Top 3 Pita Bread Sandwiches in Manhattan
1) Chickpea - the Shawafel - when you don't know if you want a Falafel or a Shwarama, get the Turkey Shawafel at Chickpea, a perfect combination of the two. Falafel balls are tops in the city, turkey is perfectly spiced and cooked. Make sure to grab a tehina and hot sauce dispenser and add some after each bite for a perfect melding of flavors.
2) Yatagan Kebab House - Doner Kebab - This may be one of the best deals in the entire city. $5.00 for one sandwich with enough meat for two. The lamb is perfectly tender and the flavor explodes in your mouth. Be careful of the hot sauce - it is HOT!!! Only negative is the relatively boring lettuce and tomato salad they put inside
3) Azuri Cafe - Falafel - The most authentic in New York, in style and service. Period.
Josh
Nov 09, 2004 07:25PM
great topic! i will check these out
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Most authentic in Manhattan, perhaps. But not in NYC. There are 4 other boroughs out there - and at least 2 of those have a helluva lot more Israelis (and not to mention other middle easterners) living in them than Manhattan does.
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If there's a more authentic Israeli falafel in NYC, I'd love to know where it's served.
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The Pita Express on Ann Street downtown, has the best sandwich in my opinion, killer and I mean killer greek eggplant salad, with falafel, tahini, and hot sauce in a pita (they make their pita also..). it is fabulous! The Pita Express uptown does not have the greek eggplant there...you have to go to Ann Street...
get them to make this for you!
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Post on the Outer Boroughs board, and the Kosher board.
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Quite the cop out.
I post on both boards, and have not heard mention of a better place.
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I got nothin' to prove, dude. Just wanna post on the right board, is all.
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If you post to the outerboroughs board as Nina suggested, you will hear the favorites there, she is obviously reluctant to discuss anything outerboroughs on this board, because then the moderators will have to delete it, and it's a pain for them to redirect something that regular posters can help them with...so go the outer board, and I will tell you about my favorite place in Queens, Okay? I just told you about my favorite place in Manhattan up above....
Thanks!
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search the outer borough board for olympic pita and famous pita both located on cia in brooklyn.
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I prefer azuri to olympic. Haven't been to famous, but it's on the list.
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i like azuri but personally i prefer olympic. the falafel is a littly more crunchy and has better texture. azuri, however produces manhattan's best falafel.
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I tried the chicken schwarma at Chickpea about a month ago and really didn't like it. The chicken was pretty bland -- tasted almost like bad Chinese take out chicken.
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I think they have both chicken and turkey. If so, try the turkey--less likely to be dry than chicken.
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It wasn't dry, it was just tasteless.
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I like Chickpea's shawarma, but at over $5 for a "shawafel" and about $6 for a shawarma sandwich, the value isn't great. In fact, everything there seems just a little too expensive for what you end up getting (both in terms of quality and quantity).
The turkey is better and more flavorful than the chicken shawarma, btw.
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Well, you are getting a freshly baked pita, which is at least in my mind, infinitely better than the Damascus bakery pitas that you get almost everywhere else, which break upon on contact.
$4.90 plus tax for a freshly baked pita, filled with juicy turkey, fresh salad, and the best falafel balls in the city is a pretty good deal to me.
As is $5.35 plus tax for a shwarama alone.
Also, NEVER get chicken shwarama when there is turkey or lamb. Turkey and lamb are always superior.
It's not the best deal in the city. You can go to Macdougal and get a shwarama for $4; but the quality at chickpea is greater, the place is much cleaner, and there's actually room to sit.
A
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I do love Chickpea - just had lunch there in fact. I just wish it was a *little* cheaper. One sandwich is rarely enough to fill me up, even the shawarma (i feel like they used to include more meat when they first opened up).
The fact that they don't include tax in their prices irks me, too.
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If you want filling, I've always found their falafel platter extremely filling for $6.25
Also, their falafel + soup + drink for $6.80 will get you out of their full.
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I do like their turkey schwarma. It still rankles me, though, that they mix cucumbers in with their lettuce and tomatoes. Means I can never fully enjoy their sandwiches.
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Have to disagree re yatagan. The pita is store bought, which already excludes it from the list for me. Truthfully, though, I'm not that impressed with the meat, either. Always struck me as way too greasy - sits like a rock in your stomach.
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Can't say I disagree completely.
The pita is poor and doesn't support the sandwich. The meat is very greasy. I still love it though. It has this unique taste I cannot find anywhere else.
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The falafel at chickpea is great but i find the meat to be too bland. The turkey is better then the chicken but neither is anything to write home about.
The shawarma at Alfanoose on Maiden Lane is much better though their prices could be cheaper too.
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get thee to Rainbow Falafel on W. 16th (or 17th?) for excellent falafel sandwiches and Homoos Asli on Kenmare for superlative spreads.
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I like rainbow too, but the pita is poor and store-bought. Hoomoos Asli, however, uses excellent pita.
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I used to go to Chickpea when I worked in the area; now that I'm in the West Village, I go to Taim on Waverly, which also has the Israeli sandwich with eggplant and egg. I think the bread at Chickpea is better, though.
Moustache, on Bedford, has really good bread, but it's the kind that wraps around, rather than the pocket kind.
--Sarah
http://www.avenuefood.com
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Looooove the Taim sabich. Def. my vote for top pita.
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Tanoreen in Bay Ridge on 3rd ave has the best falafel, so moist, so good.
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The "health sandwich" (with eggplant and a hard-boiled egg) at Hoomoos Asli is not just a great pita sandwich, but one of my favorite sandwiches in Manhattan, and a huge bargain to boot.
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where is Azuri??
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the mujahaddra sandwich at the cafe at kalyustyan.
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