There was BIG news last week in the New York street food world.  Fares “Freddy” Zeidaies, the King of Falafel & Shawarma, who won both the Vendy Cup and the People’s Choice Award in 2010, opened a new, 2nd falafel cart in Manhattan.

We stopped by the cart opening day for a combo platter, but had to go back a few days later to try one of his signature dishes – a falafel platter.

One of the reasons Freddy’s the King is because he knows how to treat his customers well.  The line was pretty long, but Freddy had an assistant go to the end of the line every 10 minutes or so to hand out free falafel to everyone waiting.  Nice touch!

The falafel were nice and crispy on the outside.  Inside, not only were the falafel soft and moist, but they were actually fluffy.  There was also a small kick of spiciness in the falafel.

This is a king who shares the wealth with his subjects.  In other words, his prices are excellent.  I got a falafel platter for $6, and a falafel sandwich is $4.  You can see the new cart’s menu here.

The platter had 5 big pieces of falafel, plus lots of other stuff.  There were pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato and pickled turnips, which are the purple strips in the photo.

You can choose from 3 sauces, or do what I did and get them all.  There’s a white sauce, a sesame tahini sauce, and a hot sauce.

Earlier this week Freddy tweeted about his first Yelp review, where the person said the hot sauce wasn’t really that hot.  Freddy took that as a challenge, and really kicked up the heat on his hot sauce.  Just how I like it!

This was an excellent lunch at a great price.  Not only is it one of the best falafels around, but you won’t find a nicer vendor on the the street than Freddy.  He clearly loves what he’s doing.

The King of Falafel & Shawarma is on the NW corner of 53rd St & Park Ave from 11am-3pm.  Expect a line when you go, but if it’s long, maybe you’ll get a free falafel while you’re waiting.

You can follow the King on twitter here, but he doesn’t change locations, so it’s used more for posting photos and reviews.

Yesterday was the first day for the King of Falafel & Shawarma’s new cart in midtown, and it wasn’t all smooth sailing.  Last night Freddy tweeted “okay first day just flashed away so fast , i may(be) did not please every one or i was not fast enough , but promise to make it better.” It didn’t help that two of his employees didn’t show up on this special day – or should I say possible ex-employees.

I got to the NW corner of 53rd & Park at 1:05, so I have no one to blame but myself for having to get on the end of a 30-person line. Luckily, a friend happened to be 2 people ahead of me on line, so the time passed fairly quickly with someone to talk to.

I got a combo platter, which had falafel, chicken shawarma and beef-lamb shawarma.  At $8, the combo platter is the most expensive dish on the menu.  You can also get a falafel sandwich for $4, and there are several sandwiches and platters in between.

The sauces get a little messy because Freddy tops the platter with a warm pita bread before putting on the lid, but don’t let that photo fool you – this was an awesome lunch!

As I mentioned yesterday, there are a few things that set this cart apart.  One is obviously the falafel, which are oval shaped, crunchy on the outside, and soft and moist on the inside.  Definitely one of the best falafels around.

One of the other big differences here is the meat.  Freddy has two spits of meat on the cart that are actually layers of meat stacked and pressed together tightly and roasted.  You won’t find any of that processed quasi-meat substance that passes for “lamb” on most halal carts.

On top of each spit is a tomato, which helps keep the meat even moister when roasting.  When Freddy carves off the meat, there are both crispy and soft, juicy pieces of meat.

The other items in the platters and sandwiches are great too.  The pickle slices and (mild) pickled turnips add a lot of flavor and texture, in addition to the lettuce, tomato, onions and three (!) sauces.

Other than the wait, the food was mostly up to Freddy’s exacting standards.  The only negative was that one of my two falafels was somewhat undercooked, but that’s the only thing that wasn’t excellent.  I’m sure that had something to do with being shorthanded on his first day.

We’ll be checking back in with the King fr0m time to time (which is our way of trying everything on the menu).  It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Freddy (left) and assistant

Freddy's oval-shaped falafel

We told you this day was coming…and now it’s here.

The King of Falafel & Shawarma, winner of both the 2010 Vendy Cup and the People’s Choice Award, is opening a new cart today in Manhattan.

