Half-Full

Ever since I left my sublet in May to return to Ottawa, I haven't gone out much. During the winter, it was the freezing conditions (or so I thought) that kept me inside. With the warmer weather, I should be motivated to be outdoors. But a quick visit to a relative reminded me how unreliable local transit was. I was also surrounded by suburban streets which were much emptier than even quiet East End Toronto. Finally, social media posts reminded me that fun stuff like CMW (Canadian Music Week) and NXNE were happening in the Big Smoke. So I had no motivation to go out. Even a 2-show stint this week from multiple Juno winner Charlotte Cardin didn't elicit any personal interest.

But Friday was almost 30 degrees and sunny. Since I haven't done anything but remote work for 4 weeks, I decided to venture out for lunch. I arrived at the corner of Blair and Montreal but the falafel food truck was gone. Perhaps they left because the site was slated for condo development? I walked for a bit and debated whether I should go back to the taco truck. But lo and behold, Falafel On Wheels had simply relocated a few blocks to the strip mall housing Golden Crust Pizza. I ordered the Falafull-Fries ($7.10) for lunch.

This was a desolate stretch of pavement but I remembered just off the main road there was a small parkette. My meal was filling but not very appetizing. First, I made a mistake. I thought it was a shawarma stuffed with extra fries like I've had elsewhere or even a hybrid like French taco. But it was simply falafel balls on fries with a sprinkling of tomato and parsley. If I wanted fries for lunch I would have gone to the Frys Guy one parking lot over.

The dish was bland with the falafel being too hard and lacking the chewy, nutty flavour of a good recipe. The fries were fresh but they could use an exciting kick like masala spices. There wasn't even a public garbage bin anywhere so I had to carry the trash back to the apartment. Yet another disappointing Ottawa eats to add to the tally.