King of Falafel & Shawarma

Palestinian food with Fares "Freddy" Zedeia, owner of King of Falafel & Shawarma.

 

“And it's all about the food. I'm making you falafel. That's not bombs, that's not bullets."

 

We sat down at his physical location in Astoria, and Freddy fixed us a "Teaser Platter" so we could try a little bit of everything.

 

Falafel

One of our plates was heaped with basmati and yellow rice, house salad, pickled turnips, red cabbage, and Freddy's signature falafel. Every day, Freddy mixes his secret combination of ground chickpeas, fresh herbs, and spices. He won't share the whole recipe but it has savory notes of cumin, onion, and garlic.

Each falafel is shaped by hand into an oblong ball that maximizes the crunchy exterior while keeping the inside nice and soft. Once you've had one of these gems hot out of the fryer, you won't want to eat any other falafel again. 

 

“When they eat [my falafel]... ‘Mmm, that reminds me of somewhere...' — Maybe they went to Palestine, or they went to Syria, or they went to Lebanon — When they come in here, "Oh, I ate this 10 years ago and man, I couldn't find it anymore.’ I'd be happy.”

 

Shawarma, Kebabs & the Original Chicken

The other plate was a carnivore's delight — chicken and beef shawarma, chicken and beef kebabs, and Freddy's orignal chicken, based on his mom's recipe.

The kebabs are smoky and moist, especially the chicken which uses tender breast meat that absorbs all the char-grilled flavor. 

The shawarma is assembled from individual slices of beef and chicken thighs that have been marinating for at least 48 hours. The beef shawama has a crown of lamb fat at the top that drips down and flavors the beef as it renders. The result is an incredibly juicy and flavorful meat with notes of cumin, paprika, and cinnamon.

And the original chicken is based on his mom's roast chicken he grew up eating and has a little kick to it, making it spicer than the kebabs and shawarma.

And everything is served with homemmade garlic sauce, hot sauce, and tahini sauce.

 

“There's nothing in my spices that does not have cumin. Cinnamon and ginger…Plus the onion and the garlic to get the flavor.”