Ba’al Cafe Fills Soho’s Void Of Cheap Falafel In Spectacular Fashion

Soho is pretty barren in terms of carts or restaurants specializing in falafel, unlike other parts of downtown this site covers (OK, mostly the Financial District). There are a couple of generic street meat carts scattered around, and others like Taim Mobile and Crisp On Wheels make stops once or twice a week but that’s about it. Maybe that’s why everyone got excited when Ba’al Cafe & Falafel opened on Sullivan St. (btw. Spring & Broome). And after eating there twice, I really wish whoever owns this place would expand to the FiDi.

You can get your meals in either sandwich ($5) or platter ($7) form here and after trying both I’d have to say I’m leaning toward the sandwich being a better value. The first time I went I got a falafel platter with fried zucchini and eggplant and hummus as my two sides. It also comes with a pita cut in half and containers of hot sauce and tahini.

The falafel and awesome pita were the stars of the show here, again suggesting it’s probably a better idea to get a sandwich. The hummus was good and heavy on the lemon while the fried zucchini and eggplant was pretty greasy and was the one miss in a takeout container full of hits.

Later I went back to get a sandwich and try one of the many sides they offer for $3. While I was pretty interested in their roasted beet sandwich (yes, really) instead I went with the Ba’al which involves sliced hard-boiled egg, shepherd salad, fried eggplant, tahini and hummus. And because I’m a sucker for anything involving the spice blend zaatar I got a side of fries sprinkled with it which turned out to be the best lunch decision I’ve made in a long time.

The sandwich was great and a nice size for the $5 price tag. Where the fried eggplant was kind of a fail on its own it worked really well in the sandwich. I wish I would have asked for some hot sauce to liven the flavor up a bit but that’s more personal preference than complaint.

Last but definitely not least, if you love fries with seasoning on them then do yourself a favor and order some here. They fried mine to order so they were nice and crisp and there was a generous sprinkling of zaatar that I could smell through the container on the subway ride back to work.

I paid a dollar more for my sandwich + side meal, but I thought it was a better showcase for their food than the platter. Either way, since this is one of the cheapest non-Subway lunch options in the area, if you work nearby you should do yourself a favor and check it out.

Ba’al Cafe & Falafel, 71 Sullivan St. (btw. Spring & Broome), (646) 368-9957

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