Chickpea Restaurant
Chickpea
23 Third Ave
(btw St Mark’s Pl & E 9th)
New York, NY
For delivery: (212) 254-9500
Chickpea is, really a place to get a quick bite at relatively inexpensive prices. It’s a Fast food joint like Chipotle. Serving mainly middle-eastern food, Chickpea is known for its falafels, humus, and pita breads. It’s funny how I haven’t noticed this sooner seeing how I pass this place a trillion times. At first I thought that this place was too foreign for me, but I figured, why the heck not? Well, it was really softrice that nagged me to death to go, so I figured, why not? I like middle-eastern foods like Gyros, so I thought I’d give it a try.
As you can see, this chickpea restaurant isn’t that big, but it can get really packed at times. Luckily when I was there, it wasn’t as packed as usual so that worked in my favor. People usually do not stay here to eat as you can see with its limited seating arrangements, and they do come in by the bunch to order out for dinner. I must say, food here seems much healthier than your McDonalds, Wendys, etc. Of course there was middle-eastern music that played in the background, which I thought was much too loud, but I guess it adds that to needed ambience.
To start things off, I ordered a falefel combo w/hummus and pickles that came with a choice of lentil or chicken soup, which I chose the lentil, and a soft drink for $7.30 including tax. This is cheaper than Chipotle, but the gigantic burrito makes up for it’s price. Also you can add in your own toppings like pickles, cucumbers, etc, like how it is when you’re at a Subways.
(sorry for the blurriness)
When you eat there, you’ll see two bottles on the table: white and hot sauce. Being how I’m not a fan of hotness, I drenched my falafel with the white sauce. Mm…you’ll need it otherwise it’ll taste kind of bland.
The rest of the group, softrice, miss eggrolls, kimberly, and a new guy Francis, ordered pretty much the same thing except that Kim didn’t order the Falefel and just had the chicken soup that came with a warm pita bread for $2.25.
First: The Lentil soup.
I’ve never had lentil soup before, but I liked this one. It’s creamy and has a tastes of green peas, since it also comes from the legumes group. It can come as a little bland, but I like it that way because it’s soothing and creamy to me. This tastes especially good when you’re coming out from the icy cold weather. I would recommend this.
Second: The Falafel.
I enjoyed having the falafel which is composed of fried ball of chickpeas/other spiced beans served with a pita bread. Great thing about this is that it’s vegetarian and it tastes good. Softrice did not like it one bit, but he needs to understand that for a fast food restaurant, this is not bad. Really having a falafel can be counted as having a snack, you know a comfort food. I enjoyed it, but you really need to add toppings like pickles or onions to make the falafel tastes good otherwise it’ll taste dry and bland. And also don’t forget to use your choice of white or hot sauce.
Overall: It was an interesting trip coming there. Softrice didn’t like the food at all and would give it a D-, but I think this place is better than that.
Rating: 3.5/5
1 – Unsatisfactory
2 – Subpar, it’s edible and lacking taste
3 – Good, the taste is OK but nothing too special
4 – Very good
5 – Excellent
Health Inspection Results
23 3 AVENUE, MANHATTAN 10003
212-228-3445
Current violation points: 14 – PASSED
Inspection Date: 12/20/2006
Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
1.) “Choking first aid” poster not posted.”Alcohol and Pregnancy” Warning sign not posted. “Wash hands” sign not posted at hand wash facility. Resuscitation equipment: exhaled air resuscitation masks(adult & pediatric), latex gloves, sign not posted. Inspection report sign not posted.
2.) Toilet facility not maintained and provided with toilet paper, waste receptacle and self-closing door.
3.) Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
4.) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
Pylos Restaurant (Mediterranean)
Pylos Restaurant
Mediterranean Cuisine
128 E 7th St
(btw Ave A and 1st Ave)
New York, NY
(212) 473-0220
Reservations: No for lunch, Yes for dinner.
Price: Moderate
This is my second time coming to this amazing restaurant in the East Village for some warm Mediterranean food. The first I went was two years ago on a nice summer day outside of the restaurant. It was very packed that night and my partner and I opted to eat outside to enjoy the nice summer night breeze. I had a wonderful experience there and had looked forward to come back. I came back to Pylos for lunch to see if the same expectations would be met.
When first entering Pylos, you’ll get this sense of feeling of home. The big wooden door in the front, which is extremely warm from all the heat it absorbed, made me feel like I was walking into a fancy cabin. Once inside I was immediately greeted by one of the waiters who was super super nice, extra points-haha, and told us to feel free to sit anywhere. I was immediately drawn to all the claypots that are hanging on the ceiling as you can see:
(This is the front of the restaurant)
…and opted to sit in the back because I’ve never been back there. The decor looks beautiful. There are comfortable pillows for you to support your back and there was so much wine to choose from. That day I wasn’t in a “winey” mood so I just had water. But yeah, it was a nice relaxing moment especially from a day of walking in the cold.
Alright, time to sit down and order something. From a bout 11 – 4pm, it’s also considered as Brunch, and there’s a prix-fixe menu fyi.
Free Pita Bread
This warm bread really helps after coming out from the cold. I believe the waiter forgot the hummus dip, but it didn’t matter to us. But we later on find a use for this bread for something else that Dawen ordered.
Appetizers
Saganaki tou merakli three greek cheeses melted in a clay pot
Price: $9.00
Don’t worry about the pronounciation. The waiter was really understanding about it and even told us that he wasn’t greek. But he did know how to pronounce it when we asked him too, so it was very nice.
Verdict: This is very good, and you’ll love this especially more if you’re a cheese fan. Now I’m not no cheese fan, but Dawen does and it goes great with the pita bread.
Recommended: Yes. Have you see 3 cheeses melted and just served to you like this?
And wow, you can’t believe how fast their service is. It’s just one dish after the other. Maybe it helps to kind of sit near the kitchen.
Greek Yiayia’s Fried Potatoes Wedges of hand-cut fried potatoes served with grated Greek sheep’s milk cheese and oregano
Price: $5.00
Verdict: These potato wedges are very crispy and salted to perfection. The thing is that it seems a little dried, but otherwise it’s a great comfort food.
Recommended: Yes
Greek Comfort Food
Pastitsio PYLOS’ terrine of baked pasta layered with aromatic meat sauce and bechamel
Price: $15.00
Verdict: Don’t think this looks small because it isn’t and it packs a powerful punch. The top layer is very soft and cheesy, which compliments well with the pasta and the meat. This is a very filling dish and among one of the most popular because I saw many people eating it. After all, it is a comfort food!
Recommended: Yes
Ta Afrata Keftedakia tis Dianas Diane’s light-as-air meatballs, pan-fried in olive oil
Price: $9.00
Verdict: This is no ordinary meatball because it has a strong minty flavor, sort of like grape leaves. I thought this minty/herby flavor really overwhelmed the natural flavors of the meatball. After when the meatball cooled down, it was very sour to me which I didn’t like. Dawen seems to love it a lot so it’s just a matter of opinion.
Recommended: No, but it tastes better than most meatballs!
That was it for lunch. I did not finish any of my food and decided that it wasn’t wise to get dessert yet. That and I banked on going to Australian Homemade for dessert after when softrice showed me the website. Check out the website or wait for my review in a few days.
Overall it was a great lunch. It was under $40 for the both of us and we had one of the best service ever.
Rating: 4.5/5
