Since we first posted about Barbanzo (58th and 3rd), we’ve been tracking the opening with interest. Aside from Omar’s Kitchen and Bakery, there aren’t too many brick and mortar shops to get a civilized plate of falafel and hummus in upper Midtown East, a gap which Barbanzo could have potentially filled.

Anyone familiar with Meze Grill’s Chipotle-esque scheme of ordering should feel right at home with Barbanzo’s menu. Step into the bright and immaculately clean restaurant and you’ll spot slowly turning shawarma spits of chicken and beef in the back. And up at the front counter, tubs of ingredients such as the fried falafel, clinging to life underneath a heat lamp. Choose your protein, your vehicle for delivery, then your toppings and sauces. But please choose better than I did.

To their credit, Barbanzo packed a whole lot of food into my $8.50 falafel platter salad, and most of it was certainly fresh, filling and Zach’s least favorite word — healthy. The order included five falafel, which while plenty crisp on the outside, were a bit too dense and disappointingly mealy. I was almost glad that they showed restraint when spooning the hummus on my platter, for it wasn’t as silky and appealing as the version found at Taim Mobile, or even Maoz. And the wan tahini and gutless harissa served better as coloring then flavoring.

But perhaps my biggest issue with this dish is calling it a ‘platter’, for it was most certainly a salad. In any other reputable falafel slinging shop, a platter would include a layer of rice, or perhaps a side of pita. In this case, a bed of shredded lettuce provided the foundation, making it a salad in my book. I’ll certainly check back at some point to see if their beef or chicken shawarma make this place a visit – it’s harder to screw those up. But with salad like this, you probably won’t win friends.

The + (What somebody who likes this would say)

• It’s a healthy lunch
• Clean, brightly lit space with plenty of seating.

The – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• It’s a healthy lunch
• The food is middling — better perhaps than Pita Grill but not nearly as good as Taim, Maoz, etc

Bar Banzo, 969 3rd Ave (at 58th st); 212-317-1900

3rd Ave between 57th & 58th St is getting a couple of new lunch options this summer, and both seem to be a little more forward thinking than your average deli. On the east side of the street, a Mediterranean concept called “BarBanzo” will be opening soon. The google didn’t turn up anything definitive about this place, but it seems like their menu will likely focus on falafel. On the west side of 3rd Ave, Naked Pizza is a slightly more interesting opening. Founded in New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina, and backed by investors Mark Cuban and Robert Kraft, the chain has expanded to over 25 locations across the US, as well as presence in Dubai.

They seem to have embraced the healthy, organic, sustainable, whole wheat pizza model (looks like Pizza by Certe will have some competition). They’re also big into the social media game, one article interestingly quoting the owners saying that, “Naked Pizza isn’t a pizza company, but a social media company that sells pizza”. So for the lunchers of Midtown East that have been craving more garbanzo beans, or eco-friendly, healthy, whole wheat, preservative-free, organic social media pizza, time to get excited.

When Kolache Mama closed on 45th Street between Madison+Vanderbilt, they were the second such business to close in that very location. One might even say the spot was cursed… that is, until now. Chickpea of the “always baked, never fried” Downtown falafel fame had moved uptown, and by the looks of Friday’s crowd, it’s here to stay. I’ve never seen anything on that street with lines out the door!

I went in completely unprepared, relying on what looked good and what I saw others ordering (aka falafel wraps!) Mind you, this is baked falafel which keeps it a special green color not often seen by non-parental types. For an additional $2, the platter seemed to be enough food to tide me over to dinner since it comes with a good amount of hummus and bulgur wheat. Did I mention this place is sort of healthy? They don’t just serve falafel; chicken, turkey, and lamb are also available. The falafel is good, it has nice spices and a palatable texture, but it’s still not fried deliciousness. This is definitely for those who are craving your street cart falafel, but need something healthier. The wheat was very enjoyable, a great alternative to rice.

