NYC Falafel | Eating With Ziggy

Posts Tagged With: NYC Falafel

Nish Nush – Ach Ya!

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Ziggy

A little Borat/Bruno humor there

So the other day something weird happened at night that never happened before. No, not what you think. And shame on you. What happened was I was awaken by Mrs Z’s stomach making all kinds of weird noises. I spent about 10 minutes lying there listening to this processing symphony with a certain amount of fear that she’ll wake up with some sort of ailment. The night before we had an incredible meal at a place where 2 Yelpers got sick recently and I couldn’t help but worry. (That place is not Nish Nush). Unlike snoring, there’s really nothing much you can do in this case. I mean, imagine this conversation..

Her: “What?”

Me: “Ahhm, your stomach is making noises”

Her: “And..what exactly can I do about that?”

Me: “Ahem, can you.. like.. go downstairs and have a turkey sandwich or something”

Her: Speechless

Me: “I love you”

Her: “Fuck You!”

See what I mean? But thankfully Mrs Z woke up fine the next day and everything turned out fine. False alarm. What does it have to do with Nish Nush? Good question Timmy. Nish Nush is sort of a symbol that we are eating out a little bit too much lately, and as I was listening to Amadeus Belly I was wondering if I’m going too far. The place is an hour drive from my house and I already visited it twice in one week.

Quite simply Nish Nush (“snack” in Hebrew) serves the best Falafel in NYC at the moment. Their classic “Green” Falafel is not really green but picture perfect blend of brown and green herbs, mostly brown which I prefer. Along with the perfectly crispy exterior its the closest I’ve had to Falafel in Israel. Although I used to live in Israel as a kid, my best Falafel came last year when I returned as an adult (stop laughing Mrs Z!). Falafel here is made to order which makes a big difference. Pitas are baked in house which is another big plus, and are served warm. There’s free Hummus inside the Falafel sandwich, which is sort of a sad plus. Hummus should always be free, like wifi. So many charge extra for Hummus these days.

But thats not all Nish Nush serves of course. They have a pretty large menu in fact for a place like this. All sorts of Hummus specialties, the Hummus Whisperer a ~~former?~~ contributor to this blog swears by their Masabacha, Hummus with warm chickpeas, boiled eggs, and spices. Hummus is made fresh daily and second only to Gazala’s Place for my taste. The Falafel Platter puts other Falafel platters to shame and I’ll let the pictures do the talking. They also got Sabich on the menu and get this, they even spell Schug correctly.

Move over Taim! Just a little bit

Nish Nush

88 Reade St, New York, NY 10013

Categories: New York City, TriBeCa | Tags: food, Nish Nush, Nish Nush NYC, NYC eats, NYC Falafel, NYC restaurants, restaurants | 5 Comments

Taim is ‘Taim Meod’ but WTF is S’rug

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Ziggy

First I should probably explain the title…

Taim – Means tasty in Hebrew. And is a popular Falafel joint in the west village

Taim Meod – Means very tasty in Hebrew

WTF – Means What The Fuck

But – Means except for the fact…

S’rug – ??? not sure (more on that later)

Taim Falafel and Smoothie Bar on Waverly serves some very Taim Israeli pocket food and more. Small but fierce Falafel balls come in 3 different flavors: “Green” which most resembles the traditional Israeli falafel, “Harrisa” which is red and packed with mild Tunisian spices and my personal favorite, and “Red” which is another red but mixed with roasted peppers. The best way to try all 3 is to get the mixed platter which is a good amount of the 3 (around 10 balls – compared to the slightly larger 3 balls by Azuri café, another best Falafel in NYC candidate but losing ground with me). In addition you get a very Taim, creamy and nutty Hummus, Israeli Salad and a Taboule salad. The pita is warm and sprinkled with zatar seasoning which is a very nice touch.

You also get 3 different sauces with that: Tahini, Amba (terrific, smell my finger pickled Mango chutney), and something called S’rug which is supposedly a Yemeni hot sauce. Now here’s the thing. I am very familiar with the similar Yemeni Hot Sauce called S’hug and I’ve seen it spelled S’chug and Z’hug, but S’rug is something new. In fact if you Google S’rug you will only find it mentioned in relation to Taim pretty much. Quotes by Yelpers and other food bloggers mentioning Taim’s hot Yemeni sauce S’rug as if such a thing exists. Why do they call it S’rug? Its like a place that makes Falafel but decides to call it Fakafel, joined by a food blogger army praising the Fakafel without ever mentioning the real thing, the Falafel.

Wait, not finished digressing. I also happened to be a big fan of the S’chug which is a staple in my fridge. In fact I have 2 kinds at the moment including the pictured Pereg S’chug which is my absolute favorite. I spread it on everything. Goes very well with bread and salami.

But now I digress. Taim, also serves a delicious Sabich, the falafel’s shy and not as good looking cousin. Sabich is eggplant, hard boiled egg, Tehini, Amba, and Israeli salad inside a pita. And their smoothies such as the date, lime, banana, are fantastic as well.

Taim is a tiny popular neighborhood spot. Its more of a takeout place as it has just enough room for 4 adults and a small cat. Everything about this place is fresh and delicious including of course… that Yemeni hot sauce… S’rug.