The King’s new cart will be at 53rd St & Park Ave.  FYI, the original cart on Broadway & 30th St in Astoria will still be there.

So what makes Freddy the King?

For one thing, his falafel. Freddy’s falafel is different in that it’s oval, not round.  Freddy told me in our interview last year that “egg-shaped falafel has a better crust and is moister on the inside.  Round falafel get too crunchy and are not as moist on the inside as mine.  In the West Bank where I’m from, that’s how they do it.”

Another thing that’s different is his sauce.  In addition to white sauce and hot sauce, Freddy adds a creamy tahini sauce to his platters.  That adds a delicious sesame dimension not found at most other street vendors.

And his prices are pretty good too, as you can see from the menu of the new cart below.

Happy eating everyone!  We’ll see you at 53rd & Park.

If you like falafel, chances are you already know about Taïm Mobile.  If not, give them a try.  We would bet a fair sum that you’ll enjoy it.

Taïm is a Hebrew word that means “highly pleasant to the taste”, and they sure named this food truck appropriately.

Everything about their falafel sandwich ($5.75) is delicious.  The pita bread is soft and fresh, the falafel is moist and herby on the inside and crispy on the outside, and the hummus in the sandwich is incredibly creamy, with a hint of lemon.  Do you think I enjoyed eating this?

In addition to the main ingredients, the sandwich includes Israeli salad (chopped tomatoes and cucumbers), shredded pickled cabbage and tahini sauce, which adds some sesame flavor to the mix.

If you like a little spiciness, I would suggest asking for s’rug, a traditional Yemeni sauce with garlic, chili and cilantro. You can also get amba sauce, a pickled mango chutney that adds a light fruitiness.  Or you can get it with “everything”, which includes the s’rug and amba sauces and a few pickles. That’s what I did, and it was heaven in every bite.

There’s a reason Taïm Mobile was nominated for a 2011 Vendy Award in the Rookie of the Year category – because they serve one of the best falafel sandwiches in NYC.

You can find Taïm Mobile on twitter here or on our Mobile Munchies twitter feed here.  If you happen to be in the West Village, Taïm actually started with a small storefront at 222 Waverly Place, just west of 7th Ave. We hear they will also be opening a 2nd location in Nolita around May 1st. That gives you plenty of places to try one of the best falafel sandwiches in NYC.

Freddy Zeidaies, the King of Falafel & Shawarma who won the Vendy Cup & People’s Choice Award at the 2010 Vendy Awards, is ready to cross the East River and open a second outpost in Manhattan.

Last night Freddy posted the following message on his facebook wall:

Freddy wrote: “So King of Falafel & Shawarma Express is ready, now going to wait till the winter is over hope at the end of February.”

Freddy is still being coy about where he plans to set up shop in Manhattan once winter ends.  As soon as we hear, you will hear too.

If you cannot wait that long, you can always visit his original cart, which is only 1 block from the Broadway stop on the N train in Astoria.  We took a quick ride out there last spring, and it was well worth it.  Below is a photo of our lunch that day, which included his oval shaped falafel.  It was delicious!

I was in the Union Square area for an appointment and decided to stop by Rainbow Falafel for lunch.  They are in a tiny storefront with no seats on 17th St, a few stores in from Union Square.  We made them a member of our Honorary Street Food category in 2010, and wanted to check in again to see if things had changed.

Rainbow Falafel has excellent falafel, but they also have a big spit of chicken roasting behind the counter used for making chicken shawarma.  That was Today’s Lunch, and it cost $5.75.

I don’t often get dessert with lunch, but Rainbow Falafel has several types of fresh Middle Eastern pastries for sale that looked great.  The Bird’s Nest ($3) looked tasty, so I got one for after lunch.

Bird's Nest

I’ll get back to the Bird’s Nest later, but first let’s talk about the chicken shawarma sandwich.

The sandwich was very thick and stuffed with all sorts of goodies.

In addition to tons of roasted chicken, there was shredded red cabbage, lettuce, tomato, a generous amount of tahini sauce, and at my request, hot sauce.

