After a giving up fried foods for Lent, I had a post-Easter hankering for falafel, so I headed over to 46th street to hit up Moshe’s Falafel just back from their Passover hiatus. While waiting to place my order discovered that they’ve raised their prices across the board.

My go to order–4 falafel balls with tahina, hot sauce, and pickles is now $2.50, up from $2.00. Falafel sandwiches will now run you $5.25 up from $4.75. Prices for French fries and soup have both increased 50 cents will cost you $3.25 and $4.35 respectively.

Zach’s wasn’t a huge Moshe’s fan because of their sandwich layering problems, but I’ve always just gone for the side order of falafel and added it to my own bread or pita from home so I haven’t encountered the same trouble. Even with the 50 cents increase, $2.50 for crispy falafel, plenty of sauce and pickles is still a steal in my book. Any longtime Moshe’s fans care to weigh in?

The original Moshe’s Falafel cart (on 45th and 6th) does just fine, but they can’t seem to figure out what to do with their truck.  They moved it from Union Square to Broadway and 57th, where they lasted about a week or two before being kicked out by the cops.  Now they’re parked on 33rd btw. 7+8th, and offering free delivery (646-415-0027).

Related:
Moshe’s Falafel Moves 2nd Truck from Union Sq to Midtown

Wow… this was the line at Moshe’s Falafel at 1:45pm today (on 46th and 6th), which reopened along with a few more of your favorite Kosher spots, after being closed for the Passover holiday. The New York Times reported this morning that bagel places would be mobbed today… I guess that applies to falafel carts as well.

The Moshe’s Falafel truck that has been parked in Union Square for the past 6 months has given up on that spot and moved to 57th and Broadway.  According to the guys running the 2nd truck, business started off ok but has tapered off significantly during the winter.  So this week they decided to try out the NW corner of Midtown.  They haven’t settled on a permanent spot as of yet, but plan on being somewhere near 57th and Broadway every day starting around Noon.  Yesterday they were on Broadway btw. 56+57th on the West side of the street, and have already started to draw a crowd.

It’s been awhile since I’ve eaten at the Moshe’s Cart, so I decided to re-sample the goods…

Slightly better than I remember it from a few years ago (from the cart on 46th & 6th), my original complaints are still there: way too messy, and the distribution is all wrong.  I got one falafel ball on top, covered in tahini, then had to eat my way through a bunch of lettuce and tomato before getting to the other falafel balls on the bottom. Speaking of lettuce and tomato, if you are a big fan of the Israeli salad, you won’t find any here.  Another negative (unless you prefer lettuce and tomato.) Plus, I asked for hot sauce, but couldn’t taste any on the sandwich at all.  The falafel themselves are the big plus though… they have a great crunch on the outside, and were nice and moist on the inside (probably because I was there right when they opened and got mine fresh out of the fryer.)  The bread is forgettable, but all in all for $4.75 it’s tough to complain.

Amazingly, I just looked back at my Moshe’s Falafel post from 2006 and it could have easily been about the falafel I had yesterday. I guess at you can say they’re consistent.

The one thing that has changed is they added french fries a year or two ago.  They won’t put them on the actual sandwich (the way that Pick a Pita and Olympic Pita will) so I’ve never tried them… but yesterday decided to get an order.  For $3.50 you get a ton of shoestring fries in a bag (you can’t tell from the photo, because they’re at the bottom of a bag- but it’s a lot), and I love shoestring fries… so I was totally down with this.  If only we could get them to add the fries to the pita sandwich!!!  (Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge anyone?)

Regardless of whether Moshe’s is your favorite falafel or not, it’s a great addition to the one part of Midtown that is kind of devoid of falafel.  If you work near there, are are probably very excited today… (oh, and don’t wait too long to check it out, they will be closed for Passover.  So if you don’t make it by Wednesday, you’ll have to wait another week before they are back.)

