A Side of Friendliness (and more!) with Your Falafel
“2A Loves this Place. They always give our kids free falafel and rice pudding.” The note was in our building lobby atop a stack of pink menus for a new Middle Eastern restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue called “Zaad.” I marvel at the gumption and guts of restaurateurs who open during a global pandemic. And when I went to Zaad I found more to marvel at.
Owner Hosam has a ready smile and curly ginger hair that spills out of his peaked white hat. Hosam is from Cairo and, before that, El Sharkia. Before opening Zaad, he’d been working in a Harlem restaurant. I asked him what Zaad meant, and he told me, “The Food.” I looked confused, and he added, “The food and a little extra” and then he explained something about how it meant “food brought along for a long journey,” maybe by camel? Whatever! Zaad might be untranslatable from Arabic, but the zesty flavor of their singular falafel sandwich ($4.50!) is understandable in (or, rather, on) every tongue. I’m not usually a falafel fan, finding these fried patties or balls often too dry or, the opposite, too mushy. Zaad’s are just right. They are generously sized, crisp on the outside, tender inside, and bright green with parsley. The flavor of crushed coriander seeds bursts out with every bite. What’s more, the pita bread is thick, fluffy and sturdy, able to contain three patties, the tomatoes, the radishes, pickles, olives—all the extras you want—and the hummus and tahini sauce lavishly ladled on top. By the time you get home, the bread is still holding everything and holding its own, which sadly isn’t the case with most falafel sandwiches.
What I love about Zaad is that Hosam and chef Mostafa are so eager to accommodate customers’ preferences. Hosam carefully meted out the small quantity of tahini I wanted with a larger dollop of garlic sauce and a yogurt/mint/cucumber sauce that is now my go-to sauce. Remember it’s “The food…and a little extra.” The first time we came with our daughter, Julie, who lives across the street, Hosam gave us a free starter of falafel patties with our babaganoush ($6.00). We’ve gotten free hummus, extra fluffy bread and when I came in the other day Hosam gave me a tiny plastic cup of a warming red lentil soup. By the way the rice pudding ($3.00) is a dense pudding redolent of rose and pistachio, and the babaganoush is also smoky, vibrant and plentiful.
Finally, Zaad’s menu is easy on the wallet, important in a pandemic. Where else can you get an overstuffed falafel sandwich for $4.50 (wraps are $1.00 extra for all sandwiches) and a chicken shawarma sandwich, bursting with moist pieces of well marinated chicken,was only $6.00. You can even satisfy your burger craving with a $6.00 beef burger/$8.50 for one with fries! The prices, excellent fare, the warm welcome—the food and a little extra—will make Zaad a favorite take-out destination during the dark months to come.
Zaad
963 Amsterdam Ave (btw W. 107th and 108th Sts.)
646-861-2061