Friday, January 16, 2009

There's a kind of hush.....

I've been forgetting my camera at work lately and not photographing all the fun food business I've been  up to.  Like, last night, I went to Nhut Quang with a friend again living up to my #2 fan status.  It's quite a dedication for a SE Portlander, right.  Today, I had my camera with me, a sunny afternoon and a mission to photograph my lunch downtown.  After juggling ideas throughout the morning, I decidedly walked to the classic India Chaat House at the start of my lunch hour and sadly found them closed for the day.  

My thoughts turned to tofu and I found myself walking to I Love Thai Food.  I've recently read that they were under new ownership and slightly less vegan friendly and flavorful and wanted to check things out.  Sure enough, a new sign and menu presented it as I Like Thai Food cart and 4 or 5 people in line deterred my stop there.  Love to Like, really?

I peeked in at some other carts nearby but nothing called me in.  I found myself walking to Dreamers in another food cart lot since I hadn't gone in ages and thought it'd be fun, but it was also closed.  I contemplated giving Small World a third shot for Ethiopian food but didn't want to spend so much on lunch, and finally ended up with a falafel wrap from Hush Hush.  

Falafel Sandwich 

I dig Hush Hush for the speed (always served in a flash!), service and quality of food, but I do leave there smelling like falafel every time.  The past couple falafel wraps I've had there were still very good, but I found myself being annoyed with the tahini-soaked second half and pointless watery tomatoes.  I still the the falafel flavor and size deserve recognition.  The BEST falafel I've had recently was from Karam.  It was positively stand out - crispy yet moist and delicious.  I almost couldn't believe it.  I regretted not going there as I walked with my lunch today, but I've made it through the rest of my day so far.

Exterior of Hush Hush.  Go in!

And that's the story of my wandering lunch hour.  

10 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

What an adventure!! At least you ended up with falafel in the end - always a good thing, in my opinion :-D

Anne said...

i love how so many middle eastern (and chinese in my experience) restaurants post pictures of their food items.
the restaurant across the street from the freshmen dorms on 6th has pictures posted of their "party tray" selections. i remember walking by it, spotting the giant tray of french fries (random?) and having my mouth water for the rest of class.

Anonymous said...

FALAFEL! YUM!

Nicole said...

Falafel! Falafel wraps have got to be one of my favorite foods.

Anonymous said...

Well, if after all that you end up with a falafel I think you did pretty well. Falafel sandwiches are my go to food when I'm in town and need something to eat.

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

Great story, Jess! It makes me think of the Til Tuesday song "Voices Carry." I'll have that in my mind the rest of the night. :)

DJ said...

So many food spots, so little time...

Joanna said...

my mother loves falafels. i tried it once and wasn't a huge fan, but maybe i just didn't have a really good one.

i'm really jealous you live in portland. i feel like it's so vegan friendly compared to pa.

Anonymous said...

Yum, I want a falafel sandwich! I added your link to my Vegan Info LJ - a plethora of Vegan Links.

http://veganinfo.livejournal.com/

Have a happy day :)

Anonymous said...

I'm always kind of surprised when I taste mediocre falafel. It seems like it would be so easy to make it awesome, doesn't it? The place near my house seems to have a garlic-phobia, which is very sad for me. But, I'm really glad falafel exists, nonetheless.