HaFalafeliyya

About a 2 minute walk from my apartment there is this little falafel shop that I've been grabbing food at since the first day I got to Israel. The first thing I like about this spot is that the owner works there almost every day. I see him sitting talking to customers, reading his paper, prepping everything. There seem to be only two or three other employees that I see working there on a regular basis. He's really friendly and almost always makes fresh falafel for you.

If I needed to rank the falafel here, I can't rank it as the best I've had, but it's really good food and you can't be the location in relation to my place. The falafel is seasoned really well. There is something spicy to the falafel itself. When you add to that the spicy sauce that I always add, it's the right level of heat for me.

The hummus is standard and the chips are pretty good as a topper. They're the best when they're fresh out of the fryer. On the whole, I'd say the falafel here is solid, but not incredible. You really can't beat the location for me and the atmosphere is very neighborhood-ish. They also added a clever sukkah for the holiday that's going on right now. Just another testament to the owner.

Hamarosh

Since school started today, I don't know how much free time I will be having to write about random things that I'm doing. I'm not sure how exciting this whole semester is actually going to be. To spice things up a little bit I'm going to take pictures and write about some of the great places I've visited to eat. For those of you in Israel, this could be boring since you may have shown me this place or eaten there with me.

So here goes the first one;

Hamarosh



Everyone on Ben Yehudah will tell you about Moshiko and how great their falafel is. One night I was wandering the area with Brian and Marina. This guy who works at Hamarosh stopped us with three fresh falafel balls and said to try it. Wow! I don't even know how many times I've been back to this place it is fantastic.

If they are not that busy, they will give you a taste of their falafel. It's the right kind of dry with really good spices. Their Charif (spicy) is really good and is not that spicy. For you Minnesotans, this is good news.

Their T'chinah is also very flavorful and adds so much to the hummus and charif. They have a multitude of salads that affect the flavor in different ways. At this point I can't tell you what is exactly in each of them since I have a hard time remembering their hebrew names. One is a cabbage, one is like a cole slaw and there are a few others.

My personal favorite is to always add the chamutzim (pickles) towards the top so I can have them with their freshly fried cheeps (french fries). I usually get it on Laffa bread, which is like a thinner pita that wraps like a burrito. It's thicker than a burrito and costs more than if you get just a pita. I say it's worth is because I like the doughy texture of the laffa over a dried pita taste. That's just me though and the pita is pretty good too.

If you're in Jerusalem, this is the best main-stream falafel I've had from a major place. You can probably find hole in the wall stuff that's better (like the random square in the old city that I might be able to find if you gave me a day), but for your money and time's sake, check out Hamarosh. It's at the bottom of Ben Yehudah Street, near Yaffo and Kikar Tzion (Zion Square).