The hummus has options as well: original, roasted red pepper, basil and toasted pine nuts, and jalapeno and scallion. Luckily, the platter came with a pita to spread their creamy original hummus on. In essence, I could have made my own falafel pita with extra to share or save. Though the tahini was nice on the falafel and wheat, it completely ruined the salad I had picked out for myself-you have the choice of four ingredients.

And next time I will completely be splitting the platter. For $8, I got one of the most filling meals in a while, but since it wasn’t a greasy mess, I didn’t need a mid-afternoon nap in the conference room. I had to throw in the towel with three falafel pieces left, I felt like such a quitter.

Chickpea, 45 East 45th Street (btw. Mad+Park), (212) 697-1666

Taim is a veritable New York institution at this point. The quality of their product has earned them a legion of devoted followers, plenty of superlatives from food media, and recently received the prestigious distinction as the “Best Falafel Sandwich in New York City” by the folks from Serious Eats. On the back of their popularity, they’ve spun off a sister restaurant, the upscale bistro Balaboosta, and they’ve recently hit the streets with a mobile food truck. A few weeks ago, downtown correspondent Andrea got a first look at the Taim Mobile truck, and last Friday, I was lucky enough to nab lunch from the Taim truck in my neighborhood of Midtown West.

We at ML make no secret about it – we’re omnivores through and through. We have a healthy respect for a lunch that’s filling, meaty and starchy enough to get us through the long work day. However, the falafel platter ($9.50) shook any convictions that meat is a requirement for a sustaining workday lunch. And at this price, it’s a bargain, given the sheer volume of food and many layers of flavor from a generous shmear of hummus, a falafel quintuplet, pita bread, a nutty quinoa salad, refreshing cucumber based Israeli salad, and various condiments.

I simply couldn’t ask for more out of their hummus. The healthy mound of ground chickpeas is lavishly rich from the tahini and a small pool of olive oil, lusciously smooth, and utterly satisfying. Tear into the pillowy soft, za’atar flecked pita, drag it through the dreamy hummus, and you get a bite of food that’s so good you’ll swoon.

Almost nothing is lost in translation with the critically acclaimed falafel during the transition from brick and mortar to street truck. These globes of deep fried chickpeas sported the reliably crunchy exterior and ethereally fluffy interior that I’ve enjoyed at the original Taim. Flavor wise, the falafel stand by themselves – pleasantly nutty and herbal from the well integrated parsley and cilantro. Add a drizzle of the fragrant amba (mango chutney), a dollop of spicy S’rug (Yemeni hot sauce), or a dip in the hummus, and you’re in flavor country.

It’s more or less the unfortunate case that warm blooded Americans build their meals around animal proteins, a habit I’ve certainly been guilty of. However, this was easily the best vegetarian meal I’ve had in recent memory, and one of the better lunches (vegetarian or otherwise) I’ve had in Midtown as well. With vegetarian food this good and this exciting, I’ve had a suspiciously crunchy granola change of heart – “hold the hamburger, and please pass me the hummus”.

The Taim Mobile truck is closed today but hope to be in Midtown tomorrow or Wednesday.  You can follow them on twitter, or the ML twitter tracker, and stay up to date on their menu and location on their website.

Your resident shiksa goddess has finally made it to Quick Stop Kosher (aka the kosher waffle truck) the other day. It was hard to track them down; first there wasn’t a Twitter, then they went to serve Mt. Sinai and on a religious fast. But I finally got my chance to have some falafel, and a waffle for lunch- even though it came with quizzical looks from their kosher patrons. For extra Jewish points, they now serve the layer-challenged Moshe’s Falafel (whatever that means. Maybe they buy all the ingredients from Moshe’s?)

Since it’s me, I had to have my waffle with ice cream first. This entire little dish you see here was $6.50. I tried to like this, but it wasn’t happening. The waffle isn’t fresh, the texture was similar to a dense danish, and I felt like I had paid more for packaging than anything else. Granted, the same order would cost you $2.50 more at Wafels & Dinges, but at least they’re generous with their toppings and I can get a Liège. I was so disappointed in this that I let the ice cream melt and moved onto my falafel.

