All Hail the Falafel King!

On Thursday my husband and I finally succeeded in going to the Falafel King when it was actually open! Located on Gambell Street just south of 15th (as it leaves downtown and turns into the Seward Highway), the Falafel King is housed in an old burger stand. It is teensy-tiny, and run by a family of Israelis. I think they're from Haifa, judging by the soccer banners hanging above the soda case. The family is pretty much the only staff, which explains why their hours can be erratic, especially in the slow winter months. Because they're Jewish, they're often closed on Saturdays, but in the summer they try to be open 7 days a week. The matriarch of the family told me she was in Israel visiting family, so with just the husband running the place, that apparently explains why our previous attempts, on both Saturdays and Sundays, were to no avail.

Now, to the falafel. For those who do not know, falafel (also called (ta'amia) consists of balls of beans, spices, onion, and herbs fried in oil. Most falafel in the US is made from chickpeas/garbanzo beans, but Egyptians make them using fava beans, and people from Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan use a mixture of the two. Coptic Christians in Egypt claim to have invented it, as something to eat during Lent and other festivals when they couldn't eat meat. Claudia Roden's "New Book of Middle Eastern Food" (the source of the last two sentences) is an amazing source for Middle Eastern recipes, and provides a lot of information on the culture and history behind different foods, if you want to learn more about Middle Eastern food. She herself is from Egypt, so that tends to be the focus, but she tries to provide recipes for popular foods from all over the region.

The Falafel King basically has three things on the menu: falafel, schwarma, and schnitzel. Falafel I explained already, schwarma is sort of like gyros- thin strips of cooked lamb, and schnitzel is what it sounds like, pounded flat, breaded chicken, like you get at Oktoberfest. I've had the falafel and schwarma, but not the schnitzel. All three come either in pita sandwiches (again, think of a gyro if you've never had one), or as a platter. The pitas come with lettuce, onions, kosher pickles, tomatoes, and liberal amounts of tahini and hummus. Both the falafel and schwarma pitas are delicious and cooked fresh. They are also hugely filling, and you could totally split one, or take some home for lunch tomorrow. This coincidentally helps you to save room for homemade baklava, which is also very rich and delicious. Two people can expect to pay $20-$30 for a meal- $8.99 for the falafel, $10.99 for the schwarma, $2.50 for a slice of baklava, plus drinks (bottled and canned drinks from a case, or coffee) and a tip.

So, as you can tell, there's a reason that my husband and I kept driving by the Falafel King, hoping to find it open. Long may they reign as the monarchs of Israeli food in Anchorage!