Noteworthy Meals

When you are away from home, you begin to crave certain foods that you can't find. But when you do find those foods, it pretty much makes your day. We recently found a place called "Bagels and Brownies" and that is not a translation. The place offers bagels with all the fixings and a bunch of other precious commodities that are hard to find here: cheesecake, brownies, apples sauce, Dr. Pepper. The bagel sandwiches are named after U.S. cities, despite the ingredients having absolutely no relation to the city. I order the San Diego, a bagel with cream cheese, swiss, honey mustard, pastrami, tomato, and avocado. The funniest part of the place is that despite all of the names being in English, you cannot just say "San Diego" or "Miami", you must mispronounce the names with a thick French accent, or they honestly will have no idea what you are talking about. The place is popular among locals and there is usually a line out of the door.


The Jewish Quarter in Paris is famous for falafel. There are countless falafel stands crammed into the area, yet only one is ever mentioned by name. L'As du Falafel. As seen in the picture, the line for this place can go down the street, while the falafel stand across the street that offers the same fair is empty. Lenny Kravitz has called this the best falafel in the world. So is it worth all of the hype? Absolutely. Long lines and being closed on Saturdays has led me to try other falafel stands on the street, but never again. I can't say what makes it so different, but it was hands down the best falafel I have ever eaten.
The final amazing meal I have had recently was in Bordeaux. The place, L'Entrecote, doesn't even have a menu, they just ask how you would like your steak cooked. They bring you a salad, bread, all you can eat french fries, and a half pound of sliced stead drenched in their famous sauce (a greasy, buttery, garlicky concoction that left me thirsty but wanting more). The meal was complemented by a bottle of Bordeaux and finished with my new favorite dessert, blackcurrant sorbet. Heaven.

I felt the need to show my appreciation.