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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!!
**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.
Unit 2800-4151 Hazelbridge Way (In Aberdeen Mall) Range: $10-20
1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!
Food: 2
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 2
Additional comments:
Specializes in Taiwanese beef noodle and soup bowls
Taiwanese/Chinese (China) chefs/cooks
Fresh, made upon order
Homemade, everything made from scratch
Handmade noodles, dough etc.
Prepared in small batches
Large selection of drinks (bubble tea, brewed tea etc.)
Selection of desserts (shaved ice, Frappe Bliss)
Large selection of tradition Taiwanese snacks
Very long line ups at peak hours
Open/display kitchen
Lots of seating, quick service
Popular to locals/Chinese
Lunch and dinner
Offers snacks and bubble tea
Private room available
Open 7 days
**Recommendation: Noodle topped with ground pork sauce, Pan fried ground pork cake
Chef Hung is getting slammed left, right and centre.
Yes, it’s a bit overpriced, but they do give you a lot of meat. Yes, it’s not worth the long line up, but it might be worth checking out if there is no line-up and if you’re still curious. Yes, it’s overrated, but do I regret trying it? No, because I still had to see what the hype was about; and when there’s a 30+ min. line-up for over a month now…they must be doing something good right?!…errr maybe not…nonetheless I tried everything I wanted to try to make sure I wouldn’t have to line-up again to give it another chance.
For me it was a cross of Taiwanese and Shanghainese food, and in this case I could get better of each cuisine elsewhere. The broth just wasn’t as flavourful or rich to match the authenticity of Taiwanese or Shanghai cuisine. They’re charging a couple dollars more than Japanese Ramen Noodle places and a lot more than Wonton Noodle places and the food is surprisingly bland. The portions are really deceiving because it’s a big bowl with not a lot of noodle, yet a significant amount of meat. The noodles are deceiving too because although they don’t give you much, but they really expand and fill you up fast. You have a choice of either flat noodle, thin noodle or vermicelli and most people seem to be getting the flat noodle.
I do appreciate how everything is homemade and fresh, but the flavour just wasn’t there. It is a relatively quick eat – after all the line-up doesn’t die down during dinner. They’re not rude about it and there’s a lot of staff so the food comes fast and they don't hesitate to ask when you need your bill.
On the table:
Champion beef shank with noodle in soup 2.5/6
Champion beef shank with noodle in soup $10.95 – Flat noodle
For $10.95 I should be getting either a big portion, or really amazing noodles and soup. I got neither. This is their hot ticket item and it was only ok. That’s kind of embarrassing.
If I only order this I’d be really disappointed because this itself isn’t worth the wait. The bowl is big, but not the portion too.
The broth was very basic and light and almost watered down in taste. It wasn’t very flavourful and the beef taste wasn’t as potent as it looks for sure.
The noodles were great though. They’re cooked in small batches just until al dente. This is a tricky word – al dente is actually more “undercooked” than one may think. So these noodles come across as undercooked but they’re not. They’re chewy, hand made and it absorbed the flavour (as little as it had to offer) of the soup well.
They do give you a lot of meat though. The beef shank is quite tender, could be tenderer, and the fat is almost interwoven in layers.
They also have 2 slices of seared beef which is individually hand seared with a torch. This part was good as well.
**Noodle topped with ground pork sauce 3/5
Noodle topped with ground pork sauce $6.95 – Flat noodle
Beef is their specialty, yet this pork noodle bowl was better! I still like it better at other authentic Taiwanese places though – like Lao Shan Dong in Burnaby, or even Zephyr in the Sky in Richmond.
This noodle bowl is only supposed to come with a little soup, just enough to wet the noodles and then some. The soup again is a bit bland although it looks rich. It’s sweeter, saltier, thicker and richer than the soup in the beef bowls.
They give you a lot of ground pork which is quite tender and lean. It’s actually quite chunky and not minced like other authentic Taiwanese places would serve it. It’s pretty good though, very marinated, but not saucy and it could have been saucier. I think there were bits of tofu in it, but it wasn’t apparent.
I do like the al dente chewy and slightly hard noodles. Although I think the thin noodle would have matched the dish better since the meat was ground.
Marinated Beef Crispy Pancake 2/6
Marinated beef wrapped in crispy pancake $5.95
This dish is much better at Shanghainese restaurants.
It was a homemade crispy pancake/crepe rolled with marinated beef slices, green onions, cucumbers, and Hoisin sauce.
