I love my monthly dinner club (if you missed the last dinner club post it’s here). Lots of girl talk, good food, and exploring new restaurants throughout the city. Our last get-together was at a Moroccan and Mediterranean restaurant  in the East Village. I was, of course, elated when I heard where we were going. Mediterranean is a pretty safe bet for finding something good I can eat without being too much of a pain to the waiter or annoying to my friends.

It was one of those late-summer sticky days that by the time you get to the restaurant you’re just dying for some air conditioning. The restaurant was a little warm – but we eventually cooled down. The waitress was patient (as one needs to be when there’s a group of 8 girls deciding over the menu and wine and who’s sharing what and how many appetizers to order). The service was a bit slow – but that’s to be expected when there’s a big table on a busy night. And none of that really mattered because the conversation was fantastic, the wine was good, and the food was great.

I really wanted the vegetable tangine, but there was butter involved that couldn’t be left out. We ordered the falafel platter, hummus and babaganoush,  as an appetizer for the table, so I went with a simple salad for the main course. I was surprised at how flavorful the salad was – it was the organic greens with apples, beets and fennel (I added avocado). But there was fresh mint in there as well and it added a pop of refreshing flavor I wasn’t anticipating but loved.

The prices were reasonable as well – so if I find myself down on St. Marks battling the NYU crowd, I’ll definitely swing by again. And for all you non-vegans out there here’s a shot of the goat cheese and tomato tart everyone was raving about.