THE + (What somebody who loves this place would say)

• Tasty Israeli style falafel balls (when you get them fresh out of the fryer).  Nice and crunchy on the outside, crumbly on the inside
• Cheap!  Sadly $4.75 is about as cheap as a falafel can get these days
• I love shoestring fries! And you get a ton for $3.50
• You get a whole pickle on top of your falafel
• Not a lot of falafel in this area…

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

• Way too messy!
• Too much tahini poured over the top
• Falafel/lettuce/tomato/tahini distribution is terrible
• Bread is out of a plastic bag, and not warmed up
• I don’t like shoestring fries! (And they’re frozen in a bag…)

Moshe’s Falafel (2 Locations)

• NE Corner of 46th & 6th
• Somewhere around 57th & Broadway

The Biriyani Cart on 46th btw. 6+7th., which rose to prominence when they added roti rolls in the wake of Kati Roll’s move to 39th Street, unveiled their new cart on Monday.  The menu and prices are much clearer now, with useful descriptions of all their kati rolls.  This is definitely one of my favorite carts in Midtown, and it just seems to be getting better, with the addition of a few new menu items. Their chapli kebab has been offered for a little while now (it can be ordered as a plate or in a kati roll) but today is the debut of the new PWCD Kati Roll which is described on their new flyers as being “egg layered chapati bread with farm fresh scrambled egg and potato.”  Farm fresh?  On a cart?  Get out of town.  I will definitely be trying this soon.  Sadly though 2 kati rolls is now $6 whether you order chicken or lamb.  (Not sure when this price hike occured, but at some point it was 2 for $5 if you ordered chicken- so it is a price hike.)

The old cart is not going away though.  The owner plans on opening a second location with the old cart on Monday.  He is shooting for 43rd & 6th, but I’m a little skeptical that the Trini-Paki Cart will allow that to happen. I’ll keep an eye on the situation for you.

This wasn’t the only unveiling this week on 46th St.  Moshe’s famous falafel cart got a new look as well…

And not just a new cart, but a crazy new truck as well to tow the cart.  It’s a marketing machine!

Unlike the Briyani Cart though, nothing has changed about Moshe’s falafel cart.  “Will you put french fries as a topping in the falafel.” 

“No.”

*Sigh*  Still no.  Can’t they learn a little something from Olympic Pita!?!?

It's day two of my search for the best Falafel in Midtown… and while nobody has ever recommended Moshe's to me- I have walked by it many times, and it usually has a really long line.  Well, in most places, long lines means good- so I figured I'd try it.

I'm not sure if I was there on a bad day or what, but the falafel I got was a mess.  There was so much tahini poured over the top it was impossible to eat.  I asked for hot sauce, but couldn't taste any under all the tahini- so I'm not sure if it was there, or they forgot to put it on. 

Because this is a cart, and the falafel are made right there, they were warmer and a little fresher then yesterday's falafel (House of Pita), and had a really delicious outer crust that tasted sort of like the batter that you find around fried seafood in New Orleans (definetely not a bad thing!).  Unfortunately the inside was a little a dry.  You would think the tahini would have helped, but all of that was on the top, and the falafel was on the bottom.  Their layering could definetely use a little work.  Four falafels on the bottom of the pita pocket, lettuce and tomato on top of that, and then one falafel on top to make it seem layered… with the whole thing smothered in tahini.

I basically had two bites of falafel covered in tahini, four bites of just lettuce and tomato, and then the bottom was all falafel.  The pita was better then yesterday, but it started falling apart after bite two, because of the tahini.  Pretty disappointing.  Usually taste rules, but when considering a place to eat a quick lunch on your break from work- messiness has to be taken into consideration. 

Like I said, there was a really long line, so people must like this place- and maybe I just got one bad falafel.  Next time I will definetely ask them to go easy on the tahini… maybe that will be an improvement.  $4.25 for a whole, $3.00 for half… although I'm not sure what would constitute half… maybe less filling?  That might be an improvement as well… If you've been here before please comment and let me know if your experience has been the same as mine.

The +/- and location info after the jump…

THE +

• If you are into lettuce and tomato on your falafel, they give you plenty (along with plenty of tahini as well
• There's always a long line, so I'm guessing there are people who like it

THE -

• Too messy
• Poorly layered… not a single bite had a little bit of everything

Moshe's Falafel Cart on the SE Corner of 46th Street & 6th Avenue

• Day 1 of Falafel Week: House of Pita