It looks better than it tastes. The pancake part was good and crispy and there was lots of filling, but the dominant taste was raw green onions.
I could barely taste the meat, and it was very crunchy but there was too much onion and they needed more cucumber. It was slightly spicy from the onion overload.
Overall it was a bit dry although not oily, but I needed more Hoisin sauce for sweetness and more flavour in general.
Fried Chives Pancake 1.5/6
Fried chives pancake (2 pcs) $3.95
This was stuffed with vermicelli, chives, and scrambled eggs.
The pancake was a very thin crepe and not crispy but soft. It was quite floury and left a powdery layer on my lips.
The filling was a bit oily and bland with a slight white pepper taste. If anything else it tasted like sautéed onions, with just the natural flavour of the onions and nothing else.
**Pan-Fried Ground Pork Cake 4/6
Pan fried ground pork cake (2 pcs) $3.50
I think this is the best thing I ordered and it was worth it. If anything I would come back for these if there was no line-up and it was convenient.
They dough is homemade and it’s very crispy and thin almost like dumpling skin but more doughy.
It was the most savoury, but not necessarily flavourful and I wonder if it would be more flavourful than the beef cake. After all the pork noodles were more flavourful than the beef was.
The pork was really juicy and when you cut into it the juice even leaks out. It reminded me of those Pan-fried Shanghai Pork Buns.
They’re very crunchy too because they mix the pork with green beans.
They’re made completely in house and you can watch them doing it. They’re very oily though, but I would order them again.
Pan Fried Sliced Radish Cake 1/6
Pan-fried sliced radish cake (2 pcs) $3.50
Ok, no. I like the sliced radish in pastry they serve for Shanghai dim sum better than this.
I really like radish too, but this was just really bland and fishy tasting. It was fishy tasting because they put some dried shrimp in it as well as Chinese mushrooms although it was way too little and you couldn’t taste them.
It was packed with filling and really juicy and crunchy, but the dominant flavour was just fishy.
This was also very oily and I preferred the pork version hands down.
Dessert
Mango Shaved Ice 4/6
$3.50
This dessert is from Frappe Bliss - a franchise, so they just bought the machine that makes it.
There is an actual store front for Frappe Bliss in the Aberdeen food court upstairs and it’s better there because you get more variety for toppings. Toppings here are limited and +$1 each.
This dessert is still amazing and it’s a pretty decent bowl for the price.
I’ve been to East is East on a few occasions before I started reviewing, so this is actually my 3rd visit. To be honest, I’m more attracted to the atmosphere and ambiance than I am to the food. Really bluntly, East is East is jack of all trades but master at none. It's not bad though! The food is on the whole good, but also quite “meh”. It’s hard to say it specializes in anything, because it doesn’t really. They serve Middle Eastern food: Persian and Afghan, and then South East Asian: Thai and Tibetan, and last but not least, Indian food. Everything tastes like the watered down version of the real thing. It’s quite Westernized, like “Martha Stewart’s” version of Thai food or “Uncle Ben’s” idea of fried rice. They cater to a Western market so it is Middle Eastern food for “white people”.
I’d categorize the cuisine as “Middle Eastern Fusion” and so does the restaurant. Nothing every reached its full potential and everything seemed bland, especially if you’re familiar with that particular cuisine and how it’s authentically served. I would come back because I love the atmosphere and for the price you pay it’s really reasonable. It’s a great place for “beginners” because everything is mild and it’s also a great introduction to Middle Eastern cuisine if you’ve never tried it.
I’ve been to one of East is East’s event nights and I will 100% vouge for it being a great experience! I felt like a hippie in some Middle Eastern country. There’s fantastic entertainment and it’s one of the most culturally satisfying events I’ve been to at a restaurant.
On the table:
Complimentary Ginger Chai
I love how they give little shots of Chai as you wait and even when you’re seated. It's quite spicy and very ginger-y. I've never had ginger in my Chai even when made by Indian people. It was good though!
I wasn’t a fan of this and I like trying exotic/“different” things. The ingredients are definitely a unique combination, but I just didn’t like the flavour as much.
The main taste is cucumber and it tasted like tzatziki in drink form. It is refreshing though.
Made with ice cream & organic 1% or frozen yogurt & soymilk.
I don’t have a photo of this one but it was the best one of the 3! I would come back for this drink. It tasted like a nutty Middle Eastern version of an Oreo milkshake! I loved it!