I have to admit, this is my first time trying Moshe’s falafel. I never choose to walk 5 blocks out of my way to eat badly layered falafel, when I could just go across the street and get Kim’s Aunt or Biryani. So I was in for quite the surprise when this falafel came with tahini, a pickle, olives, and was about the size of my face. Quick Stop puts the pita together on the truck making the chances of getting a little bit of veggie and falafel in each bite much higher. And these salty balls were HUGE! The strange addition of sliced green olives brought a nice unique flavor to the sandwich without everything becoming too salty. I especially liked that they could be found throughout, not just as a topping. At $5.50, this is definitely the way to go when stopping at Quick Stop. Lesson learned: skip the waffle and get the falafel (look, I can rhyme.)

Quick Stop is definitely keeping some strange hours, but they do seem to be hitting Midtown at least once a week. Be sure to check their Twitter or the ML Twitter Tracker for details. And what do you know… according to their twitter they’ll be giving out free samples of Moshe’s Falafel balls today in the Flatiron from Noon to 2pm.

Yummy Yummy is a small place and was quite busy on the day I went. The counter area where you order, receive your food, and pay is about 5 feet wide and things seemed a bit chaotic. I got my food quickly and without any problems, but if business stays like this they may want to implement a better system, largely for their own sanity. There are a handful of tables, most of which were empty as many people seemed to be taking their food to go. But the place is so small that the line is right next to the tables, so if you plan on eating at Yummy Yummy anytime soon, I would be prepared for fellow patrons to hungrily eye your food or ask you what you ordered. Don’t be afraid to get social.

I got the Falafel Deluxe sandwich ($7), which features hummus, eggplant, cubed salad (aka Israeli salad), lettuce and sliced tomatoes. They did a commendable job of construction. Most importantly, they started the sandwich off with a bunch of falafel at the bottom of the pita, and then finished by topping it off with a few more. It was a lot of falafel and you certainly don’t need to worry about eating half of the thing before tasting that fried chickpea goodness. Otherwise, everything was in good proportion and the eggplant provides a nice mushy, fatty-tasting complement to the falafel.

The falafel itself was good. The exterior was not incredibly crisp, but respectable, and inside they weren’t too dry or too mushy. They are not of the straight up green, parsley packed variety, but you can see that it’s not just ground up chickpea in there. They aren’t as flavorful as some falafel, but they have a sort of peppery taste and totally got the job done. The pita was pretty full, but there was definitely room if you wanted to slide some extra stuff in there. Which brings us to the other half of the falafel sandwich, the salad bar.

Yummy Yummy’s salad bar features many recognizable items: purple cabbage slaw, sauerkraut, pickles, their cubed salad, olives, hot peppers, green and red pepper slices and some sauces. There were also some spicy carrots like the ones that come with pickled jalapenos. They’re still a little crunchy and really tasty. I’m definitely taking a bigger helping next time. The pickles and cabbage also stood out. It’s not the biggest salad bar around, but everything was good and there is plenty to load up on.

Perhaps most important, to me at least, is the inclusion of amba, that spicy, sour mango sauce stuff. Unsupervised access to this stuff is a rare and beautiful thing. I end up putting copious amounts of it on everything, and if I’m at Pita Joe in Union Square, I’ve been known to throw lids on a few of the containers and take some home (I’ve been horribly unsuccessful in finding it in stores, anyone know where I can get some?). There was also an oily hot sauce and some sort of yogurt or tahini sauce. Sorry, I don’t have much to say about them… I was too busy off in amba land.

I also tried the Spinach Boureka ($7), which is a puff pastry stuffed with spinach and cheese. It’s very similar to spanakopita (Greek spinach pie). They also have Cheese, Pizza (!?) and Potato varieties. The bourekas come with a few side items (I didn’t get the pickles and tahini listed on the menu) and don’t seem to include the salad bar.

