Sam's Falafel

Just off Broadway on Cedar Street, way down at the tip of Manhattan near Wall Street stood the largest line for falafel I've seen in a good while. Naturally, I dragged a friend and went to try it. 20 minutes later, sandwich bag in hand and out of lunch break time, we had to bolt back to the office.

Sam's Falafel is no amateur. He hands out fried pita chips to keep us waiting in line (wedges of nearly stale pita that still held the nice granular texture inherent to grain, and the taste not of salt but of well-salted dough). What's more, for a $3 sandwich, it's hard to go wrong.

While perhaps not the best I've ever had (and in fairness, I've eaten a lot of falafel in my day, in many countries), this one was both credible and delicious. The falafel was toothsome and freshly fried, doled out in a generous portion. The chickpeas constituting it were coursely pureed and well seasoned. I especially enjoyed the addition of slices of fried eggplant, which were thick-cut and not too greasy. Sam's hot sauce is the spiciest I've ever come accross in Manhattan, which is a good thing! Instead of the fried onions, though, I would have prefered hummus or baba ghanoush to echo the fried eggplant slices. Worthy of a repeat? Definitely.