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| - Ever since the wife got a tattoo just up the road from this place, giving us an excuse to eat here for the first time (see my original review), I've been jonesing for more. Fortunately, she booked in for another tattoo a couple of days ago which gave us another excuse to travel the 45 miles and have another bite at the Casa la Dinge. Unfortunately, the way the day played out meant that I headed in to Tempe with her, then had to kill about three hours waiting for her tattoo to be completed. During this time I met some friends and because I was starving I wound up having a quasi-lunch with them at Slices Pizza at the cnr of 6th and Mill. Doh! The wife wouldn't have tolerated me doing Haji Baba's with them because SHE wanted to join me at HB for a late lunch. I thus had two lunches on the day, but because I wasn't too hungry after she and I arrived at HB, I had to make do with a couple of appetizers. I ordered the Foul Mudammas, the falafel and the yoghurt soda. The soda made me shudder at the unexpected taste, but I did manage to strangle down about half of it, with a face that probably appeared to onlookers as though I was being cornholed with a pineapple. Reminded me a lot of salt lassi, except this was saltier. Basically like drinking salty melted butter out of a bag of Orville Redenbacher. The wife grimaced at her first swallow, then came back a few minutes later for another go-round (that's my girl!) I can see why the damn stuff is popular - in a Warheads-candy sort of way. The Mudammas was pretty good, but my gut was quite full by this time and I didn't even finish the falafels. Oh well. Wife had the chicken kabob, same as last time I think - the plate was overloaded and the food was delicious, once again.
After we finished I started with the usual wandering up and down the aisles looking at the weird foods and their names. Wife said she needed to hit the restroom. About a minute later she was back, with sort of a guilty wan smile on her face. I was wondering whether the crapper was out of order or something else funny had happened. I was wrong. Apparently the previous occupant had dropped a couple of foul mudammas of his own in the bog, and the stench was so rancid that my wife threw up almost all of her meal. I kid you not. She said she struggled to hold her breath but in the end, blammo. By this time I was doing the potty dance as well and with more than a little trepidation went to the restroom. I sniffed (WHY?!) but the smell had cleared out by now and it was tolerable. However, the toilet fixtures themselves were disgraceful. I took a couple of photos of the faucet (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/2GmGT-7QjowR1ihup3FbVA?select=R-J7WlBAZ7cGGRMTetoRxA), and the string holding their mirror above the sink (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/2GmGT-7QjowR1ihup3FbVA?select=DkWNs54J3xmfmZ1KHX2CbA). If they're going for realistic Arabic slum atmosphere and decor at this place, congrats - they hit the mark one hundred percent. Please, DON'T go into the restroom if you visit this place.. you'll spend the rest of the day, like I did, wondering if the kitchen fixtures look the same. Spoiled the experience for me, and there's NO reason they can't renovate such a tiny room and make it at least a little more passable. Made the shitter in "Trainspotting" look like the jewelry counter at Harrods.
Three stars (two knocked off for the state of the restroom, and I'm not counting the stench/vomiting incident in this demerit), and my brief addiction has been broken. I probably won't go here again since it transcends even my fairly liberal, old-city standards of cleanliness. Cheap food, good tasting, generous portions, I didn't get food poisoning, and the cashew baklava was awesome, but next time we're in town I'll probably go back to Slices Pizza or look for an alternate Middle Eastern fix. Then again, Greek Wraps is closer and just as tasty. And no, owner of Chicago Gyros, they didn't pay me to say that. Seacrest out.
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