I used to eat at Ghazale, under the Bloor cinema, all the time when I was living in the neighbourhood as a poor university student. From late night drunken shish tawook to the standard, stalwart falafel sandwich, it’s been one of the sources of comfort food in this city.

Today as I ventured back into the hood for a haircut (I haven’t even bothered to look for another barber since I moved to the west end a few years ago) I decided that I needed to fortify myself, so I swung by Ghazale. Now, some things change and some things don’t. The price of the falafel sandwich hasn’t gone up or down a penny for the many years I’ve known this place, which was many times a boon when I had little more than pocket change. However, a while ago, they switched the sauce they put on falafel from a nice tahini to some kind of thin, creamy stuff that I always ask to be left off. They still use the same great hot sauce, though.

However, today as I set my pack down at one of the two small tables amid towering boxes of supplies, I was quite disappointed. Instead of chucking a couple of par-cooked falafel patties into the deep-fryer and rolling them up with the crisp cold veggies, the person making my sandwich rolled the whole lot up cold, then threw the entire thing in the microwave! This, of course had the double effect of robbing the falafel patties of their crunchiness and making the lettuce, tomato, and other veggies hot, soggy, and thoroughly unpleasant. Boo.

I hold out hope that this was an anomaly and is not the standard practice now. But we will see.