There’s more than meets the eye when it comes to Azuri’s Falafel

Azuri Cafe

I believe the saying goes, the more colors on your plate, the better something is for you.  Well that’s the golden rule at Azuri, ask nicely for a falafel pita ($5.55) and you will receive a colorful and delicious bounty of Israeli delicacies stuffed into a freshly baked, sturdy pita. Baba Ganoush, tabbouleh, red cabbage mixed with thinly sliced red pepper, hummus, and Israeli salad are crowned by flattened and fried, perfectly spiced falafel balls which are crispy on the outside and delicate inside. A green, fiery hot sauce, a well balanced tahini and two tiny sour pickle spears top it all off.  I may even be omitting several more ingredients, but it all works. Ezra Cohen’s recipe has been honed over his 18 years in the United States and the result is heaven in a pita.

Fear not for the mental state of this seemingly schizophrenic falafel because harmony is achieved.  The inner sanctum overflows with deliciousness but the structurally sound pita’s exterior prevents breaking and leakage.  You’re going to enjoy this falafel so much, there won’t be time for the sauces to soak into the airy dough.

The cross section reveals falafel balls flattened to accommodate a rainbow of fresh ingredients.

And looking at the salad bar, you can see how the rainbow is built.  The glass a window to what is truly a falafel artist’s palette.

If you want to deconstruct the flavors of the rainbow, look no further than the falafel plate ($8.75 small, $10.75 large). The plate below is a small and it still offers a generous variety of salads and sauces to be sampled alone or mixed to your liking.

I strongly recommend you start you meal with a deep bowl of the subtly spicy split pea soup ($4.50), which arrives with tender bits of carrot, celery and pea floating in a thin yet hearty broth.

Another unique starter or side option is the flaky, sesame-topped boureka ($2.50) filled with potato or spinach and topped with tahini sauce.

Sweet, flaky dough is folded around a potato knish-like filling which arrived a little cool at first. Make sure you ask for your boureka to be cooked hot.  The mellow tahini sauce balances the sweetness of the shell.  I plan on ordering French fries ($3.50) upon my next visit after noticing the long, fresh cut and crispy fries on another table.

Taim

Taim means “tasty” in hebrew and there’s no doubt their falafel pita ($5.25) is just that.  What it lacks, however, is the ability to combine hummus, cabbage, Israeli salad, lettuce, tahini and tiny, crisp falafel balls in a manner that is more flavorful and balanced than Azuri Cafe.

What Taim lacks in outright deliciousness, they attempt to make up for by offering three different flavors of falafel balls:

All the talk I had heard about Taim mentioned the harissa as the go to falafel. Harissa is a North African red chili paste which when mixed with the falafel batter provides a mild albeit short-lived spice.  If you want some lingering heat, add some of the green substance below, the Yemeni hot sauce S’rug.

The cross section shows Taim’s falafel is more basic than Azuri’s.  Anyone who reads this website regularly knows that I have great appreciation for simple food prepared well, but Taim’s falafel is just simple.  There’s no balance or complexity in construction or flavor.  Azuri’s construction has a distinct purpose:  providing a precise flavor adventure.  Taim’s falafel sandwich is unbalanced, sometimes dominated by the neutrally flavored hummus.  Hummus, as it is in Azuri’s falafel, should be a unifier of flavors, not the main component.

Taim’s salad bar reflects this simplicity, lacking the multitude of vibrant colors that make for Azuri’s deliciousness.

Taim’s fries with saffron aioli ($4.00) were also highly touted.  Fried just once, the thin, crisp and generously salted fries are generic but tasty.  The saffron aioli, as my friend put it, has a “mustard/mayo vibe” that lacks any real flavor punch.  Ketchup’s tomatoey sweetness contrasted better with the s’rug’s spice than the aioli.

At $2.50 per half falafel, you’re hard pressed to spend $10 for a very filling meal.

Simple Recipe Equalys Simply Delicious

My go to meal is 3 half falafels, a plate of pepperoncini, some extra tahini sauce, an order of fries well done, and a can of selzter. You’ll get that all for under $10. I can honestly say the food has not changed at Naomi’s in the last fifteen years. If that’s not a sign of success, what is? A heated, albeit pre-packaged pita, is pried open and stuffed with 5 freshly fried falafel balls, iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots and cabbage, and then topped with a housemade tahini sauce. You can add any number of accoutrements including pepperoncini, pickled beets and a very spicy hot sauce.

But while the tahini sauce and the consistency of the recipe have certainly assured lasting deliciousness, the key ingredient are the balls of fried chickpea which wait at the bottom of each pita.

Bursting the Mamoun’s Bubble

It’s no surprise Naomi’s falafel balls are by far the tastiest I’ve tried. It’s a result of an all chickpea recipe, served at Naomi’s and found mainly in Israel. Whereas Syrian, Lebanese and Egyptian falafel feature the use of the cheaper fava bean or a combo of fava and chickpea, the delicious Israeli version is straight chickpea. It’s not easy to tell the difference, but in my experience the most telling factor is that an all chickpea ball is lighter and more delicate than the mealy fava bean falafel ball found at, you guessed it, Mamoun’s. As good as all the drunks on MacDougal and St. Mark’s think Mamoun’s is, the bubble is burst. Quality counts.

Balls of Fury

Creating Naomi’s falafel balls is a simple process. The balls are first scooped into a device made for pushing them into a vat of bubbling oil. And then, they fry to a beautiful golden brown.

Kosher Pizza Done Right

I’ll admit, I don’t come to Main Street in Kew Garden Hills for the Kosher pizza. But on a stretch of street where at least two other falafel & Kosher pizza restaurants reside (Shimon’s & Benji’s), Naomi’s pizza is by far the best. Looking at the pies below, you wouldn’t even know they’re kosher. They look like pies you’d find in slice joints in Manhattan, and they’re better than some of those too.

Prices Worth Traveling For

Another great thing about eating outside of Manhattan is the precipitous drop in food prices. Take a look at the affordable and diverse offering of Middle Eastern delicacies beyond falafel. I’ve only tried the hummus, which is creamy and fresh but fairly standard.

Naomi’s Kosher Pizza & Falafel

6828 Main St
Flushing, NY 11367
718-520-8754