Nish Nush
Pita, hummus, halloumi salad. Roasty, toasty, worthy of boasting. — Nish Nush
Note: You’ll notice words like “mezze” and “baba ganoush” spelled differently depending on the source—I’ll do my best to keep it consistent between posts)
The best part about having my folks visit (besides knowing that my tab is covered) is that it’s guaranteed that we’re going to eat well. Either my foodiness is genetic or it’s a heavily nurtured trait (the 23andMe is still out there). Whatever the truth of the matter is, whenever my parents are in town I can find myself waking up on a given Friday morning with a full restaurant itinerary laid out.
In a weekend filled with good eats up and down the Lower East Side, we start with Nish Nush, found on the corner of Reade St. and Church St.
Regardless of the phonetic similarity, this little food spot is far from pish posh. Apparently the place’s cute name comes from Hebrew, meaning “snack,” which is a bit of an understatement considering the generous portion sizes.
As previously established, Mediterranean food is (that) good shit. And if the earthy, smoky aromas emanating from the kitchen aren’t inviting enough, the location also features an open concept layout, expanding the floor onto the streets of Manhattan. It makes it real easy to just pop in on a whim, or in our case, after meticulous digging in search of the best lunch spots in the area.
The offerings are all vegetarian as well, which despite its ease on my meat-guilty conscience, left me nonetheless bloated with hummus and tahini by the time I stumbled out.
We ordered a fair amount of dishes between the three of us, making sure to cover all of the obligatory mezze bases. Both the hummus and baba ganoush were excellent. Creamy, robust, and honestly rich enough to warrant a shot of vinegar after a healthy amount of spoonfuls. Notably, a small container of pickles was provided with our order, so this was accounted for.
Baba ganoush, cauiflower sabich, beets. Rich, delish, scratching that itch.
The halloumi salad was great too, and apparently so fetching to the eye that another to-be-diner saw us eating and walked over to ask about it. Now I’m usually not one to order a salad when I go out. It’s a matter of principle. But throw some roasted bits on top and suddenly we’re not talking about your run-of-the-mill mixed greens anymore.
The last item that we ordered, and the one that I’m going to recommend if dining solo, was the cauliflower sabich sandwich. If anyone’s to blame for my post-lunch bloat, it’s this guy. But give me a pita stuffed with crispy cauliflower bites, boiled egg, and packed full of spices and you’ve got yourself an I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-meat parcel of the most scrumptious caliber.
Bottom line, if you’re in the area, looking for lunch, and got a need to nosh, Nish Nush is gonna fill that need.