I want to try and reinvent this at home. This was like a dessert too!
Khichri 2/6
Brown dill rice with ground beef, spinach and mushrooms topped with dehydrated yogurt, tomato and onions $13.50 This isn't listed on their online menu.
It tasted like basmati rice pilaf with mildly Afghan spiced minced meat. It kind of tasted like spaghetti bolognaise with very subtle Afghan spices like cumin seeds.
The dehydrated yogurt is just a yogurt they buy from a grocery store and it tastes like goat's yogurt. I don't like it because it's very gamey and makes the minced beef taste like gamey minced lamb.
It was ok, but nothing too special. I would think it was good if they used plain yogurt. I would get bored eating the whole thing because it was big enough to be a main.
Tibetan Mantu 1.5/6
Dumplings stuffed with chives, green onions & herbs. Topped with dehydrated yogurt, chick peas and sprouts $13.50. This isn’t listed on their online menu either.
This can easily be a main as well. It’s one of their most popular appetizers.
The “dumplings” are actually more like ravioli. I think there are 5 of them. The filling tastes like frozen spinach and parsley. Besides a strong parsley taste, the filling was so cooked down they lost their texture and flavour and became quite bland.
The ravioli and the dish overall was too soft and soupy for me. The dumpling skin seemed overcooked so it didn't help the mushiness.
The dish looks great but I actually didn’t like it because of the dehydrated yogurt again. It tasted like goat’s yogurt. The menu states “vegetarian” so I was not expecting to taste meat – the gaminess from the yogurt was just overpowering.
It was served in a tomato based butter chicken-like sauce so it was savoury, tangy and then just very gamey.
Eastern Roti Roll 3.5/6
Our roti rolls are made with organic vegetables and meats. Each roll comes with baby green salad, lentil soup, yogurt-mint sauce, and your choice of lentil rice or Afghan rice (with carrots and raisins). Single: $11.50 Double: $14.50
They have a lot of varieties for their Eastern rolls and this item is popular for lunch or take-out because they’re easy to eat. It’s like a Middle Eastern burrito.
It’s more worth it to order the Eastern Plate because it’s pretty much an item from the Eastern plate rolled up in a roti.
I find the roti really dry and thin, it tastes like a whole wheat tortilla rather than a traditional homemade roti.
**Eastern Plate
Eastern plate is served with dhal soup, salad, roti, Afghan and coconut rice. Chose any 2 of the following items to complete the plate $19
This is totally worth it and hands down what you should order if you want to try everything. They used to only let you chose 2 and you could keep getting refills of those 2. However now you can order ANY 2 options and keep getting refills as long as it’s 2 at a time. (Prevents wastage, which is good).
It’s pretty much a buffet, but an Eastern Plate is meant for one person.
The dishes are relatively small, so for one person you would be pretty full after trying 4 things. I tried everything!
Miso Salmon 3.5/6
New item. A baked Miso salmon in coconut milk, lime leaves, and red and green Thai curry. It's the bowl on the very left.
It’s very creamy and I couldn’t taste the Miso at all. I think they were going for a Japanese/Thai/Indian fusion? I couldn't even taste the coconut milk and I though it was more Indian tasting.It was almost like a sweeter butter chicken sauce.
I don't feel like the salmon was baked or had a baked flavour. It seemed like it was just stewed. It was chunks of salmon and there were bones throughout all the chunks. You could eat them, but they were distracting enough for me to pull out.
Minced Beef Kebab 4/6
Minced organic beef with mushroom, tomato, green pepper and herbs. (No picture, but it looks like meatballs in tomato spaghetti sauce with veggies)
This was really good, but also not Indian/Middle Eastern at all. It tasted Italian. It was basically meatballs in a tomato bolognaise type sauce. I wanted to eat it with pasta…but the rice worked. It tasted like the Khichri appetizer.
I think this was supposed to be Persian/Afghan?
Organic Lamb Kebab 1/6
Organic lamb roasted in ginger, onion, garlic, and mint and tomato with a 5 spiced curry. It's the the bowl in the middle. (Miso salmon on the left)
I didn't try this one becuase there was a general consensus around the table that it was gamey. So I just didn't bother becuase I really hate gamey.
Saag Paneer 1/6
Whipped spinach and paneer (Indian cheese) with mushrooms.
Vegetarian. The bowl on the very right.
