As
you might be able to tell from my first post, I am a big chicken shawarma
fan. Zaya got me hooked and then I tried
Naf Naf, but just last week I finally got around to trying Falafel King. People have been telling me to try it since the
early fall, but I always found reasons not to. It’s such a long walk, and why
spend real dollars when you can spend Dooley Dollars? So I was in the car with
some friends when someone suggested we go to Falafel. Everyone else immediately jumped on board, so
I figured I might as well give it a chance.
The
restaurant itself was not what I had expected at all, it was tiny and full of
an older crowd, but it also had less of an industrial feel. It was kind of quaint, a nice change from
your typical experience when dining on-campus.
At the counter where you order, all of the food is right there in front
of you. You can see sushi on display and
watch the shawarma and falafel being made a few feet away. All of the sides are also right up front, so
you can see what you’re getting, but on the other hand I don’t like that the
food has been sitting out.
As
appetizing as the sushi looked, I had to try the chicken shawarma. For my sides I chose hummus, pita, and
vegetable pot stickers. The wait was
longer than I had expected, much longer than Zaya or Naf Naf. When my food came out, the portions looked
kind of small and the food itself looked greasy; I figured it had to be good
then. Why else would people speak so highly of it?
I
found the food to be mediocre. The
chicken came in small, greasy pieces and it didn’t taste like much; it wasn’t
bad, but it wasn’t very good either. It
was just bland. I tried dipping it in the hummus, but there was so little of it
that there was hardly any left for the pita.
I didn’t like the consistency of the hummus either, it was not as smooth
and creamy as Zaya’s and Naf Naf’s. The pot sticker was okay, but it was also
really greasy.
I
really don’t understand why people like Falafel King so much. I was thoroughly disappointed. Maybe the sushi and falafel are better; I
will probably end up back there again at some point and I’ll have to try those
instead. The one high point of the meal
was the pita; it was better than Zaya’s, but nowhere close to Naf Naf’s. If I do end up back at Falafel King again, I’ll
make another post if round two is better.
Michael: Oh no! A bad experience at Falafel King! It does happen, and I agree that the chicken shawarma is not their best. Thank you for the honest post, however. Sometimes a bad meal deserves a good thrashing. If you end up there again, try the sushi and one of the soups. The udon and the ramen are excellent. And the Falafel is pretty good.
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