The Middle East in Manchester, NH

For a week during the spring of 2002 I subsisted on nothing but falafel.

It was Passover week and I was holed up in a Tel Aviv hostel. Given the holiday, many businesses, including restaurants, were closed. As fate would have it, one of the only nearby food stands that remained open during this time served falafel, and nothing but falafel.

I had heard of this Middle Eastern staple before, but living in rural Tennessee at the time, had not had an opportunity to partake. And as a then-vegetarian in Tel Aviv during Passover, I had little choice. It was falafel or starve.

But I needn't have worried. One bite and I knew I'd stumbled across a winner. Fried chickpea balls stuffed inside a pita with salad fixings, hummus and tahini sauce — it is a beautiful thing.

My name is Will, and I'm a falafel addict.

Upon moving to Manchester, N.H., some five years ago, I didn't expect to fare much better than I did in Middle Tennessee. New Hampshire, after all, is one of the least ethnically diverse states in the country. Little did I know at the time that, almost from the beginning, the history of Manchester has been one of continual immigration that extends into the present day.

And say what you will about immigration, it usually improves a city's dining options. And in Manchester's case, this means that one can find falafel on both the east and west sides.

As I've noted before, Manchester is no New York. It is doubtful that I'll ever have as delicious a falafel sandwich as I did at Mamoun's in Manhattan's East Village, which is one of about 280,000 places where you can get falafel in the greater New York City area. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of the city's falafel offerings when I supped at all three of the city's falafel establishments last week.

My first falafel meal took me to Caesario's, the pizza and sub place at 1057 Elm St. Owned by an Israeli, however, Caesario's also offers a few Middle Eastern items. Their falafel comes stuffed inside one of the thickest pita pockets I've ever seen:

While I wouldn't say it was bad, Caesario's falafel is far from the best I've ever had. The falafel balls themselves had a good texture and the pita was adequately filled with lettuce, tomatoes, chopped pickles and sliced cucumbers. The taste, however, was a little on the bland side — a little too bland given the $6.25 price tage. And adding insult to injury, I had to pay an extra $1 for hummus!

A couple of days later my falafel search took me to Beirut Shwarma, a food counter inside The Spice Center, a Middle Eastern and Indian food market at 245 Maple St. At $2.99 (hummus included), Beirut Shwarma offers the cheapest falafel in Manchester, N.H..

As Beirut Shwarma is a Lebanese establishment, the falafel balls are not stuffed inside a pita, but rather rolled, like a cigar, in khubz bread. Included alongside the homemade falafel balls were dark lettuce greens, tomatoes and, as is the custom in Lebanon and Syria, slices of piclked turnip (colored pink with beetroot) and pickled cucumber. Delicious:

The third and final stop on my Manchester, NH, falafel tour took me to another Lebanese establishment, Zorba Too, at 168 Amory St. on the West Side.

Here I also received my falafel wrapped in khubz. Inside the falafel was hummus (also gratis), as well as the usual vegetables. A tahini sauce, included on the side, was quite good. And the falafel balls themselves were probably the spiciest of those I tasted. All in all, a winner:

Update on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 4:23PM by Will Stewart

Thanks to Jeannette for letting me know about the falafel wraps available at Cafe 324 for $6.29 (tax included):

As she notes in her comment, they're not Tel Aviv good, but they are decent. The falafel could have been a bit crunchier for my taste, but the tzatziki sauce used is quite tasty. I also like the fact that 324 put the cucumbers/pickles on the side of the wrap and not in it.

On a related note, I saw the Cafe 324 also offers a falafel salad that is comprised of romaine, baby arugula, red onions, tomato, cucumber, falafel and a roasted corn relish with a tzatziki dressing.

Comments

[Jeannette]

Will,
Not that it really matters, but Cafe 324 alos offers falafel wraps. Not Tel Aviv good, but good enough for a Tuesday late lunch delivered to the office.

[Will Stewart]

Thanks for the heads-up, Jeannette! I'll have to get down there and give it a try!