Amsterdam Falafel Shop

Posted by Edmund in Fast Food, Restaurants, Washington, DC | 0 comments

Aug 24, 10

Cuisine: Middle Eastern/Fast Food Falafel.
Location: 2425 18th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009.
Price: $5.68 for a regular falafel, $3.68 for regular fries.

Whenever I head out to Adams Morgan for a night of bar-hopping, there’s one stop I’ve always got to make, and that’s Amsterdam Falafel Shop. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking: It’s just another late night food stand, catering to the throngs of drunks that wander Adams Morgan at night. But it only attests to the quality of this place that people would prefer to go get a falafel and some hummus at 2 am at night instead of a slice of pizza at the local junky jumbo slice restaurants (the typical late-night bite around the area).

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What really distinguishes Amsterdam Falafel Shop, then? First of all, the falafel actually tastes like a falafel. I know it’s commonsensical, but coming from a Middle Eastern background, I’m very sensitive to the taste of any Middle Eastern cuisine. One of the biggest problems I find in falafels is a general flavorlessness. Just because a falafel is a ball of chickpeas doesn’t mean it needs to taste like a fake meat substitute. Here, not only is the falafel served hot and fresh (it’s fried right in front of you!), but the texture doesn’t turn into mush, the fried batter isn’t too heavy or oily, the chickpeas themselves have been well-spiced, and the falafel is served in an equally hot and very fluffy pita.

But really, you probably won’t be tasting the chickpeas too much, because the main draw here is an endless variety of toppings to stack into the sandwich. Garnishes include everything from hummus and baba ganoush to crunchy onions, sweet tomato and onion salad, red cabbage, and pickled beets. Nor are sauces lacking—Amsterdam Falafel Shop has about 10 different ones, including Dutch mayo, peanut sauce, and more traditional Middle Eastern sauces, like tzatziki.

That may seem daunting to the normal person. How do you adorn your falafel with 21 different garnishes? Well, that’s the double-edged sword here. You really do have to go in and give everything a shot before you can find your “sweet spot.” I can, however, highly recommend the hummus, which is so good that it easily beats the selection at many restaurants. Also, for the fries the dutch mayo and the garlic cream sauce are excellent.

That brings me to the second big draw of this place: the Belgian-style fries. If you’ve never heard of Belgian fries, all it means is that the fries are double-fried. The second fry is just a quick one done to give an extra bit of crunchiness to the fries without overcooking them. I actually have had the French fries in Belgium, and I can attest they’re probably the best I’ve had in my life (Belgians did invent the fry, after all), so anytime the fries can even approximate the quality of Belgian fries I’m immediately a fan.

I will say, though, that I don’t love the fries so much as I do the sauces. In fact, while the fries are very well-cooked throughout, I found them to be a bit lacking in crunch and far too greasy, i.e. like you would find them at any normal fast food place. The sauces, though—those are another story. They’re so good they can easily compensate for just about any deficiency the fries themselves may have. Once you dip them into the dutch mayo, you’ll know why exactly Belgians love to slather their fries in a mountain of mayonnaise. It may sound disgusting, but try it once and you’ll be convinced.

All in all, then, I can’t say Amsterdam Falafel Shop is the end-all-and-be-all of fast food restaurants. But I can say that, in a country full of cheap, dirty burgers, hot dogs, and pizza, this tiny Middle Eastern joint is a welcome addition to the fast food and especially the late-night-bite scene. Highly recommended for the falafel.

Scores

The Falafel Pita: 4.0/5.0
The French fries: 3.0/5.0 with sauce, 2.0 without.
Value: 4.3/5.0. Pricy by fast food standards, but delicious, heavy, and fully customizable.
Overall Score: 4.0/5.0. The best late-night cheap eat in all of DC.