7/10/09 - mama's vegetarian

I'm completely obsessed with Mama's falafel. It haunts my dreams and also my spare moments when I am hungry at work, starting out the window, dreaming of deliciously spiced chickpeas. Today I went there for the second time after accidentally skipping breakfast and spending the whole day drooping with hunger at my desk. I finally arrived right before they closed and frantically ordered the small falafel sandwich and grape leaves. "Grape leaves" turned out to be only one grape leaf, but it was only 50 cents and was the perfect combination of succulent and veggie-fresh.

The falafel is not super-fried or super dense, which I appreciate. It's not heavily spiced or too intense. Instead, it's exactly what falafel is SUPPOSED to taste like, but rarely does: a little savory, a little crunchy, a little fluffy. A small sandwich gets you three balls in a pita (I opt for whole wheat), with tomatoes, cucumbers, hummus, tahini, and my very favorite: pickled cabbage. It's sharp and tangy and fresh and AMAZING.

One of the best things about Mama's is the free condiment bar, which includes countless kinds of peppers, olives, and today's pick: cumin and oil accented carrots. They add a nice bit of color to the otherwise kind of beige pita.

Mama's is also kosher, which sort of means nothing to me, but you know, if that's your thing! They've won countless awards from Philly publications and deserve them all.

This is my favorite place to grab a relatively cheap (around $4 for a small sandwich) and filling lunch at work.

I give Mama's five out of five om nom noms.

7/6/09 - nan zhou hand drawn noodle house

My friend Alex and I went here for an early dinner today, after seeing the fantastic Moon at the Ritz on the Bourse. I'd run across this place before, wandering around Chinatown after work, and it looked so awesome I knew I had to come back.

I'm really glad I did! Because I was treated what perhaps was the best bowl of noodles I have ever had in my life.

Nan Zhou itself is small, only five tables and a counter; the rest of the space is taken up by the kitchen where the wheat noodles (available in 'thin' and 'thick) are wound by hand. You can watch the noodles being made if you want, which we didn't have a chance to do because I was so starving I had to sit down immediately.

The menu is limited, with five different soups, a variety of appetizers (including marinated intestine), and one small page-long list of noodle dishes. There are beef, pork, seafood, vegetable, and even egg varities, but being somewhat overwhelmed I decided to go with the thick noodles in peanut sauce. Although the sauce was thick and a little too sweet, some siracha chili, soy, salt, and red pepper flakes in oil quickly solved that. I mixed it all together with the scallions on top and the combination of flavors was just what I was looking for (although I might have overdone it on the siracha, but there are worse problems). The sauce was nothing, however, compared to the noodles themselves.

I love carbs, and I love, love, LOVE noodles. I have eaten a lot of them in my life, be they Italian spaghetti, or Japanese soba, or pad Thai. And I know you can taste freshness, that sort of indefinable quality that makes something completely simple into something extraordinary. These noodles were made from the most basic flour and seasonings, but that was what made them so tasty. If they had been anything fancy or complicated, I surely wouldn't have enjoyed them as much. You could tell they were made with great care and love.

My small, full bowl cost only $3.20, an awesome deal for any student eating on a budget. It was a nearly filling meal, although it would have been even better if I'd gotten an appetizer. Next time I think I'll order one of the noodle soups, which the guy sitting next to me had and looked even better than the peanut noodles. And maybe pig's ear!

All in all, I give Nan Zhou Noodle House a solid four out of five om nom noms.

(Keep in mind if you visit: they are a cash only establishment.)