Casa La Femme North

1076 1st Ave
New York, NY 10022
212-505-0005

Snowman and I ended up eating at this Egyptian restaurant because we were wandering around the East Side trying to find one of two Mexican places we had been to before, despite the fact that we could not remember either names or either locations. We stumbled up Casa La Femme, and honestly, after all that walking around, I would have eaten at the salad bar at Food Emporium.
The decor is dark and romantic. We had a nice table in the back with comfortable, high straight back chairs (though it was difficult to get out from them as the table had to be moved out of the way). We had a drink at the bar first. Our bartender not only told us the drink specials, but also told us the prices. Which was nice since the drinks were $12. But quite tasty.

Our waiter was efficient, perhaps too much so, since I got the feeling that he was always anxious to get away from us. He spoke very quickly, so it was hard to understand what he was saying. But too efficient is much better than too slow, so I won't complain too much.

We basically ended up eating an array of appetizers instead of having entreès. We started with the Babaganoush, which was fine. I prefer it from Ali Baba. The fresh, warm pitas they served it with were delicious, flavored with rosemary and sesame seeds. I had the molokhya, a spinach soup with garlic and rice, which was really fantastic. It was sweet and spicy and filling. I also had the felfel mahschi, a baked bell pepper stuffed with rice and topped with tomato sauce. The pepper was soft, but not limp and the rice was very flavorful. Snowman had the sogo, grilled beef sausages, which he rolled up in the delicious pitas like little hot dogs. I thought these were very flavorful. He also had the tamaya, which were chickpea dumplings, something akin to falafel. I think I would prefer falafel, since I found these a little bland.

As our meal was winding down, the music was cranked up and I was going to complain until I saw a belly dancer come out to entertain the diners. She did several numbers, including balancing a sword on her head and pulling diners from their tables to participate (which they did with zeal). I thought this was a fun, interesting touch. A nice way to end a very nice meal.

My only real complaint is that I found it to be a little more expensive than the food warranted. It was good, to be sure, but that good? That, I'm not sure about.

Grade: B/B+