Philadelphia Falafel Project review #2 - Maoz Vegetarian

Maoz Vegetarian

248 South Street

1115 Walnut Street

www.maozusa.com

Falafel - ***

General food - ****

Dining - ** 1/2 (South St) / *** (Walnut St)

Cost - $5.50ish large sandwich with hummus, $7ish platter

I took a stroll over to what used to be Chickpea's, and Mama's (Non-Vegetarian) before that, over around 7th and South, only to find it appropriately gone. Chickpea's was the latest mediocre manifestation in a strange phenomenon I've previously gestured at - the Euro-minded, falafel-centered, fast food joint veiled behind the curtain of vegetarianism. Chickpea's now joins Philly Falafel (17th and Sansom) and the superlative Pita Shack (16th & Chancellor) in the grave of short-lived fast-food falafellers. This is appropriate background information to review before turning our attention to Maoz, my alternate destination. After all kids, it was Maoz that started this whole thing, picking Philly's hipster burn-out South Street as their flagship American location after success across Western Europe. Consider the template - you get your falafel, you pick a white or wheat pita, you dump as many condiments as fit in there from the fixin's bar before your pita falls apart, and decide whether or not you're hungry enough to find room in your belly for french fries (ahem - Belgian chips.) Pretty simple, and pretty effective. Where Maoz continues to reign supreme among their competitors is in the fixin's bar itself, rotating the crops occasionally to see what tastes good with falafel - and I'll tell you what tastes good with falafel: beets, pickles, and killer habanero sauce. Where Maoz lacks a bit is in the "meat" of the meal, if you will - both falafel and hummus are a bit lackluster, devoid of any robust distinguishing flavor flourishes. The falafel gets centrist marks, however, thanks to its successful texture, and the wealth of the sides makes the food experience well worth the cost of admission. The South Street location is severely crippled by its horrific claustrophobia, but garners half a star for staying open until 3 AM - hang around in Philly long enough, and I promise that the night will come where you need to take advantage of that perk.

Now that we've looked at this interesting falafel joint phenomenon, I hope to focus future reviews on some more old school approaches to the deep-fried chickpea represented by some older Philly institutions.

Philadelphia Falafel Project review #1 - Mama's Vegetarian

Mama's Vegetarian

18 S. 20th St.

www.mamasvegetarian.com

Falafel - ****

General food - ****

Dining - ** 1/2

Cost - $6 large sandwich, $3.50 small sandwich, $8 platter

One of the best restaurants to spring out of the falafel boom, Mama's gets it right with a well-constructed sandwich available quickly and at an acceptable price. Don't waste your time with a small sandwich unless you are too hungover to eat a real meal. The falafel balls are dense and mid-sized, with the perfect balance of textures. The hummus is exceptionally creamy, perhaps acting as the meal's strongest component. Both the large sandwich and platter fill out the meal with lightly vinegared tomato, cucumber and cabbage, all pretty tasty for space-fillers, and the small fixin's bar features smokin' chili sauce, delicious pickled radishes and fried cauliflower, although it is often understocked during lunch hours. The lunch hour concern is present for the falafel joint, however, as its diminutive dining area is quickly stuffed with Center City suited types. The place is much more pleasant during the off-hours, when one can keep close and unobstructed company with the fixin's bar. (Note - the short-lived second location at 7th and South is now gone. This is just as well, for the vegetarian-only 20th Street location was preferable to begin with.)

The Philadelphia Falafel Project commences

Folks, as a Philadelphia native and ceaseless falafel gobbler, I've been seeking to document the Philadelphia falafel scene for quite some time now. Maybe it's the alliterative ring of the two words in succession - maybe I've wanted an excuse to eat as much falafel as possible. Regardless, the quest here is to visit and review every falafel vendor that I can find here in the City of Brotherly Love before my planned relocation a year from now.

Here's how it will work: I'll rank three elements of the restaurant based on the five-star system, then embark on a general review. The ranking will go as follows:

Falafel - falafel quality, referring strictly to the falafel balls themselves

General food - general food quality, referring to all non-falafel elements in the falafel-centered meal

Dining - feel of location, charm of ownership and other peripheral concerns regarding the dining experience

Cost - not ranked, simply reported

A few notes before we begin. Number 1, I am a vegan, so I will only be ranking the vegan components in a given restaurant's menu - but more importantly, I'm not out to review restaurants that serve falafel, but the falafel itself. Number 2, I am cheap and broke, so references to cost should be taken from such a slant. Number 3, I've been eating falafel in the city for a long time, so I know that some part of me is stuck in the past regarding some of these locations - this may potentially slant my bias towards the older vendors.

