Old Memories – Falafel King
Falafel King
1110 Denman St
Vancouver, BC V6G
Despite Panama is a cultural melting pot, I barely managed to scratch several of the cuisines available there. Among the reasons, back then, was the lack of a friend or volunteer to visit a specific restaurant and try the cuisine. I mean, I was more than willing to give it a try; however, I did not really want to go alone.
When I moved to Vancouver, at first, I had no options – after all, I did not know almost anybody. This is, in a way, really funny, specially considering I was living in the West End and there are a lot of restaurants there. So, after a couple of nights having dinner in a nearby Subway (to the point the people was starting to know me almost by name), I finally broke down and started to venture in the nearby restaurants. One of the first places I went was a restaurant near English Bay – Falafel King. Now, it was not something particularly fancy about this place, in fact, it is totally the opposite, this place was anything but fancy. What attracted me to this place was a particular smell, something you could smell from a block away. And that is the smell of meat being roasted in a spit.
Just like with Subway, I started to frequent this place so much the people there started to know me and, whenever they saw me in the queue, they were already starting to set up my order (now, it was not that I was not adventurous, rather, it was because of their limited menu). When I moved out of the West End, I tried to look for alternatives for this cuisine but, alas, despite I knew they were better than this place, I somehow still wanted to go back.
Now that I am working again in Downtown, I could not let go the chance to visit Falafel King again and that’s what I did. The attendants were different and the menu was pretty much the same. And I ordered what I have always ordered: a shawarma plate, which consist of…
Tabouleh, parsley, tomato, onion salad, dressed with lemon juice and oil. However, bulgur was conspicuously missing…
Hummous, a dip made of cooked and mashed chickpea, lemon juice, sesame paste, garlic and oil.
Chunks of chicken roasted in the spit, on top of rice
Overall, the tabouleh was a bit too watery, the hummous too runny, the rice is parboiled rice (something I would rather not have), a store bought pita that is not even worth mentioning and a really tasty chicken (but with a salty aftertaste), which is exactly what I remember.
Again, not the best, however, it brings really good memories. Will I go there again? Most probably yes; however, I have grown up a little bit and I will not hesitate to go to a restaurant on my own. So, until I crave for this cuisine… ^_^
Amusing narrative, I had a similar experience going back to a familiar place from my past but finding that the taste was not quite how I remembered it. Just goes to show that memories are best kept as such, and revisiting them, especially after you are older and have a better understanding of what is good food or what you perceive it to be.
I had a really good donair at the Falafel King on Davie and Burrard a couple of weeks ago. It’s right beside Vera’s.
What a coincidence – I was in Calgary for a biz trip this week and had a pretty decent Lebanese meal on Wednesday. The place is the Pita Basket Cafe on Sunridge. With a name like that, you wouldn’t think the food would amount to much, but believe it or not, it was pretty good.