This was very bland and almost tasted like defrosted frozen spinach. I have never seen saag look like this. It was not good. There were no flavours at all. It seems like canned saag with shredded packaged paneer on top.
Saag at almost ANY Indian restaurant would have been better than this.
Chicken Marsala 3/6
Organic chicken in creamy marsala and herbs. It's the smaller bowl in the middle.
This was good and probably the closest to authentic for me. It used to be a "light" marsala, but they changed it to a "creamy" one.
They used dark chicken meat with the skin which I didn’t like. At least there were no bones, but still the skin should be removed. I wish they used chicken breast.
This tasted like a less rich version of butter chicken and was quite tangy. The spices were there although it wasn’t very spicy. Everything is relatively mild here.
Afghan Eggplant 5/6
Baked eggplant sautéed with herbs, onions, garlic and sundried tomatoes.
Vegetarian. It's the bowl on the right.
This was the best one! It stood out because everything else was just good and this one was better than good.
The eggplants were very sautéed, tender, and stringy - didn't seem baked.
This one didn’t really taste Middle Eastern either…it was like more like Italian again! It was eggplant stewed in a tomato marinara sauce with very subtle spices.
The eggplant comes up in a lot of pictures because we kept reordering it. They also serve it with raita which is basically yogurt. So the dish is quite tangy.
Peas and Cheese 3/6
Peas, paneer cheese and potato mixed and spiced.
Vegetarian. It’s the bowl on the right. (Eggplant on the left)
The fact that it’s called “Peas and Cheese” and not “Paneer” highlights the western take on the menu and recipe.
It was a very westernized version of a typical Indian dish. It was good though! It was basically a very creamy and rich butter chicken type sauce but it has no meat.
The peas are frozen Green Giant peas and I like them better than the canned mushy peas most Indian restaurants will use. Although traditional, using those, I like Green Giant ones better. There were lots too!
The cheese is like cottage cheese, there’s chunks of it and it’s very light and mild tasting. It's bought and not made in house though.
Thai Tofu 2.5/6
New item. Tofu, red peppers, lime leaves, and ginger in a sweet and sour mango green curry. I don’t have the exact description because it’s not on the menu online. It's the bowl in the front.
This was another very Westernized take, but this time with Thai food. It was quite mild and the curry sauce was packaged and a bit too watery. I actually found it quite bland although it was obvious it was Thai…just a tame Thai. The sauce was actually quite sweet because of the mango. I actually didn't find it sour.
Alu Gobi 4/6
Cauliflower and potato in a tangy tomato coconut sauce. Vegetarian.
I don't have a photo but it looked just like the Miso Salmon, but instead of salmon it was cauliflower. They sauces tastes almost the same, but the Alu Gobi is sweeter.
This was a good one. The cauliflower is nice and tender and the sauce is again that butter chicken sauce, which seems like their standard sauce.
Mango Butternut Squash 1/6
Butternut squash and mango cooked with coconut milk. ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and curry leaves. Vegetarian.(no photo)
If you have a baby you can feed it this. It was seriously pureed canned mango and butternut squash. It was really sweet especially with the added coconut milk and tasted like baby food.
I love both ingredients so it was a very disappointing dish.
I could barely taste the curry leaves or spices. It wasn't spicy at all.
It would be good in a trifle or used as a spread or condiment.
This was a very Western take on Channa Masala – another classic Indian dish.
It was creamy, but again very mild in spices and was that same butter chicken sauce but not as sweet. It was creamier than the chicken marsala. The chicken marsala had more spices and flavour though.
Dhal soup
This is pretty much a lentil soup with vegetables and Indian spices. It's the top left bowl.
For a more authentic version you can get it at Mayuri South Indian Cuisine.
This one is good too though although it is very westernized. It’s very mild, but there are lots of ingredients and it’s hearty and thicker than the real deal.
It was almost like Campbell’s version of dhal soup…but I did like it!
Afghan rice, coconut rice, roti, stuffed naan
Afghan rice: this was good, but again light on the spices. There were carrots and raisins in it too.
Coconut rice: I couldn’t taste the coconut at all. Tastes like plain basmati.
Roti: Again it was like a whole wheat tortilla shell. It was almost stale and not fresh.
Boulani: I liked these! This was an Afghan "pita" stuffed with a thin layer of potatoes, onions and herbs. Very aromatic and tasty.
This dinner was a Vancouver Food Bloggers dinner. It was great meeting you all!
Restaurant: Falafel Maison
**Shawarma 4/6
