Thursday, April 15, 2010

Amsterdam Falafel Shop

2425 18th Street Nw
Washington, DC 20050
(202) 234-1969
www.falafelshop.com

Visited: March 20, 2010



Balls!
Balls!
Balls!

Everywhere you turn all you see are beautiful crunchy balls. Get you mind outta the gutter! I'm talking about those amazingly fried rotund pieces of ground up chickpeas called Falafel balls. :-)

I was first introduced to Amsterdam Falafel by my wifey (while we were still dating) and was reluctant to try out anything that wasn't served with some piece of dead flesh. To me, veggie food was always a "side items" to a piece of chicken, fish, beef or some other freshly cooked piece of animal carcass. Boy was my world turned upside down after my first experience...

The Falafel balls themselves are good, but what makes Amsterdam Falafel sooooooo good are all of the toppings. Fried cauliflower, fried eggplant, hummus, ground jalapenos, yogurt sauce, tomato sauce...holy crap the list of tasty toppings goes on and on.

As the wife taught me, adding toppings to your Falafel requires some thought and planning. First, crush your balls...your Falafel balls until they're flat. Next, start off with the "dry" toppings such as fried cauliflower or fried eggplant. Once you've added all the dry toppings to your heart's content, work on "thick" toppings that aren't wet like hummus. At the end, top off your mountain of stuff with the "wet" toppings like tomato sauce, yogurt sauce and that tasty group up jalapenos.

All the time while adding your toppings, push the toppings waaaaaaaay down into your pita pocket to make sure you use up every inch of free space. The more you can add, the more toppings you can jam into your pita pocket. The more often you work on your topping technique, the better you'll get...

Next, you MUST order the French fries. Oh man, being a hug fan of the French fries...I eat them to my heart's content. I'll get some of their Dutch mayo and mix it with a 'lil bit of Ketchup to make my tasty pink sauce. The wife and I usually order the "combo" meal which consists of a small Falafel, a small order of fries and a beverage. Awesomeness!

The only thing preventing me from giving Amsterdam Falafel shop 5 stars is the fact that it's tiny and we usually have to wait in 3 lines:
- Line 1 to place our order
- Line 2 to pick up our Falafel
- Line 3 to use the toppings bar

All in all its a tasty place for those people like me that aren't used to full veggie entrees. Plus it's the location of the FIRST UYE I organized AND attended and got to meet some great Yelpers.

If you learn anything from this review and take any bit of information with you, takes these points:

1) Crush your balls
2) Topping technique and planning is key
3) Fries are a must
4) Order the combo meal

Now go forth and spread the word of ball crushin' goodness!!

Amsterdam Falafelshop on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

  1. The " wifey " and the constant " balls " references can go, otherwise an informative review.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Anonymous, thanks so much for the suggestions as to what can go. Speaking of which, looks like your sense of humor is gone. Take care Sunshine and keep on spreading the cheer. ;-)

    ReplyDelete