Rate my falafel goes protestin’

We at ratemyfalafel.com felt that we should have a presence at last weekends ‘Peoples Vote’ march in London. Falafel, as previously discussed, is a political issue. Not only is the very existence of falafel threatened by uncertain markets (the run on chickpeas has already started, a good friend of mine did her pre-Brexit Asda shop recently and claims she has a cupboard full of ’em), but also, falafel…well it’s not a British invention, is it? With this in mind, we joined the anti-racist bloc lead by Movement for Justice. Let’s be quite clear about this: Brexit is and always was about immigration, and therefore, racism. Many pretend it was about other things…taking control, making our own laws, the possibility of a socialist utopia, funding the NHS, but really it is because papers like the Daily Mail and The Express fill the minds and hearts of the British populace with hate filled rubbish aimed at scapegoating immigrants and other poor people, blaming all problems on immigration and the Human Rights Act. That is how we got to the situation we are in now, where no one knows what’s going on and everyone is rightly furious.

So I went to the demo, which is by far the biggest one I have been to since the Iraq war in 2004, it was bloody massive. It was also the weirdest demo I have been on. Never have I seen such a large turnout of middle class do-gooders. The outfits! The gold studded outfits! I’ve never seen anything like it. Tories were (desperately) giving out their ‘Tories Against Brexit’ placards, their shiny red faces contrasting with their clean blue suits, as everyone politely and calmly ambled down the roads, many sipping gin and tonics or clasping pints. There were some good placards, but also, a lot of lame ones. ‘More Champagne, less Brexit’ – this definitely summed up the demographic at this protest! The Movement for Justice lot were the only ones doing any chanting, the rest of the million people didn’t seem to know what to do. There was barely any police, and I didn’t see a single scuffle.  I was frankly, bored. Even more so when we got to some sort of standstill and speeches began, which we watched on massive screens. When Michael Bloody Heseltine started droning on about something or other I lost my patience with the whole thing and left. Having Tories at a protest with you makes you feel dirty somehow. If they are so against Brexit, why don’t they leave the party then?

I had been hoping to have a falafel straight after the demo, but we ended up in a curry place instead – this amazing vegetarian all you can eat place in Angel which has been going since the 80’s and has vegetarian propaganda pasted in every single possible space all over the walls. I learnt that drinking cold water can give you a heart attack! We’ll all die someday, I guess. If you fancy a break from falafel I suggest you try it…

The Indian Veg

Location: 
92-93 Chapel Market N1 9EX

I did of course get a falafel the next day, in Haringay, London, don’t fret.

It was a busy Turkish restaurant called Gokyuzu and it was a bright sunny day, perfect for a falafel. The four of us sat down in a booth and ordered an awful lot of food. Too much, one might say, but this is the price you pay for running a successful falafel based blog. I was still full from the previous nights curry, where I very much took the ‘all you can eat’ but at their word. Even still, I ploughed on. We ordered 2 falafel starters and various other dishes to share.

 

I have to say that the bread was really good. The falafel was tasty, nice and crisp, but the colour itself was lacking – it was not green but beige on the inside. It had an almost nutmeg or cinnamon-y taste to it, which wasn’t unpleasant. I gobbled it all up. I think it was slightly pricey for what it was, though it did come nicely presented which was appreciated. The hummus was really tasty as well.

The review

Bread – 5/5

Salad – 4/5

Hummus – 4/5

Intoxication – 0/5 (sad times)

all in all 4/5 – not bad!