I was surprised that the bourekas are served cold here as I’ve only had them warm. My boureka was very doughy, so if you’re looking for something really packed with spinach and cheese, you’re going to be disappointed. Ultimately, I just dumped a bunch of amba all over it and happily polished off the entire thing. Compared to the incredible variety of flavors you get with a falafel sandwich and the salad bar though, the bourekas just aren’t very exciting.

Yummy Yummy has a full roster of falafel sandwiches, falafel boxes and hummus bowls along with sides of sweet potato fries, hummus, babaganouch and tabouli. They also have coffee (lattes, cappuccinos, etc.) and desserts. The Falafel Deluxe is a very satisfying lunch and a decent value at $7. Is it the best falafel I’ve ever had (aka Azuri Cafe?)  No. But Yummy Yummy has very quickly established themselves as a solid falafel option in an area that seems to lack them.

The + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• The best falafel sandwiches are well constructed and loaded with falafel
• I’m all about loading up at the salad bar
• I love those carrots that come with pickled jalapenos
• I have an unhealthy obsession with amba

The – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• I only like falafel when they are really crisp and extremely flavorful
• I’d rather get cheaper falafel from a cart and not bother with the salad bar
• Cold bourekas?  No thanks.

Yummy Yummy Kosher Veggie Bar, 667 Lexington Ave. (btw. 55th and 56th), 212-644-9866

Serious Eats: New York posted the results of their big falafel taste off yesterday, and, in what is quite possibly the least surprising win of all time, Taim took home the top prize. I’m not saying they’re wrong, I’m just saying Serious Eats loves Taim, and if Vegas had taken bets on this contest you probably would have had to wager $1,000,000 to win $5 betting on Taim to win this one.  Midtown held its own though… Azuri Cafe (technically out of bounds, on 51st btw. 9+10th, but we’re claiming them as our own!) came in 2nd, Maoz (on 40th & 7th) came in 4th, Pick a Pita (on 8th btw. 39+40th) came in 5th, and Olympic Pita came in 6th.  It’s worth noting that even SENY admits that Taim’s falafel is not perfectly constructed, leaving you with falafel-less bites at the end, which as far as we’re concerned is the biggest sin a falafel sandwich can commit (we’re looking at you Moshe’s!) and where Azuri Cafe excels (seriously, the guy is a falafel maestro with the layering.)  But there’s no shame in 2nd (or 6th for that matter!), and at least they all fared better than Moshe’s, Meze Grill, and Crisp who were all eliminated before the finals.  Check out the complete results here>>

Related:
2009 Readers’ Poll: Best Falafel

There have been some conflicting reports in the comments about Nanoosh’s free lunch giveaway today. Some have said that they were told the event is invite-only. I walked by to check it out and was flagged over by a guy working the door. As far as I saw, he was inviting anyone walking by to come in and try some out. When I left, the guy at the door said they’d be serving until 3pm.

The line was long, but went by fairly quickly, considering. Check out some scenery and food shots after the jump.

I had the Hummus Nanoosh platter, which is a swirl of thick, tahini-rich hummus with a small pile of sauteed ground beef, onions and mushrooms in the middle. It all looked pretty small to me, but that hummus is heavier than it looks.

Word is that yesterday afternoon, Nanoosh- the new Mediterranean counter on Madison btw 33+34th- was giving away free lunches to hype up its big opening day tomorrow (Weds).  We’re hearing word from a fairly reputable source that they’ll be back at it this afternoon from noon to 3pm. Not sure exactly what they’re giving away (samples?  complete lunch?) but I got there around 2:30pm yesterday and it was all over, so for hardcore freeloaders we suggest going early.

Not interested in waiting on line for the possibility of free food? If you don’t mind spending a couple bucks, so long as it goes to a good cause, Nanoosh will also be open from 5:30 to 8:30pm tonight serving a main, a side and a (non-alcoholic) drink for $10 to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Related:
Nanoosh Hummus Bar Expanding South