azuri cafe: a falafel anyone can love

May 25th, 2010 | food, manhattan

for some reason, middle eastern food is not usually my thing. i don’t often crave it, and a bad meal can really deter me from trying again. take falafel for instance. sometimes the coating is too thick and hard, there’s oil everywhere, or the pita pocket is just filled with sauce and untasty lettuce.   however, when i have a good one i’m like, oh right, this is why i should be eating this food more often — pretty healthy, cheap and so satisfying.

of course, new york has dozens of falafel joints along with thousands of falafel experts. while that’s not me, and i still haven’t tried places like taïm or mamouns and haven’t been to rainbow in ages, i can report with some limited authority that azuri’s falafel is excellent.  maybe not the best (who knows), but very very good, and if you’re stuck in midtown, and need something cheap, fast, light and fluffy and filled with spices, i’d head on over to the west 50s.  the place is small, nondescript but clean, gets crowded fast though service is quick, quick, quick and the falafel platter was perfect. in fact, i wanted more when i was done thinking i hadn’t quite gotten enough.  now that is saying something. azuri cafe, 465 west 51st between 9th and 10th avenues, manhattan, new york, .

cheap, food, manhattan, middle eastern, midtown west , ,
2 Comments »

2 Responses to “azuri cafe: a falafel anyone can love”

  1. Melisa/Shiny Brite says:
    May 25, 2010 at 3:48 pm

    mmmm, yum! just discovered you, via your molly killeen interview. between molly (those brown sugar brownies!, four and twenty blackbirds (that salted caramel apple pie), and moon river chattel (original home of my farmhouse sink and claw foot bathtub), i can see we have lots in common!

    thanks for writing — i’m enjoying reading. :)

  2. cherrypatter says:
    May 27, 2010 at 7:07 am

    great. thanks so much. love your site too! will need to check out two lovers very very soon.