Philadelphia's falafel scene took a radical turn circa 2004, when Maoz opened their original (and still extant) South Street location, serving falafel replete with unlimited access to a fixin's bar. Prior to this, falafel was relegated to a novelty item on a handful Mediterranean menus; suddenly, with the falafel a proven success as the focal point of a restaurant, falafel joints popped up all over Center City, mostly modeled (I presume) on Maoz's innovation. Around 2007, I estimate that the Center City area alone had seven restaurants focusing their menus on falafel, but the country's economic rut, doubtlessly in tandem with other factors, has reduced that number a bit. Now, I seek to pick up the pieces and see what's out there, getting my body out of the house and subsequently stuffed with falafel. Let the games begin....

NoMeansNo and Uz Jsme Doma remind us how well it can be done

I think the emergence of new records by the two best extant rock bands on the planet warrants a revival of the blog, don't you?

The fact of the matter is that neither record has been officially released and I thus haven't heard the entirely of either despite substantial internet leakage. But the headline remains the same - a new record each from NoMeansNo and Uz Jsme Doma, the first in four and seven years respectively. May 2010 will see more great, new music than the previous several years. Hallelujah. Let's take a closer look at these two musical powerhouses, shall we?

Canada's so-called "punk jazz" (might I suggest "smirking nihilo-prog"?) trio NoMeansNo really are about as dark as it gets, despite the deceptively goofy gloss, writing yo-ho-ho anthems for the Dionysian apocalypse brewing in the heart of every mustached suburban minivan dad. Read the lyrics kids, this really is as good as you're going to get this side of Steely Dan. Musically, they've found a way to squeeze the entire spread of regional punk dialects into a single sound that, let's be honest, doesn't sound like anything else at all - just because the guy can play bass really well doesn't mean that they actually sound like the Minutemen, thank you. The "guy" I refer to is, of course, bassist and primary songwriter Rob Wright, the most operative of three creative personalities in the band that helps construct their dynamic inhale-exhale tension. 2000's "One" album, like most NoMeansNo records, focused on Rob's ponderous anomalies to breathtaking results, but perhaps the utterly unjust lukewarm reviews it received pushed the followup, 2006's "All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt", more heavily into the realm of songs written by drummer John Wright and guitarist Tom Holliston, resulting in a slightly sub-par (but nonetheless spiritually overwhelming) record centered around the punkier sensibilities of these latter two. Whatever, it's a really good record - they're ALL really good records. And yes, 30+ years into their career, they still lay it down with balls - they've been opening their sets with the new tune "Old", a good 'n ugly dirge that completely confounds audiences and seems to suggest the boys have discovered Candlemass, or at the very least dusted off the sloggier Sabbath. Other new songs seem mixed - "Jubilation" is brutal lyrically but reaches too far into pop for dissonant juxtaposition to retain its edge; "Slave" seems gleefully nasty. We'll see how the production treats the material - "Tour EP #1" is the name of the new four song 12" due shortly, to be followed by another EP later this year.

The Czech prog-punkers Uz Jsme Doma are the opposite of NoMeansNo on a few counts - first, with the 2001 departure of founding saxophonist Jindra Dolansky, they've been reduced to a one-man compositional show, balanced strictly around the creative forces of Miroslav Wanek. As such, they've really served to maintain a singular sound through their entire 25 year career, with each record acting as a new capitulation of their singular sonic statement. The good news for the world is that this is statement is incredibly rich, with some of the most extensive and subtle melodic nuance imaginable for a four-piece rock band. Seriously, the volume of musical ideas per song is baffling, with sheer melodiousness underpinning even the most abstract and technical of arrangements. (For more on this great band, check out their Wikipedia article here, but be warned that I wrote the thing.) The new album is called "Jeskyne", due out in mere days. The material seems to be on a par with their best work, utilizing the muscle of spectacular new bassist Pepa Cervinka and the fiery brass of trumpeter Adam Tomasek while reducing the compositional ambition a hair from the career high represented in 2003's "Rybi tuk", their most recent effort. The songs are, of course, as achingly gorgeous as ever, with the threat of an ugly turn lurking around the corner of every hook. The seamlessness of bliss into gloom - it's a metaphor, kids, and it's an idea that both bands happen to excel at expressing. Take notes and compare it to your own experiences.

To the extent that rock music can influence one's non-musical perspective, these two bands have loomed over my outlook towards the world for some time now. Neither of them puts out records too often, and I'm excited to have a stab at new music from them both for the first time in a long time. If I have anything to add to this anticipatory synopsis after hearing the actual records, I will post it here. Meanwhile, if you're uninitiated into either of these groups, spend some time on YouTube and whet your appetite - but in both cases, the real way to experience the band is through a thorough investigation into the entirety of their respective back catalogues. Each has made a profound statement through the whole of its output, creating a dynamic body of work stronger as a whole than even the strongest of its single parts can indicate. I'm quite excited that both of these singular statements are still being expanded upon.