The sandwich had a nice kick from the hot sauce, and the tahini had a creamy sesame taste.  The chicken was all white meat, and as I said, there was a large amount of meat in the sandwich.

This was a delicious and quite filling lunch by itself, but I still had the bird’s nest.  Luckily, it was fairly light, with layer upon layer of phyllo dough tinged with honey.  On top of the nest were a bunch of pistachio nuts, some chopped and some whole.

The bird’s nest was tasty, but it did get a little dry about halfway through.  With all the phyllo and the nuts, it could have used more honey.

Today’s Lunch from Rainbow Falafel was good.  I really enjoy their chicken shawarma sandwiches, which are a good value at $5.75. I haven’t tried a lot of desserts from Rainbow Falafel, but would probably try a different one next time.  The baklava looked like it was worth a try.

photo: Taim website

I was over by 7th Ave in the Village around lunchtime, and decided to stop by Taïm since I had never been there before (the restaurant, not the truck).  My wife wanted falafel, and you can’t get any better than Taïm, at least according to Serious Eats, who named Taïm as having the Best Falafel Sandwich in New York last year.

My wife went for the regular green falafel sandwich ($6.25), although calling this regular falafel seems like a crime.  I went for the sabich sandwich, which they have occasionally on the truck, but is a regular menu item at the restaurant.

Today’s Lunch is a sabich sandwich ($7.25) from Taïm at 222 Waverly Place, just off 7th Avenue and West 11th St.

When I unwrapped lunch, I saw this was a jam-packed sandwich – and as vegetarian as it gets.

Inside a warm, soft pita were slices of fried (but not breaded) eggplant, hummus, tahini, Israeli salad (i.e. chopped cucumber & tomato), hard-boiled egg slices, and a slightly spicy sauce called amba that had a lemony, mango taste.  One thing the sabich sandwich did not have is falafel.

It doesn’t get any better than this!  In the past, I was never a big eggplant fan, but the sabich sandwich was one of the things that converted me to liking eggplant, as was the eggplant schnitzel from Schnitzel & Things.

The variety of tastes and textures was exceptional – soft eggplant, creamy hummus, eggs with a citrus sauce, chopped cucumbers – all in the same bite!

Today’s Lunch was not from a street vendor, but Taïm does have a food truck, Taïm Mobile.

The sabich sandwich was tasty, filling, and relatively healthy compared to my usual lunches.  The sabich sandwich is only on the truck occasionally, so if you see it, make sure to try it…or you can just stop by their store in the West Village.

I was near Grand Central for lunch and stopped at the Ambizza Cafe truck that was parked on Vanderbilt Ave by 46th St.  I have seen them once or twice before, but this was the first time I had a chance to stop.

Seeing the truck’s side, it was easy to decide what to get – their sign says “The Best Kofta Kabab in NYC”.  How can you pass up an opportunity like that?

Today’s Lunch is a kofta kabab platter ($7) from the Ambizza Cafe truck.  You can see there was a lot more than kofta kabab and rice on the platter – and they give you a free can of soda too.

(Does anyone else think this looks like Krusty the Clown with a mole?)

The main course consisted of two kofta kababs that were just under 8″ long each. Yes, I measured.  That’s well over a foot of kofta kabab.   (There are about a million jokes I could make here, but I’ll leave that up to your fevered little imaginations.)

In addition to the kofta kabab, there was a full complement of yellow rice, hummus (top left), babaganoush (top right), pita bread, and as I said, they even tossed in a large falafel ball and tahini sauce (top center).

The salads come with the platter, but I think they threw in the falafel and tahini because they saw me taking pictures around the truck, and thought maybe I was important.  Lesson: If you want people to think you’re important, take some pictures.

You could tell the kofta was cooked on a kabab because there was a small hole in the center from being on a skewer.  The kofta wasn’t heavily spiced – in fact it could have used a little more in the spice department – but it was good, especially combined with some of the salads and condiments that picked up the flavor.

