Review: Falafel King

Okay, now I don’t normally write about restaurants beyond ‘good’ or ‘bad’, but I thought I’d give it a go this time. At lunch today I was heading down to Rockler to get some stain for my living room furniture. On the way I saw a sign for a place called Falafel King. I figured it’d make for a good, although potentially humerous, lunch. So I stopped.

Located on the east side of Woodward, in one of the many strips between 13 Mile and 14 Mile, a yellow awning proclaims Falafel King’s location. Stepping inside, a narrow Cintas-like rug with the same Falafel King logo leads a path to the standard counter. A simple menu board hangs overhead, with coolers of items like Rice Pudding, Fruit Salad, Cheese, Tabouleh, and Hummus, soda, and bottled water, off to your right. Most of the rest of the smallish (think hamburger stand) sized resturant is a blue formica bar; opposite the coolers and along the front window, complete with newspaper clippings of reviews hanging on most walls.

I stepped up to the counter and placed an order for a Falafel King Meal Deal, which is described as “Falafel Patties with Lettuce, Tomato, Turnips & Tahini Sauce. Served with a side of Tabouleh and Hummus.” As I soon came to find out, this was a bit of an understatement.

The wait was a bit long, taking around 10 – 15 minutes for my food, as I shuffled around, looking at the reviews hanging on the wall, and staying out of the way of other customers. I can somewhat understand the wait, as a good number of people had called in ahead and arrived to eat at the counter which lines the short walls. There food, of course, had to be prepared before mine. I had also ordered a full meal, requiring more preparation than normal, while all the other patrons had simple sandwiches or salads. After waiting for a bit, and receiving my carry-out container, I left the restaurant for the 15 minute drive back to work.

Back at my desk I opened the plastic bag and enclosed foam container. Inside the bottom half of the container I found what appeared to be four falafel doughnuts, each about 2.5″ across and 1″ thick, arranged on a hefty bed of chopped tomato, lettuce, pickled pepper rings, and pickled turnips. In the top two sections of the container were, on one side, approximately 1/2 cup of hummus, topped with paprika and olive oil, and on the opposite side, a comparable amount of perfectly mixed tabouleh. Along with the separate small cup (approximately two tablespoons) of tahini mix and cut up pita, this was shaping up to be a very filling ‘lunch’.

Starting by dipping the falafel in some hummus then taking a bite, my mouth was in heaven. As I told via AIM, I kept smiling and wanting to exhort profanities. The food is good. I kept having a hard time deciding if I wanted to dip the falafel in the tahini sauce or the hommus, as either worked just fine. The tabouleh I tended to eat with a bit of pita around it, or like the rest of the veggies, straight into the mouth with a fork. The falafel was perfectly crunchy/crumbly, the hummus a perfectly smooth, garlicky texture. While I’m not typically a big fan of tabouleh, Falafel King’s vareity hit the spot, and I finished it all.

All in all, this whole meal totaled $5.95 + tax, a very good price considering my inability to finish the entire serving. Being located relatively far from Auburn Hills, where my workplace is, I don’t know if I’ll get back there for lunch any time soon, but should I be in the area and hungry, I’ll definately consider stopping.

Falafel King: 32748 Woodward, Royal Oak, MI, 48073 – 3 Blocks South of 14 Mile Road – 248-554-9881