Falafel Friday

It's been a bit since I had a whinge here, so here...

Falafel, one of my favorite foods.
It holds a place with pizza and tacos in my heart.
It is one of the perfect foods...


So, when we moved here I learned of this East Side Pockets joint.
A falafel place over by all of the schools.
You know, college food street.  The one with the wing joint, the Ethiopian food place,  and some other random crappy burrito for two bucks thing.


This falafel place is one of the highest rated places on Yelp, here.
You can imagine my excitement.  Palpable, right?

Well, somehow, it took two years to actually go into this place.  We have been right there, but the moment wasn't right, or whatever.  I found another place closer to home base to satisfy my falafel fixation, anyway.
A visit to East Side Pockets just never came together until about two weeks ago...

Boom there we are...
Reading the menu, figuring out the line/order process and all that.
There is a buzz from the patrons and I am thinking this must be good...
The reviews, the whole thing, it had to be great.
Big order to go, KVC and I hustle home, starving for what just has to be the best stuff we've eaten in weeks...

And this falafel, let me tell you, is an affront to everything ever called falafel.

It was a bland fried ring of what seemed to be corn fritter batter?  No intrinsic flavor, except for the taste of fryer oil.
Rolled up in a wrap with your standard kinda falafel dress - and a metric shit ton of pickles?
I don't mean to exaggerate that point, there were so many pickles they overwhelmed everything else...
I was pulling them out to see if I was missing the good part, and I like pickles.
But there was no hidden good part.
Just shitty falafel and pickles.

We ordered other stuff, too.
A hummus plate, which was stunningly mediocre.  Salad stuff, hummus, stuffed grape leaves from a can and even more pickles.
I got a gyro wrap thing, also adorned with a bunch of pickles...

What the fuck is going on with the pickles at this place?


Anyway, this place is a great example of why Yelp reviews are crap.
Folks who have never eaten falafel any place else driving content, raving about the speedy service and all...
This joint is a quick serve establishment, so I am not sure their ability to make you only briefly wait for shitty food deserves high praise.  They pull that off at most Taco Bell locations for cripes sake.

So, there you go...

If you ask me, don't go to this place.
Follow the Yelpers, if you like standing in line for crap food covered with pickles...


Side note - It occurs to me that Rhode Islanders have these things called doughboys, I think.  They are also a bland fried batter thing, popular with the locals.  Kinda like a hush-puppy without all the flavor.  The falafel at East Side Pockets is like those doughboy things, which may explain the local enthusiasm...