Falafel Maison

Restaurant: Falafel Maison
Cuisine: Middle Eastern/Fast Food
Last visited: February 28, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Downtown/Robson)
516 Robson Street
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4 (based on shawarma)
Service: 5
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 4.5
Additional comments:

• Family owned and operated
• Fast food on Robson
• Specializes in falafel and shawarma
• Late night/munchies
• Very friendly service
• Quick and cheap eats
• Eat in/Take-out
• Mon-Sun 10am-11pm

**Recommendation: Shawarma, Hummus, Shawarma Plate (I haven’t tried the Falafels, but they should be good)

I decided to hit up Falafel Maison for a late night bite after winning the Olympic 2010 GOLD for Canada Men’s Hockey!! I had originally been craving donairs but settled for a shawarma.

Donair and shawarma are different, but it’s debatable what the exact differences are. For me, donairs are made up of ground meat and shawarma is pieces of whole meat. The shawarma is more of a Middle Eastern/Turkish item and the Donair I find is more Greek. Vancouver is full of donair and shawarma places in the downtown core and Falafel Maison is one of the popular ones…I’m not sure if it’s the best though because I surprisingly haven’t tried many in Vancouver.

I must give a shout out to the owners who are super nice, friendly young guys that treat everyone like family.

On the table:

**Shawarma 4/6

• Chicken, lettuce, tabouleh, hummus & yogurt sauce wrapped in pita. Optional hot sauce. I think it’s about $5.50
• Hot, fresh, made upon order.
• They spread a layer of hummus onto the pita first. It’s good creamy hummus but I could have used more. It was very subtle and had a garlic flavour.
  

• They load it with iceberg lettuce and tabouleh, but the tabouleh wasn’t very good here. It’s a traditional Middle Easter salad that’s mixed with vegetables, olive oil or spices. It was pretty much plain parsley here. I didn’t expect gourmet, but I expected a little more than this.
• They give you a little bit of tomato, but not enough.

• There’s a large amount of shaved chicken which is tender, juicy, moist and actually quite spicy. It's very well marinade with lots of spices. They do a great job with the rotisserie style roasting too.

• Last is the yogurt sauce. It’s not like tzatziki, but it’s more garlicky and also a bit spicy.
• There’s an optional hot sauce you can get which I think is used in the chicken marinade as well.
• Overall the shawarma was very good, but it was a bit dry for me. The pita was dry and although the meat was quite juicy it got lost with all the veggies. There's lots of ingredients, but when it's all rolled up I tasted a lot of pita and parsley.
• I definitely wanted more hummus and next time I’ll ask for extra yogurt sauce.

Chambar - 5th Year Appreciation BBQ

Hummus
Tabouleh salad
Spit roasted pork
Making pitas stuffed with pork and tabouleh
The appreciation "meal"...after waiting 2 hours

Restaurant: Chambar

Cuisine: Belgian

Last visited: September 12, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC

Unit 562 Beatty Street Crosstown

Price Range: $30-50

So this blog entry focuses specifically on Chambar's 5th year appreciation bbq that took place last Saturday afternoon. It was a free event that was advertised through word of mouth and loyal clientele. This is one of my favourite restaurants in Vancouver. I love it. Everything is done and presented really well - although it is on the pricier end, I think the quality is worth it. It's orgasmic food - the flavours merry really well, and the food is done with care and creativity.

To see my review for Chambar Restaurant - dinner.

To see my review for Chambar Restaurant - dessert.

That's the good...unfortunately the bbq was not so good. For the sake of Follow Me Foodie I'm going to try and stay focused on the food and not the organization of the event or service - not good. Actually, it's hard for me to keep it in...I have to say something...

The Experience

Ok well they blocked off the whole street for a big bbq event/production. There was a stage set up for music and a tent set up where kids could get balloon animals from creepy clowns and their faces painted. All sounds pretty good right? Not really. I think it's fair to say that when you go to a restaurant appreciation party you expect food. Well let's just say they cheaped out at the bbq in terms of food (sure it was a gourmet spit roast bbq pork, but that's all it was). Everyone pretty much got to try a sample...it's like they were afraid to run out, and they wouldn't have at all.

