Samhi C.
Features Editor
skc5908@psu.edu

Upon the recommendation of a friend and upon a craving for falafels, I took a trip to Habibi Mediterranean Restaurant on a rainy afternoon at the end of the Fall semester.
By no means was the food bad. I want to emphasize though that for someone who likes more natural flavors to savor, maybe this is the place for you. But not for me.
Too many raw vegetables, not enough spices or sauces. And the one sauce they did have, the tahini sauce, could have been better.
The food looked nice but it was… bland.
The Jibnah Pasta I took to go got drenched in alfredo sauce back at my dorm and the feta got tossed from it because it only tasted good the day you got it. Meanwhile, the lentil soup only looked appetizing if you constantly stirred it so it didn’t settle.
But as with most things, I tried to find at least one thing I liked. And it didn’t take much effort to find it.
The falafels!
I love falafels.
And I know good falafels when I try them.
They paired well with the tahini sauce and also tasted delicious with no sauce at all. They had the perfect texture, crunchy and fried on the outside, and easy to bite.
I also liked the fried pita chips. Though the soup was rather unsettling when it settled, the chips dipped in the soup were an interesting combination of sweet-ish and savory.
They also have great lemonade. I downed a giant glassful before I headed out back into the rain.
I have to say though that even though the food was only okay overall, the ambiance of the restaurant was perfect for a rainy afternoon: purple walls with black silhouettes of couples and colorful lights hanging from the ceiling. I will definitely go back at some point to have some falafels and lemonade on another rainy day.