Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Eat at Habib's



During the winter break we finally made it to Habib's for a proper meal and it was well worth the wait. It was cold out and we had been roaming the city all morning. I was starting to hear little whiny complaints -something about being tired and bored- when we turned the corner onto Avenue A and the blue sign of Habib's finally materialized ahead! Hafnaoui was there to greet us with his great big smile, full body hugs and much kissing. He is the chef, the owner, the everything of Habib's.

Habib's is a thin sliver of a take out shop filled with great food and delicious scents. It's not far from a couple of my old E.V. haunts. Incredibly the Pyramid is still there though King Tuts disappeared in the early 90s. Tompkins Square Park has certainly come up in the world.

Sadly there were few customers but that allowed us to find seats on four stools at the counter in the back. We grabbed some drinks - bottled NYC water for me was irresistible and everyone wanted to "try" it - and watched while Hafnaoui cooked each of our dishes to order.

Nora was very happy with her marinated chicken with rice and Thibault with his kibbeh appetizer and falafel lunch. I also went for a falafel but with eggplant and hot sauce. It's mouth-watering to even write about it. Must go back...! The falafel patties themselves were crispy on the outside and bright green with fresh parsley on the inside. They had a softer, more moist consistency than any I've had. Sylvain had the combination platter of course. He has a thing about combination platters.


After all of this of course we were quite full but we were there and who knew when we'd be back so we shared a slab of tasty-looking harisa, a semolina cake with coconut and honey, before heading out to the street. Habib's has a huge selection of those incredibly sweet, nutty, honeyed, layered desserts, all made by Hafnaoui. So good! Move over Mamouns...



So check it out. Tell him Elie sent you.

Habib's Place
89 Avenue A (between 5th and 6th)
NYC
(212) 673-5016