I just don't think they should call it an appreciation party, starting at 12pm lunch time, and just serve a sample - doesn't show customer appreciation. They also started at 2pm instead of the advertised 12pm, so people waited and were hungry. They gave juice and waffles to only children for a while - waffles were given to adults later. Juice was never served to adults and even parents thought this was odd. Organization wasn't great. Free loaders AND LOYAL customers were not impressed. It's a restaurant and people expect food, if your going to hold back on food then just charge people $5-10, but if you do this than don't call it an "appreciation bbq". *sigh*

Now that that's out - on to the food!

The Food

YES - looking at the photos it WAS a gourmet style bbq. They had 3 pigs being spit roasted outside. It was pretty amazing. They spent about 6 hours roasting these pig and started at 8am that morning - knowing that it would take 6 hours AND knowing that the bbq would start at 12pm - they should have really started earlier or advertised the event to start later. People were drooling over the pork, however they didn't serve it until 2pm! And you only got to try a piece - the size of a sushi. Pretty cheap.

They took those mini pita pockets, stuffed it with a LITTLE tabouleh salad (from sister restaurant Cafe Medina next door to Chambar), squeezed a bit of dressing and added a sushi sized piece of meat to it. Really weak. And everyone just got one and you had to move on.

Then they had a bowl of hummus - to eat with nothing! No pita, nothing. Just one mini pork pita per person and hummus - just hummus. I asked for another pita for the hummus, but they said no. They prepared 15 servings of fries with garlic aioli mayo....15 servings!!!! There were about 150 people in line! I'm not sure if they brought more out later, but bottom line is some people got them and some people didn't. Then they had some shrimp - one per person which is reasonable. These were really good, but I bet you they ran out of these. They wouldn't have ran out of pork though - they should have given at least 2 mini pitas per person, or at least stuffed it with more pork. Looked really bad, and people thought it was really pathetic. Everyone anticipated this gourmet bbq and showed up expecting to be fed well (because it IS Chambar afterall), but unfortunately it was rather disappointing.

Pork - really tender and juicy. Yes - it was good. I liked it in the pita with the tabouleh.

Hummus - thicker kind, good quality and fresh. Nice texture, simple flavours.

Shrimp - was wicked. The best part. I'd order this.

New York New York Greek Restaurant

Fresh Halibut

Restaurant: New York New York Greek Restaurant
Cuisine: Greek/Mediterranean
Last visited: August 24, 09

Area: Surrey, BC
6361 - 152 Street
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Greek family owned and operated
• The Greek items are authentic and really homemade
• Hummus made in house/homemade sauces
• Some Italian dishes/influence
• Kind of all over the place with their menu - stick to the Greek items
• Lunch combo platters
• Gyros & burgers available at lunch
• Pasta & steaks available at dinner
• Most desserts made in house
• Attracts families and locals
• Busy, but reservations not required
• Open Monday-Sunday 11am-10pm

**Recommendation:

Appetizer platter: Kalamari, dolmathes etc., really good hummus and tzatziki, Ecmek

This restaurant is kind of in the middle of nowhere in a random plaza located at a major intersection too (64th Ave & 152nd Street). I've been here a couple times for dinner and it's pretty good. I'm always skeptical of these restaurants, but a friend recommended it so I decided to give it a try. It's not dodgy or anything, but just a simple family owned Greek restaurant in Surrey. There's always a dinner crowd, but no line-ups or anything which is good. They're kind of all over the place with their menu - one of those do it all Greek restaurants - fish, steak, pasta, Greek, Italian, burgers and the list goes on...just stick to their Greek food, because that's what they do best. Greek owners that know Greek food and follow their own recipes - they don't need the other stuff on the menu. The Greek food is good enough on its own.

On the table:

• **Appetizer Platter $17.95 4/6
• Kalamari, dolmathes, olives, hummus, tzatziki, pita bread

• It's a platter made for 4. The variety is not bad, although they could have included maybe one more appetizer in there - like the spanakopita. You're basically paying for the dolmathes (4) and the kalamari (half the plate). You get a good portion of each though. It's not a bargain, but it's reasonable.
• **Dolmathes 3.5/6
• Grape leaves stuffed with ground beef and rice in a "light" lemon sauce.

