For years, I loved to hate falafel. The first time I ever had something that someone called "falafel" was probably in 2001. Said falafel came out of a box. I don't know what else happened to it but when it was fried, it smelled like feet. It was served on flour tortillas that, at the time, also made me ill. Oh yes, and I think I had a stomach flu. Needless to say, I avoided falafel for years.
And then, something happened. Maybe it was Josh. Suddenly, I was trying falafel and liking it. We started going to the Emory haunt Falafel King, owned by a very nice Korean couple who does falafel/sharwarma as well as a selection of Japanese dishes like gyoza, ramen, and sushi rolls. I am partial to the "mixed", which combines falafel and shawarma in a pita, or the ramen.
And then, at the recommendation of a co-worker, we started going to Pita Palace at the corner of Lavista and Briarcliff. And yum, that has to be my favorite falafel -- garlickly and herby and just plain good. And such nice service.
For lunch, sometimes I am able to convince co-workers to bring me to Aladdin, which has good falafel but even better lamb kebobs, cooked perfectly to medium rare. The falafel pita is HUGE. And messy. And good.
But this post is about Makara's on Roswell Road. This place first opened several months ago. It was the kind of opening that was somewhat suspicious. No signs, barely a menu. People who stopped in said that even the staff didn't seem to know if it was open. I stayed away.
Over time, it got a sign and a following. I heard that it was really good falafel, big portions, and cheap. It sounded promising, but not really the preferred food of my lunch group, so I never made it. On a chance lunch outing, we were driving by it (as my lunch driver had missed the turn for Mellow Mushroom) and he said, want to go here instead? They have great gyros. Now, I have to admit that since he pronounces them as 'JEE-roes', I wasn't too inclined to trust his taste, but I had heard good things, right?
So I got the falafel, which comes stuffed in a pita with a good amount of salad and a lot of ... well, it wasn't tzatziki but more like a creamy feta sauce. Anyway, it was incredibly messy, though a good size, but the falafel themselves were bland and kind of hard.
Not a good falafel. Not a place to go again, at least for falafel.
2 comments:
Good falafel is SO good! In fact, this makes me realize the first time I EVER had falafel was when I visited you in Atlanta back in college! I think it was Andy who was proselytizing. :-)
I know he was the one giving me the falafel that smelled like feet. Traumatizing. But I don't remember you being there when I was sick with the fever. Were you?
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