You don't need to feel awful about falafel


 A good falafel is a marvelous thing. Falafels are crunchy, crispy, spicy, salty, and meaty(even though they're vegetarian). Paired with salad and either a sesame tahini sauce, a yogurt/garlic sauce, or a mango sauce, hummus, and pita bread, it's a good meal with a lot of flavor. 

Unfortunately, Renton, Washington is not a place that has had many good places to eat falafel. Oh, Gyros House at the Landing had falafels on the menu, but they were more of an afterthought. They had lots of things on the menu much better than their falafel. And they've been out of business for a while. Organic Juice Bar and Gyros also has falafel on the menu. They have other things on their menu that stand out, but their falafels seems to be made from a mix, and don't wow me.

The newly reopened Red House has something they call falafel fries, and they're good, but as they're shaped like steak fries, so they're not exactly the real thing. The Red House has some marvelous food, so many good things( I'm looking at you, roasted beets au gratin) but you wouldn't go there simply for their falafel fries.

Renton, alas, is good for many things foodwise, as it's one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States per capita. But that diversity hasn't extended much to falalel. There's good Thai food, sushi, Cantonese, Mandarin, Pakistani,Vietnamese, Mexican, Indian, steak, Italian, etc, but there just haven't been many places with standout falafel until now.

Momo's Kebab, 1250 SW 43rd St, Renton, opened several months ago, after running a successful food truck business, which they still operate. The restaurant is a few blocks from IKEA. The menu is not huge, but what they do have is very good, and that includes falafel. They've only got a few tables for sitting, and it's an order at the counter place, but you get large portions of very fresh tasting, flavorful foods at reasonable prices. They've also got fried cauliflower on the menu. I've only eaten it locally at Smoking Monkey Pizza, where their fried cauliflower is extremely addictive and delicious. But Momo Kebab's is also very good, just differently spiced, and not breaded. I always regard seeing fried cauliflower on the menu of a Middle Eastern restaurant as a good sign, and they've got it.

Gyro Makers, 10715 SE Carr Rd, Renton( across the parking lot from the Benson Fred Meyer) is another former food truck turned brick and mortar. They're also Middle Eastern/Mediterranean. The falafels are smaller and not as spiced as at Momo's, but are still good. And they have a super mixed vegetable sandwich, which contains falafel, fried cauliflower, hummus, baba ghanouj, and fries.A huge, very tasty, and very filling sandwich. The folks at Gyro Makers are especially friendly, and the prices are low, considering all the food you get.

Both of these places have elevated Renton's status as a falafel city.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revisiting some old standbys

Image
 I don't think I'll ever figure out why some restaurants are successful and some aren't.  Sure, some restaurants provide delicious food, great service, and an enjoyable atmosphere, and deservedly experience success. Other restaurants consistently provide mediocre food, rude service, noisy atmosphere, and are always busy. Yet other restaurants have great food, great service, pleasant atmosphere,and don't stay in business very long. I'm sure location plays a part. But there's also some psychology involved: People tend to want to go where other people are dining, and avoid places that aren't busy. When asked about whether he wanted to dine in a particular restaurant, Yogi Berra once answered "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too popular." I recently visited a couple of local places that I've been to numerous times, but don't think I've ever written about.  The first is Rubattino's, 808 S 3rd St, Renton. Rubattino's is Renton'
Read more

Soon to open restaurants in the Renton area

Image
  Despite restaurants being a tough way to make a living, they continue to open. In the Renton area, at least three restaurants should be opening within the next few months. Sabah Cafe, 420 NE Sunset Blvd, Renton, in the old Amante Pizza space, will be serving Turkish food. Turkish food is good. In downtown Renton, Premier Meat Pies will be opening in the original Armando's space at 919 S 3rd St. They will be a restaurant, bakery, and pub. They have a couple of existing branches, in downtown Seattle and the central waterfront near Ivar's. And just a few blocks north of the Renton city limits at 11301 Rainier Ave S, 98178, Winnie's Cafe and Deli will be serving Ethiopian food and coffee. South Seattle and Tukwila have a number of Ethiopian restaurants, but I don't think Renton does. But this will be only a couple of minutes from downtown Renton. I haven't eaten a lot of Ethiopian food, but Ethiopian coffee is the best. Yirgacheffe ranks right up there as one of the b
Read more

Flour, Sugar, and More

Image
Flour, Sugar, and More From 2006 to about 2011/2012 I used to write about food fairly regularly on a blog called " A Displaced Hipster's Guide to Renton". It wasn't my blog. I sort of inherited it from my neighbor. The subheading was something like " My wife and I moved from Seattle to this noncultured backwater about twelve miles southeast called Renton, and this is how we survive." That was never the way I felt. We were coming down to Renton to eat at Gene's Ristorante years before we moved there, and I've always liked Renton. It never felt like a noncultured backwater to me, but maybe that has more to do with my being a noncultured slob myself. In any event, I reviewed a lot of Renton restaurants. And I still want to do that, but I want to do more. I also like to cook. I like to garden, and grow things to eat. And I don't limit every meal I eat to Renton. Food tastes good in other places too. Food obsessed. Moi? I'll get on to cooking an
Read more