• I actually really enjoyed these and I usually don't. The stuffing is really good, and the ratio of meat to rice is fair. The rice keeps its texture and shape even after they cook these, so I really like that. I would have appreciated another layer of flavour, either stronger on a the dill or maybe a hint of mint. Something to make these stand out!
• They call it a "light lemon sauce", but it's not. It's a rich and creamy lemon sauce - looks like hollandaise sauce. Kind of tastes like it too, except it has a tang. It tastes good and goes great with the dolmanthes, it's definitely one of the better sauces I've had served with dolmathes. At this restaurant, you should give them a try.
• **Hummus 5/6
• This is pretty wicked hummus. It's made in house and a greenish yellow colour. I think they go heavy on the parsley, although you can't really taste it. It's thinner in texture, not the thick kind. Really fresh, flavourful and creamy and at the same time light. Strong garlic and lemon flavours. They should have given a bigger portion (as as appy and in the appy platter) - they serve it in the same dish as the tzatziki. I expected more.
  


• **Kalamari 4/6
• I really appreciate this. They serve you quite a bit, which is good. It's basically half the plate. The deep fry the kalamari really well, and it's big pieces. They are relatively lightly batters, so you really taste the kalamari. They're a nice colour too, and the oil they used was fresh. Good quality squid. You know it's good when you can eat it on its own even without the tzatziki dip - and I love that stuff!
• Moussaka
  


• Moussaka 2.5/6
• Layers of ground beef, potatoes, eggplant and bechemel sauce.

• This was good, but not the best I've had it. It's a big portion. You get lots of beef and potato, but not much eggplant at all. I could barely taste it or even see it. It was kind of lazy (really homemade) moussaka. Which is good and bad. The potatoes were cut in chunks rather than slices, so it kinds of separated from the other layers. I like to bite into all the layers when I eat a piece and I felt like I was missing something.
• They could have went heavier on the seasoning for the ground beef as well. Couldn't really taste that slight hint of cinnamon that makes moussaka special. The bechemel sauce is really good though. Really nice and creamy, really good. I didn't taste much tomato, cheese, or bread crumb flavours either - so this was a good moussaka, but too simple for my liking. I like my moussaka more elaborate and complex because it's such a time consuming entree that takes experience - I felt like I could have made this version at home.


• Chicken Souvlaki 3.5/6
• Chicken souvlaki, rice, Greek potato & Greek salad.

• Standard for a Greek restaurant. Pretty much what I expected. The meat was flavourful, but could have been more juicy - it wasn't dry, but just not that juicy either. You get 8 pieces.
• The rice is actually really good here - I think they cook it in that Lipton chicken soup - at least that's what it tastes like. But whatever, as long as it's good, and it's not like this is an upscale restaurant. The point is, the rice is very flavourful.
• The potato - they could have cooked it for a bit longer. I've had more flavourful Greek potatoes in my life for sure...where the lemon flavour just absorbs throughout the entire potato...YUM

• Fresh Halibut 4/6
  
• Topped with white wine sauce. Served with Greek potato, rice, Greek salad, pita bread and tzatziki.

• This was a nice and light dish. It's a pan-fried fresh halibut and they cook it really well. Nice and juicy which is hard to do with halibut. They don't give you too much white wine sauce which is good because you want to taste the freshness of the fish. The sauce is a a simple white wine sauce mixed with cream, but it's not heavy or thick. Nothing creative or gourmet, just fresh ingredients and a simple sauce - and there's nothing wrong with that.
  

• Desserts
  



• **Ecmek 4.5/6
• Yummy! Homemade vanilla pudding topped with roasted almonds and whipped cream.

• This is almost like a Greek Verizon of a bread pudding...with a lot of vanilla pudding on top. It's a really traditional Greek dessert, and this one really tastes like someone's mom made it.
• The bottom layer is almost like a really really moist bread pudding. It's pieces of pastry soaked up in syrup - which is cinnamon and lemon flavoured. I felt like I was eating an apple pie, but there were no apples. I loved this pastry. The next layer is their homemade vanilla pudding. It's really good pudding! It's really thick and creamy - you can really slice through it. However the vanilla is extract and not the real deal. But whatever, this generous portion of Ecmek was only $4 - so I'm not expecting top quality ingredients or anything gourmet. Lastly they top it off with whipped cream and toasted almonds. This dessert just melts in your mouth even though it's served cold. It's creamy, flavourful and absolutely delicious.
• I need to order them more often so I can compare them to other places.
  


