| Inexpensive mediterranean and middle eastern dishes |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 11/12/2007
Rating: 6
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Typo king myself shouldn't be pointing this out but I couldn't help but notice their restaurant sign is spelled differently than their menu and catering sign.
Restaurant spelling - Falafel and Kebob
Menus and Catering sign - Falafel and Kebab
I hope they got a huge discount for the mistake.
Terry was buying lunch today so I had to get the most expensive item on the menu. Not that $12.95 is going to put a dent in his bank account or anything. Its just always comforting knowing if the meal isn't to my liking I don't feel like I've wasted anything since I didn't buy it. I went for the House Combo.
Falafel and Kebab is on a long list of restaurants to occupy this place. The location is terrible and cannot be seen from Shoreline Ave. A restaurant only known to the surrounding computer companies. I wish them luck.
We sat outside on one of the patio tables under an overcast sky. Ominous clouds foreshadowing the meal I was about to eat.
My plate arrives with falafel balls, lamb, beef, and chicken. With a plate like this, I think I'm getting a good sampling of what's to offer.
Rice, baba ganoush, veggies were all good. Rated 7.5.
falafel balls - deep fried and crunchy but they didn't taste right. Way too dense and I prefer a more crumbly ball. On the bland side like they forgot to season it. Rated 6.5
chicken shish - by far the best tasting thing on the plate. I was enjoying thoroughly and couldn't believe how tender it was. Rated 8.
beef shish - dry and what happened to the onions and bell peppers between the cubes? The pieces were small and I swear they had this chemical taste to it. The beef tasted like it had beef sitting in warmed tupperwear. It was gross. I had to stop eating and thought, oh please, I hope I don't make an offering to the porcelain throne. Rated 5.
adana - 2 bites and that was it. This had been sitting around for sometime. Temperature wise, it wasn't even warm. Wasn't juicy and much too lean. The lamb mixture was completely gamey and heavily loaded with parsley. Probably the worst I've ever had. Rated 5.
I know Falafel and Kebab didn't go out of their way to serve me a sub par meal. For $13, there's no way I'd reorder this plate. Buy me lunch and I might reconsider. Who knows what happened in the kitchen but it's going to take a lot of convincing to make a return visit. I'd agree with Humbucker that the food is between 5.5 and 6. I bumped to a 6 due to the chicken shish. Order that with rice and you'll be happy.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 11/15/2007
Rating: 6.5
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This place was a wishlist request. Was happy to take a drive out to Mountain View today and relax in the outdoor seating that Falafel and Kebab offered. Today I went with the Falafel wrap (sad to see there was no falafel plate). I also had to try the hummus.
Service was fairly quick and the hummus was brought out first. Taste was lemony and thick with a good dash of garlic as well. Just how I like it. No complaints about this or the fresh pita bread.
The falafel wrap, on the other hand, was a let down. Thankfully it came with a little salad which was ok. The wrap Itself didn't have much flavor - I really had to douse it in the supplied hot sauce and tahini on the table. Without this, I wouldn't have finished it. The veggies weren't particularly exciting - just a rehash of the salad. The falafel balls themselves were dense and dry, not how I like it.
I was hoping for a better experience today, but the competition for falafel is pretty tough in silicon valley. For now, I cannot recommend Falafel and Kebab unless you work really close by and its convenient.
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Reviewer: Humbucker
Total Reviews: 11
Reviewed: 10/28/2007
Rating: 5.5
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I was searching for something to get for dinner one Sunday evening and plucked this joint off of the Jatbar wishlist. It was a little hard to find, because it's tucked into this tiny strip mall tucked behind the Century 16 cineplex.
The place was completely deserted, but I chalked that up to the office park location and it being a Sunday evening. When I saw the menu, I was reminded of House of Falafel, which was definitely a good thing, because I LOVE HofF and it would be awesome to have a great falafel/schwarma place that was a little closer to my house than any of the HofF locations are. The menu was so similar, that I almost asked the counterman if the place was in any way related to HofF, but the guy looked like he was in a bad mood (apparently, a permanent scowl is part of the uniform for workers in Mediterranean takeout joints because the HofF folks also always look pissed off).
I settled on the lamb schwarma wrap which was delivered quickly. The first warning sign that told me I probably wasn't going to return to Falafel & Kebab was that the counter guy didn't wash his hands before he made my wrap after I paid him. I was really grossed out by that, but I hoped that my wrap would at least be tasty. The wraps here are HofF style, that is, they are in lavash flat bread not pita. Unlike HofF, they don't include cups of hot sauce and yogurt sauce with your takeout order. Sauce would have been really appreciated in this case because the schwarma was AWFUL.
