Restaurant Review: Mamoun's Falafel
There is a northeastern restaurant chain that advertises itself as vegan and vegetarian friendly. It claims to be "the original falafel restaurant" and is currently planning to expand to California and several points inland: Mamoun's Falafel. I ate there a little over a week or so ago when a co-worker and I got stranded in a freak snowstorm and needed a place to wait it out.
I ordered the falafel plate. It comes with hummus, baba ganouj, pickled cucumbers and turnips, a pita bread, and your choice of rice or salad. The whole thing is drenched in tahini.
They actually messed up the order despite asking for clarification three times about whether I wanted rice or salad and rang me up as salad anyway. They fixed it when I pointed it out but there was clear protest from the kitchen.
I liked most of this, but it is definitely a you-get-what-you-pay-for situation, in that I have had much, much better elsewhere. I hated the pickled turnips, though, and the rice was weirdly mushy and tasted odd in a way I couldn't place.
I have another major quibble with Mamoun's: Though they had the posted menu labeled clearly when things were vegan and/or vegetarian, things with honey listed in the ingredients were labeled as vegan. I realize some vegans eat honey, but enough vegans don't eat honey (I don't) that I would think you needed to err on the side of labeling that stuff vegetarian non-dairy or something, but not vegan. (People have argued with me on the honey thing. "Bees aren't animals!" But bees aren't plants, either. I am not going to push individual people on the honey thing. I just don't eat honey, a lot of vegans don't eat honey, and I don't think things with honey in them should be labeled as vegan.)
General thoughts: This was a reasonably priced fast food meal with average service. I would eat here again if stranded in a snowstorm but I might not otherwise. The "vegan" labeling could use some updates, too. 3/5
They actually messed up the order despite asking for clarification three times about whether I wanted rice or salad and rang me up as salad anyway. They fixed it when I pointed it out but there was clear protest from the kitchen.
I liked most of this, but it is definitely a you-get-what-you-pay-for situation, in that I have had much, much better elsewhere. I hated the pickled turnips, though, and the rice was weirdly mushy and tasted odd in a way I couldn't place.
I have another major quibble with Mamoun's: Though they had the posted menu labeled clearly when things were vegan and/or vegetarian, things with honey listed in the ingredients were labeled as vegan. I realize some vegans eat honey, but enough vegans don't eat honey (I don't) that I would think you needed to err on the side of labeling that stuff vegetarian non-dairy or something, but not vegan. (People have argued with me on the honey thing. "Bees aren't animals!" But bees aren't plants, either. I am not going to push individual people on the honey thing. I just don't eat honey, a lot of vegans don't eat honey, and I don't think things with honey in them should be labeled as vegan.)
General thoughts: This was a reasonably priced fast food meal with average service. I would eat here again if stranded in a snowstorm but I might not otherwise. The "vegan" labeling could use some updates, too. 3/5
The honey thing really bothers me. I have seen a number of restaurants claiming dishes are vegan when they have honey in it. Bees are animals!!! Insects count! By simple definition, honey is an animal product and so is not vegan! How hard it is? STOP PUTTING HONEY IN THINGS AND CALLING THEM VEGAN!
ReplyDeleteSorry, clearly I have had some discussion about this in the past. LOL
I have trouble with this sometimes with restaurants trying to be accommodating and not understanding. It's happened multiple times. It's frustrating, isn't it?
DeleteI hate when you feel like you can't trust a vegan label on a menu. I get that some vegans eat honey and some don't but you would think that a restaurant would err on the side of labeling in a way that even the most strict vegan would eat it. The plate looks pretty good but all things considered it doesn't seem like a place I'd go out of my way to visit. Do you have a Maoz near you? I've heard it's really great and far superior to Mamoun's.
ReplyDeleteI'm not near a Maoz, but I'll be on the lookout for them! It looks like they're vegetarian, which Mamoun's isn't.
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