Here begins the story of Falafel Tabbara, situated in Hamra, West Beirut, this little shop has truly made its mark on the Quizine family. This freshly made falafel sandwich, is the BEST falafel sandwich I have had in my entire life. It is these kinds of foods that reassure me that going vegetarian or even vegan, is well and truly possible.

The man in charge begins by frying up the falafel, it is absolutely fresh. The order comes in, then the falafel mix in put into the fryer. This deep-fried ball of goodness if often made with ground chickpeas or fava beans and in some cases both. Herbs, spices and onions are added to the mixture. Falafel is a very common middle-eastern dish with many saying it originated in Egypt. At Falafel Tabarra, only fava bean is used in the mixture.

Fava bean mixture is moulded into a mini-doughnut shape

I absolutely loved the simplicity of this place. Just one man making a Middle-eastern and Lebanese favourite with so much love and attention to detail. The cute little doughnut of fava bean is then dropped into the deep fryer and cooked shortly until it becomes a beautiful golden brown.

In to the deep fryer goes the doughnut shaped fava bean mixture

A fabulous and consistent shape, delightful colour, sprinkled with sesame seeds. This is the ultimate falafel.

The falafel is then crushed on the surface of the Khobz flat bread, laid over with a bed of salad, pickles, tomatoes, a good brush of freshly made chilli sauce and some tahini.

The finished product – falafel sandwich

When I took my first bite of this, I was for a moment speechless. The falafel was hot and crunchy, the salad fresh and juicy, the tahini nice and tangy. Everything came together so well inside the Khobz like a wonderfuly created parcel. In that moment I considered becoming a vegan and eating being ok with eating this sandwich everyday for the rest of my life! With every bite, you take a bite of the pickled chilli. It comes together fantastically and strangely acts as a catalyst for the flavour.

  • This man is a legend!
  • A bite of chilli with every bite of sandwich for optimal experience

PRICING

We picked this bad boy up for just 3000 Lebanese Pounds ($2), approx £1.65. A really enjoyable street food meal, the size was very substantial.

HALAL INDEX

This entire thing is vegan, and so completely halal!