Midtown Lunch

Does the newish Mediterranean spot in the Liberty Place Food Court make anyone else immediately think of teen movie star Zac Efron? Unfortunately Zaffron offers less singing. Fortunately, it also offers less hair.

You can order from Zaffron’s signature menu of wraps, salads, or over rice “entrees” or you can choose your own and take advantage of the add ins bar. You can pick one of the main ingredients, including chicken, beef, falafel, and  shawarma, to be a part of your meal.  Mary had reported enjoying the falafel and the add ins bar. I came back since you all asked for pictures, and to try the shawarma

My shawarma wrap was $7.50, and it was huge. It was much more like a burrito than a wrap, and was far from  traditional shawarma -in- pita -folded-over preparation. Some people could see that as a positive, I am not a big burrito fan, so it was a little weird for me. I am definitely not used to having rice on top of my shawarma. I made the mistake of not reading Mary’s review thoroughly and didn’t get the whole wheat pita. Though they heat it up before filling it, it was like she said, a little gummy. I tried to be really careful and only pick add ins from the “hummus bar” that I thought made sense. It is so easy to made silly choices when given free reign. I went with the garlic sauce, harrissa, feta, and the cucumber tomato salad. The garlic sauce looks really pungent, so the counter guy didn’t give me a lot of it, but I should have asked for more, I didn’t taste it enough. The harissa is a must if you want some spice. Feta was also a great idea, but like the garlic, I could have used more.  As for the meat, it wasn’t the best quality shawarma, but it wasn’t dry and was seasoned well. Maybe the place gets a lot of traffic, the shawarma is constantly being slices of the spit, and each new layer doesn’t have a chance to get a little char the way I like it. How it that for a thoughtful hypothesis?

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Healthy and fast
• Vegetarian options
• The wraps are huge
• The hummus bar has a ton of options to customize your lunch

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• Shawarma burritos are weird
• Not the best shawarma

Zaffron, Liberty Place 1625 Chestnut (btw 16th and 17th St), 855 923 3766