The meat was really chewy (and not in a good way) and flavorless EXCEPT for this wierd taste that I can only describe as "beans + melted plastic". It was so wrong, but like an idiot, I finished the wrap. The terrible aftertaste lingered in my mouth for the rest of the night.
I really don't know how they messed up a schwarma wrap like that. The disgusting meat was definitely the worst thing about it by far, but it also lacked the nice tang supplied by yogurt sauce and/or pickled vegetables that every other Mediterranean wrap/sandwich I've ever eaten has had.
I very rarely receive food at restaurants that is truly horrendous. Sub-par or mediocre food can be found anywhere, but I would say that TERRIBLE food is rarer than terrible service or terrible value. I guess I was bound to come across a bad egg (or wrap) eventually, and Falafel & Kebab is it. The combination of gross food and gross food-handling practices is unforgivable so I won't be returning unless they really clean up their act. |
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Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 84
Reviewed: 11/27/2007
Rating: 7.5
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I'm sorry to see so many reviewers are down on this place. I have eaten at Falafel & Kebab several times now and have never had a bad meal. My last couple visits were for writing my "official" review below.
On my first lunch visit, I arrived around 12:30 and the place was pretty full. If there is no line it's a bit confusing as to where you order since there is a long counter with no obvious "stand here" spot. I stood in the wrong place and a short line began forming elsewhere before I figured it out. Here is the logistics breakdown if you're eating in: order your food at the counter, then pay, and they give you a number. Then you go over by the entrance and get your silverware (and water if you choose) and sit down at a table of your choice. I ordered the chicken schwarma plate, paid $9.30 incl. tax (pretty standard) and sat down. Six minutes later my food arrived. Serving portion was healthy. Chicken – pretty good, but not the best I've had. Rice –excellent, moist rice with pine nuts. Wow. This stuff rocks. Salad – OK, some lettuce pieces were looking a little off. Hummus – excellent texture and nutty flavor. Not too garlicky. All in all I left with a full and happy tummy. This plate gets points for good food but nothing extra for value.
On my next visit I went back to my standard dish here – The falafel plate. This is kind of hard to find on the menu since it's on the appetizer list. (I had to ask on my first visit here). Whatever. It's big enough for a meal and a great deal at $5.95. The place wasn't too busy, but a lot of people were waiting for take-out orders. I was eating in and easily found a seat after ordering. My food arrived in under 10 minutes. Here's the meal breakdown:
Falafel - 5 decent sized falafel balls, fresh from the oil. Too hot to eat initially. Not quite as big as House of Falafel (HoF), but equivalent flavor IMHO. The same slight dryness as HoF.
Hummus – same as before; nice texture and flavor. MUCH better than the stuff at HoF.
Salad – mix of lettuce, red cabbage, onions and tomatoes with a mild oil-based sauce. Pretty standard
Bread – standard store-bought pita you get at most med restaurants.
Hot sauce and white sauce are in bottles on the table so you have lots of options. Want to make some falafel sandwiches? No problem. Total cost for this meal was $6.43 with tax. Almost exactly the same price as HoF, but with slightly better falafel and much better hummus. An 8.0 for this meal.
On my next visit here I tried to duplicate Humbucker's experience by ordering the lamb schwarma wrap. I sat down to read my paper and my wrap arrived right away. My first impression was that this was a pretty large wrap for a Mediterranean place. The lamb schwarma had decent flavor and was moist. And the wrap had a lot of meat in it, much more than HoF. But there were some serious chunks of fat mixed in with the nicer pieces, and I ended up using several napkins to...uh get rid of them. Kind of a downer for me. I did concentrate on the flavor, and couldn't detect the beans and melted plastic flavor that Humbucker mentioned. For the most part I enjoyed the flavor. I rate it a 7.0, about the same as the very small, dry lamb wrap from HoF. (After eating the wonderful lamb schwarma wrap at Dish Dash, I've become very picky).
OK, so my overall impression is this isn't the best mediterranean food in the area, but I think it holds its own for some dishes. Since Falafel & Kebab is close to work, I will definitely be back for the falafel plate when the mood strikes.
Pros: Decent food; Not crowded; Falafel plate is a good deal for under $7
Cons: Lamb schwarma is too fatty |
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