia
I'm a recent convert to falafel. Love Maoz on 11th and Walnut. So filling and different every time, and so close to work!
ReplyDeleteI miss Mama's with a vengeance! Best falafel I've had, hands down. They used to know my order because I'd have lunch there 2-3 times/week when I worked downtown. Sigh, now I want falafel.
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