• Homemade Bougatsa 2/6
• Homemade lemon custard wrapped in filo pastry sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon.

• This is served warm. Yes the lemon custard is homemade, but no they didn't do that great of a job with it. It was a good attempt if only they didn't curdle it! And I don't think they even knew. I could taste the curdled texture, it was kind of funny cause I could just imagine some one's mom experimenting with this and not even realizing she had curdled the custard...and then just serving it anyway. You do get a lots of custard though, you can't tell in the picture, but they're generous - I just wish it was good custard though. For $4 I didn't mind the screw up.

Zankou Chicken

Restaurant: Zankou Chicken
Cuisine: Mediterranean/American
Last visited: August 9, 09

Area: Multiple, California
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 6
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 4
Additional comments:

• Only available in California
• Fresh, natural, healthy, super casual fast food chain
• No cans, freezers, microwaves, or preservatives
• Freshly baked daily pita
• Really juicy and flavourful chicken
  
• Famous for chicken with their homemade garlic spread - must try!!
  
• Homemade hummus and falafels
• Garlic flavour in everything, simple recipes
  
• Voted "Best Fast Food" "Best Cheap Eats" etc.
• Since 1962

**Recommendation: Any chicken plate WITH garlic spread, Chicken Tarna wrap

Ok so healthy fast food is hard to find - but this place is great and yes it's pretty healthy. I mean there's still oil, but its not super greasy or anything. Really good, fresh and natural ingredients. Hole in the wall feel, but it's a chain and it's always busy. Famous for their secret family recipe garlic spread and chicken, don't miss out on this fast food eatery!

On the table:

• **1/2 White Chicken Plate - 6.99USD 6/6
  
• 1/2 rotisserie chicken, served with hummus, diced tomatoes, garlic spread, pickles & pita bread
• The chicken is juicy, tender, flavorful, and moist with a crispy golden brown skin - cooked to perfection
• Chicken is all natural and delivered daily
• **Garlic Spread 6/6
  
• This gets its own review because its so delicious!
  
• Secret family recipe it comes in a simple little white sealed plastic container
• It looks, bland and boring, but its AMAZING!
• It looks like finely minced garlic, almost looks clear - it's not really a butter even though there's butter in it, but more of a spread...SOOO good! It doesn't have that spiciness fresh garlic has though, it is fresh garlic, but it's not so fresh that it still carries that spicy flavour. Use it on your pita, chicken - on everything!
  
• **Hummus & Pita 4/6
• The hummus is made of all natural ingredients: garbonzo beans, fresh garlic, sesame seeds and olive oil
• It's good! I could eat it on its own. It's so fresh and smooth in texture. Simple recipe, and simple tastes good!
• Pita - served warm. Baked fresh daily.
• Impressive for a fast food chain to actually take the time to bake and make these things that they could easily buy and serve.
• Tri-Tip Shawerma wrap - 4.99USD 2/6
• Marinated and flame broiled USDA choice tri-tip, diced tomatoes, and tahini wrapped in pita bread
• Good, but the other stuff was better - I found it a bit dry actually...which is surprising because usually it's easier to dry out a chicken when you cook it - but the chicken was so moist it made this one taste dry
• **Chicken Tarna Wrap - 4.99USD 6/6
  
• THIS was my favourite!! Marinated and flame broiled chicken, diced tomatoes, and garlic spread wrapped in pita bread.
• For me, it was better than chicken + garlic spread. Each bite was so full of flavour so it doesn't need anymore filler in the wrap, I really enjoyed this! The chicken is all shredded and the taste was a bit tangy. You couldn't pick out the exact flavours, but it had this tangy bite you'll crave for even after you leave.
• Falafel Plate 8.29USD 4/6
  
• 5 falafels served with hummus, tahini, diced tomatoes & shredded lettuce. Pickles and pita bread included.
• Yes it sounds a bit more expensive for a fast food chain, but these are homemade.
• Not a must try for me, because I've had better - Mona's Mezza Bistro in Vancouver. The BEST homemade falafels I've ever had. Zankou falafels are simple - made of natural garbonzo beans grounded up and then fried. I'm sure they use a very simple recipe and it comes with this tahini dip which is nice. You need it or the falafels may get boring after 3.