Competing falafel

After our trip to Old City Cafe of Jerusalem the other day, my friend Jon at UPenn (who used to live in D.C.) told us about Amsterdam Falafelshop just down the street. I did a little research to try to find out exactly where it was (Adams-Morgan is packed with practically nothing but bars and restaurants) and discovered that the person who started Old City Cafe used to be the cook at Amsterdam Falafelshop. So, I had to go try the falafel so I could compare.

Of course, the other interesting thing I discovered is that the Amsterdam shop was started by white people, not Middle Easterners. Apparently, they were wanting to recreate the falafel shop atmosphere they found on a vacation trip to the Netherlands. And, indeed, on my trip for lunch today, there were two white people working the shop, including a woman with a heavy European accent.

The menu at Amsterdam is simple: falafel in pita bread and French fries (which they call "frites"). That's it. There's a large condiment bar of toppings, salads, and sauces to put on the falafel sandwiches, but that's all they cook. It's also a very casual restaurant with no plates or silverwear, and the sandwiches are served in merely paper wrappers.

Let me take just a moment to explain these foods, since I know many of my readers in the heartland of the country may never have seen or experienced Middle Eastern cooking. These are some things that are basic, everyday staples in the region, from Turkey to Israel to Saudi Arabia to Egypt, and they revolve around the chickpea, also called garbanzo beans. To make falafel, chickpeas are soaked in water to soften them (but not cook them), then they are ground up and mixed with a little onion, parsley, and spices; formed into small (perhaps 1" or so in diameter) balls, and then deep-fried. They can be served alone or in pita bread pockets. Interestingly, the word "falafel" is plural; my Arabic is non-existent, but I think the singular form is something like "filifil," but a serving is always plural balls, so one never need learn the singular form. Now, a related popular Middle Eastern food is hummus, also a chickpea product. To make hummus, the chickpeas are cooked, then puréed and mixed with tahini (sesame seed paste), garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice until the consistency of too-thin mashed potatoes. Hummus is usually served as a dip for an appetizer, and often accompanies falafel.

So, how was the food? I got my falafel-in-pita and loaded up several condiments into the pita, then added a little garlic cream sauce and some hummus. And the falafel were very good. I watched the man at the shop form the chickpea mixture into large gumdrop shapes and fry them to a golden brown. My sandwich falafel were hot, light, and fluffy with a pleasant taste, though I'm used to falafel balls that are a little more cooked.

One of the things I particularly appreciated at Amsterdam is a poster on the wall near the condiment bar that describes what the things are. When I was at Old City, they had much the same food, but I was baffled with the unfamiliar looking items. We also had a choice of either white pita bread or wheat pita bread, which they put in a special radiant heating device to order.

Now, let's think back to Wednesday night when we were at Old City Cafe of Jerusalem, where I had a falafel platter. There, the falafel were fried much more until they were a darker color and had some crunch to them....perhaps a little too much crunch. They weren't as light and fluffy, but I found the chickpea mixture to be more flavorful.

So, which was better? Well, based just on the one experience at each place, I'd have to say Amsterdam, because the Old City ones were overcooked. But, that cooking is a vagary of each individual batch in the kitchen, and had they fried them for a shorter period of time, I might have liked Old City's better (and Old City has the advantage of charging $1 less per sandwich). But, if their cooks regularly overcook them, then Amsterdam will continue to win. I will say that I like the hummus at Old City better, again, due to more "flavor," but some of the other condiments at Amsterdam looked fresher on the bar. I also like the full and varied menu at Old City, where they have all kinds of Middle Eastern foods, not just falafel, and there's actually a dining room where one may sit down and eat at leisure with actual plates and flatware.

Here are some pictures from last Wednesday of the other foods at Old City Cafe. First, you'll see our appetizers, a hummus on the left, and a baba ghanouj (eggplant purée) on the right. They were both served with wedges of pita bread. Then, you'll see the two different kinds of kifta, first a sandwich in pita bread, then a kifta platter. ( Kifta is ground, spiced meat (often a beef and lamb mix) typically formed on a stick or rod and then grilled, but sometimes fried like little hamburgers.)