Taksim Has A Great Lamb Appetizer, OK Falafel
I walk by Taksim all the time on my way to and from work, and a recent hankering for Mediterranean finally had me wandering in to check out what they had to offer. The menu mostly consisted of entrees and platters priced out of ML range, but the small sandwich section of the menu definitely had potential.
There are six sandwich options ranging from Chicken Adana to Lamb Kofte, all priced at $7.50 with the exception of Falafel at $5.50. I was waffling between the meat options for a while, but then an appetizer caught my eye: Traditional Turkish Lahmacun. Thin crust flat bread with minced lamb, red peppers, tomatoes and onions topped with parsley ($3.95). I definitely wanted to try this, so in order to stay under $10 I went for the falafel sandwich.
I’ve never had Lahmacun before so I have no idea if this is authentic or not, but I loved this, and it was well-worth the $3.95. If I wasn’t starving, this probably would have been enough to hold me over until dinner. It was a large, flat, naan-like bread, folded in half and filled with the lamb and vegetable mixture, which looked like this:
It was very lamby in flavor, which was great and paired perfectly with the soft, chewy bread.
The falafel sandwich came wrapped in a tortilla and was more like a small falafel burrito than a “sandwich.” The sandwich itself was pretty unremarkable and paled in comparison to Soom Soom or Omar’s, also nearby in the neighborhood.
There were a few average falafel balls, with lettuce, tomato and hummus. It was heavy on the tortilla and light on flavor, I’d say if you’re having a falafel craving, this probably isn’t the best place to satisfy it.
The house was packed the day I went in, so based on its obvious popularity and the success with the Lamb Lahmacun, I’ll be back to sample some of the other offerings. Rachel has told me she loves their kofte, so that just might be next on the list!
Taksim, 1030 2nd Ave (btw 54+55th), (212) 421-3004
Posted by Anna at 11:30 am, May 3rd, 2012 under Taksim, Turkish.
10 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
check out Ali Baba’s (34th & 3rd) lahmacun, made on crisp flatbread. delicious!