The best way to eat this was to tear off a piece of warm pita bread, break off a piece of the kofta, and put a little hummus, babaganoush or tahini in the pita with the meat.  Adding a dash of hot sauce made it even better.  Rotating among the salads and tahini gave me a good variety of flavors to go with the kofta kabab.

The hummus was lemony and tasty, although it wasn’t creamy smooth like the hummus at Taïm.  That’s ok, very few are.  It was still pretty good.

The babaganoush was even better, with pieces of eggplant and a surfeit of sweet roasted red peppers.  My favorite part of lunch was eating bite-sized pieces of kofta, babaganoush and hot sauce in pita.

The yellow rice was fine, with some carrots and peas in the mix.

The last thing I tried was the falafel ball, which was larger than at similar lunch places.  It was crispy on the outside and soft, green and herby on the inside.  It even gave off a little steam as I bit into it.

The falafel was a tiny bit dry, but dipping the falalfel into the tahini sauce solved that problem.  The tahini was smooth, and had a great sesame flavor.

Wow, this was a lot of food for $7!  And I was just getting back to normal after Thanksgiving.

Today’s Lunch from Ambizza Cafe was good, with a lot of variety.  With the meat, salads, bread and rice, if you didn’t care for one thing, there was plenty more to choose from – but I did like everything.

It was also an excellent value, especially with a free soda and tax included in the $7.  The only thing I didn’t like was there were no prices on the menu on the side of the truck.  They had paper menus with prices, but everything on the menu was well priced, so it wasn’t a big problem.  On the Mediterranean menu, platters were either $6 or $7 and sandwiches were $4.

Was it the best kofta kabab in NYC?  Probably not, but it was still an enjoyable lunch, made even better by the salads included in the platter.

The menu is large, with all sorts of sandwiches and platters, including hamburgers, roast beef, pastrami, parmigiana and more.  They serve breakfast too.  I’m not sure how everything else is, but Today’s Lunch was good.

Taim's sabich sandwich

Eater reports that Taïm, the West Village falafel storefront with the Vendy Award nominated food truck, will be moving into the space formerly occupied by Rocky’s Italian Restaurant for the past 30 years in the heart of Little Italy.

According to Eater, Rocky’s was the victim of failed lease negotiations with its landlord.

These days Little Italy is a shadow of what it once was.  It’s mostly tourists and the bridge-and-tunnel crowd that goes to Little Italy these days for Italian food.

New Yorkers know that Arthur Avenue in the Bronx is the place to go for an authentic Italian-American experience.

Crisp on Wheels has taken the opposite path of many food trucks.  The usual trajectory is for someone to open a food truck, then open a restaurant, as was done by Schnitzel & Things, Souvlaki GR and countless other food trucks.

Crisp on Wheels had several brick-and-mortar locations in the city, and then opened a food truck, which is not unheard of, just less common.

I’ve had a couple of lunches from Crisp on Wheels that were good, and wanted to try something new.

Today’s Lunch is the Acropolis ($8.75) from Crisp on Wheels.

As you can infer from the name, the Acropolis is a Greek-themed lunch.  Olives, feta cheese, lettuce and vinaigrette dressing are placed atop hummus.  Four falafel balls are added in the corners of the platter, and a small container of tahini and a large pita bread are also included.

The first thing I did was to break off a piece of pita bread, which was fluffy and soft.  You get a choice of white or whole wheat, and I went for white.  I scooped up some hummus and lettuce with the pita and took a bite.

The hummus had a light lemony flavor, and was pretty creamy and smooth.  It was very nice with the pita and lettuce, and later on with some olives and feta cheese.  You can see there were plenty of olives and feta in the salad.

I picked up a falafel ball, which was pretty big, and took a bite.  It was crispy on the outside, but still moist on the inside. It has a light, herby flavor, and was even better dipped in the tahini, which was a creamy sesame sauce.

Today’s Lunch from Crisp on Wheels was enjoyable.  It was a little expensive for falafel ($9.53 after tax), but the food was fresh, the quality of the ingredients was high, and the Acropolis was an interesting twist on the standard falafel platter.

You can find Crisp on Wheels on twitter here, or on our Mobile Munchies twitter feed, which has more than 80 other vendors.