Falafel Bowl

Falafel is one of the oldest street foods still eaten in its original form. Its roots are disputed between Egypt, where a version made with fava beans ("ta'amiya") has been eaten since the Coptic Christian period — when it was likely a meat substitute during fasting — and the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel), where chickpea falafel became the dominant form. The word itself may derive from the Arabic "filfil" (pepper) or the Coptic "phalafel".

By the 19th century, falafel had become the street food of Cairo, Alexandria, and the Levantine coast — cheap, satisfying, and entirely plant-based in an era before that was fashionable. Egyptian and Levantine migrants carried it across the Mediterranean, and it spread to every port city from Marseille to Istanbul to Sydney. Today it is as much a Sydney café staple as it is a Cairo street food.

Our falafel bowl presents four golden crispy falafel on a canvas of hummus, mixed leaves, sliced avocado, roasted tomato, mushrooms, and olives. It is gluten-free and vegan — the ancient street food of the Nile and the Levant dressed for a Sydney morning.