falafelatu

A good falafel is hard to find.
Ain't that the truth.
I've had some hellish falafexperiences, notably from one of the street vendors near Tottenham Court Road station / a dodgy festival van. However the discovery of Shepherds Bush markets finest, Mr Falafel, was a real revelation. Wave byebye to greasy, tasteless, claggy falafel, limp salad and soggy wrap. Say hello! to delicious freshness, first class vegetables, thick tasty houmous and top notch sauce. All for a very reasonably priced £4.50. This little shop permanently has a queue out of the door at lunchtime, usually made up of workers in the vicinity. This week we organised a mini BBC pilgrimage down to Mr Falafel, and chowed down on some sizeable wraps at lunchtime. The menu is extensive, with variations on the standard wrap to include different olive, potato, chilli, feta, halloumi and veg options. All bases covered, delicious and filling. Ron Burgundy eat your heart out...

hanging out the back of an XL

choose your chow

mr falaf

The real Mr Falafel (aka Ahmad Yassine) was born in Lebanon's largest refugee camp, growing up amongst violent warfare and constant fear, before moving to London at the age of 17. He talks in this Guardian article about his story. It always saddens me that highly skilled and educated people, well respected in their home countries, have to go to the bottom of the heap when they are (often forced) to move away. Often they work with good humour for a shitty wage, doing jobs which would have been deemed way beneath them in their former lives. There's often no way around it - but can you imagine how depressing and demoralising it must be? To know you are capable but to be constantly reminded that you can probably do nothing about it, so may as well resign yourself to your lot. Reminds me a little of the story of The Kiterunner, when Amir's father has to move from Afghanistan over to the US. He goes from being a wealthy businessman living in luxury, to eking out a living working at a gas station as his health declines rapidly. I imagine the majority of people being served by their local petrol station or fastfood employee would never stop and think that that individual could actually be much more of an intellectual or highly skilled than themselves...

But enough of that doom and gloom! That story had a happy ending! And so does this one!
Fantastic falafels. Worth a trip to the Bush any day.