Nesh Mediterranean Grill

Grabbed a quick lunch here today. I wanted something quick and didn't want the stress of Roti (yes, I find ordering there a bit intimidating). I ordered the Fattoush and had them throw chicken on top.

The pluses: The falafel was really good. Perfectly seasoned, soft and the salad included four of them. Service was friendly and quick.

The minuses: Beyond the falafel, the salad was a bit bland. The pita chips were bland, the chicken was bland and the dressing was bland.

I am satisfied and probably will head back at some point to try another dish, but this isn't as good as Roti or I Dream of Falafel.

There are so many of these lunch Mediterranean restaurants opening up everywhere. I like some of them, but this particular one is my favorite.  

Nesh's combination of flavoring is absolutely amazing.  I could eat there everyday.  The food tastes very fresh and it's just a very uplifting experience every time I go there.

I love that it's right around the corner from my office too.

Highly recommend to try them out.  I'm a fan.

My first inkling this was likely to be a less than stellar Mediterranean dining experience was being able to walk in at 12:30 on a weekday and not wait in line. Handy, but a rarity at any of the solid lunch spots in the loop.

I ordered a falafel shrock* with hummus, cabbage, jerusalem salad and hot sauce on the side. The shrock is like a thin tortilla, maybe too thin as it did rip as I ate my wrap. The falafel balls were good, better than ones you'd find at a place like Roti, but not as good as ones you'd find at Benjyehuda or Taza. The hummus was good, but deceptively creamy. I was tempted to have them add more to my wrap and am glad I did not, its creaminess overpowered my meal a bit. And well, jerusalem salad and cabbage is...jerusalem salad and cabbage. The hot sauce was where it lost major points for me. I like some heat, but can't handle a ton of it, so I usually get my sauce on the side. This *hot sauce* may as well have been ketchup it was so unspicy. Boo! Overall, the combination was rather bland and unremarkable.

As Ryne D pointed out, there are no shortage of Mediterranean options in the loop; you could throw a rock and hit at least two. That said, there's not much point in wasting time on bad or average Mediterranean, this being the latter. Service was friendly and efficient, but then again there were only a handful of people in the store. I might give it another shot, but it's not likely with some of the other (better) options equidistant from my office.

* Out of curiosity, I Googled "shrock," the only things that came back were references to Nesh and people with the name shrock. It's neither here nor there, but I found it interesting.