24 in 24: DC – 4:00 AM @ Amsterdam Falafelshop

O Amsterdam Falafelshop, I wish I knew how to quit you!

Wait a second, no I don’t. Falafels are healthier than anything I’ve eaten today, and they’re fried! I got there at 3:30 when I said I would be there at 4 and the place looked exactly as I had remembered it as a constant flow of drunken twentysomethings made it near impossible to clean the counters. The cleaning crew doubled in size, and the line did too (they took a chef off the line to help tidy up for the camera) and in 15 minutes, the place was no less busy, but the wreckage was mostly cleared. I’d been hanging out, shooting the bull into the camera for a bit, and the inebriation in line was asking me what I was doing and if I was going to jump ahead of them when I was ready to film. I didn’t have a problem saying abso-bleepin-loutely as I waited for Arianne to set up.

There’s a certain falafel configuration I crave when I come in here: baba ghanouj, garlic cream sauce, red onions, green peppers, and roasted eggplant. Tonight, when I got to the falafelstation (I’m making that up right now. Arianne, if you want to use that, I want 5% of all franchise fees), there was no roasted eggplant! Oh noes! She explained that I could get it during the day, but on Friday and Saturday nights, they had to choose to meet the demand for fries or roasted eggplant, and you know who wins that battle (they’re getting a new fryer, so that problem will be fixed soon, and in all future Falafelshops). The fries, while I didn’t have them tonight (because I’d already had 12,663 calories) are glorious. Dip them in the garlic cream sauce and prepare for food orgasm.

A fitting end to a fantastic day. Amsterdam Falafelshop wins my Bang for the buck award for 24 in 24: DC. As far as Adams Morgan late-night food goes, skip the jumbo slice and do something positive with those after-hour munchies.

Back to 24 in 24: DC