Food Floozie: falafel

Friday, November 23, 2012

Frugal Floozie Friday - Zamaan Cafe

I've enjoyed several lovely meals with loved ones, recently, at Zamaan Cafe - today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature. Good food, good service, good prices ... what more do you need?

The Baladi pictured above - hummus topped with tomatoes, red onions, black olives, parsley, and feta - was rich, creamy, and presented beautifully. (Hummus is a fairly bland-looking beige food, most of the time; this was enticing!) Served with a generous portion of pita bread, it was large enough to share but good enough to guard selfishly against those who might want to help deplete your supply. At only $4.99, it falls within our mandatory $5 per person budget either way. Craig was happy to help me polish off the serving, which was larger than I could finish on my own despite my being a hearty eater.

The meat pies are tender, with a soft rather than stiff dough; the filling is enhanced with onions, tomatoes, and spices. Often these can be dry, but at Zamaan Cafe they are very moist and full of flavor. At $3.99, they are an excellent value. Spinach pies are available, too, for the same price.

A plate of grape leaves - either meat-filled or vegetarian - costs $4.99. The latter variety - stuffed with rice, parsley, onions, tomatoes, spices and olive oil - are tender, and feature a bright tartness. Jeremy has never been a fan of these before, and yet helped me devour this plateful.

The falafel, at $4.99, was another excellent value. Jeremy polished these off without even offering me a taste! But since I was enjoying my small - in name only - Greek salad (a mere $3.99), that was okay.

A pastry case offers different varieties of baklava, as well as honey cake; desserts cost less than $2 each, some far less. The walnut and pistachio treats pictured here cost $1.29 each, and are a perfect way to end a meal.

For friendly service, great value, and delicious food, try Zamaan Cafe!