Chickpea

[Pan]

In the St. Mark's Pizza thread, LJC touted Chickpea, the kosher (but not shomer shabbos) Israeli felafel/shawarma place on the former site of St. Mark's Pizza. I've been there a few times. Their felafel and chicken shawarma are tasty (I reserve judgment on the turkey shawarma, having gotten some slices with gobs of pure fat in them, probably just luck of the draw), and I will be back often.

I spoke with one of the owners today, who with a smile confirmed that I had indeed tasted cloves and allspice in the shawarma; they are part of the marinade, and make for a taste I haven't experienced in any other joint's shawarma.

I highly recommend getting your felafel or shawarma sandwich with a nice helping of the spicy pickled vegetables, which are really good.

To be clear, I don't get the impression the place is worth a major trip, but it is a very welcome addition to the East Village and if you're around here, do consider dropping in. The place is clean and well-lit, and the service at the counter and cash register is friendly and good. Felafel, shawarma, and shawafel (some shawarma, some felafel) sandwiches cost around $5 apiece, and they put all other East Village felafel and shawarma sandwiches to shame.

[Pumpkin Lover]

I just saw that restaurant yesterday. I'll miss St. Mark's Pizza, but the "Chickpea" sign is pretty hot.

It will be VERY difficult, when I'm back down there, to choose between Chickpea, Saint's Alp, Village Yokocho, 2nd Ave. Deli, Veselka, and Soba-ya for eats. There's such great eating just in that small area. I used to live in the NYU dorm at 9th and 3rd before I transferred to Columbia, and DAMN do I miss the eating down there!

[Pan]

If you want a dining partner, feel free to PM or email me. I share some of your favorites and have others. Village Yokocho is one I've never tried, though, and I'm not even sure where it is (Stuyvesant St., perhaps?).

[Pan]

Oh, I should mention that actually, the felafel sandwich is a lot cheaper than the shawarma or shawafel sandwiches. It's $2.95 + tax, whereas the others are I think $4.50ish + tax.

[Fat Guy]

I was just down getting my hair cut at Astor Place and had a felafel snack at Chickpea. An excellent neighborhood Middle Eastern place. Every neighborhood should have one.

[Stone]

I'm sure the food is good, but the decor? It's all part of the mall-i-zation of the East Village.

[Fat Guy]

Yeah they should have kept it looking like St. Marks Pizza.

[Stone]

Yeah they should have kept it looking like St. Marks Pizza.

Is that sass?

Don't get much sass 'round these parts.

[Fat Guy]

My initials are, after all, SAS.

[Pan]

The decor may not be a Michelangelo fresco or something, but at least the place is light and they try to keep it reasonably clean. Plus, the service is efficient and fairly friendly. Remember St. Mark's Pizza? Dirty, dark, dingy, service with an attitude. Good riddance.

P.S. I had a very nice felafel sandwich there tonight. I'm really glad we have Chickpea now. It's better than Dima was, and that was the last Middle Eastern place in the East Village that I went to regularly (I'm not counting sit-down restaurants like Cafe Mogador). I'll spare a thought for the former proprietor of Dima and his family: I saw them when they were tidying up for their move back to Syria. I hope that move was good for their fortunes and spirits. But now we have Israelis feeding us.

[Stone]

If you need light and clean, go to the upper east side. They've got that in spades.

[Stone]

Just had a chicken shwarma. Small, but very good. Quite tasty chicken. Excellent pita.

What's with the no-lamb policy?

[Pan]

If you need light and clean, go to the upper east side. They've got that in spades.

Light and clean aren't the only considerations! But they're better than dark, dirty, and shabby!

[Stone]

If you need light and clean, go to the upper east side.  They've got that in spades.

Light and clean aren't the only considerations! But they're better than dark, dirty, and shabby!

Not in the East Village. It's about diversity. Dark dirty and shabby is part of what makes it the East Village.

[Pan]

So then you were also disappointed when Teresa's renovated, I guess...

Sorry, I don't miss dirty and shabby.

[Pumpkin Lover]

What's with the no-lamb policy?

Yeah, my sister and I were wondering about that, too! I grabbed a menu this weekend (I ended up eating at Soba-ya--siiiiiiigh, so good), and we were wondering about the lack of lamb. Is lamb not very present in Israeli cuisine?

Edit: Ah, and Pan--I'll PM ya when I plan to check out Chickpea. Cool?

Edited May 3, 2004 by Pumpkin Lover (log)

[Pan]

Sure. I'm already a regular by now.

[LJC]

Had an other great meal here last night. I think I like the turkey better than the chicken and I love the baba. I also had the lentil soup, which was really good too. I noticed that the hot sauce is inconsistent; on my previous visit it was pretty mild but last night it was hot (I prefer the hot).

[Abe Froman]

"Remember St. Mark's Pizza? Dirty, dark, dingy, service with an attitude. Good riddance. "

for some reason that's not what I remember about SMP... I just fondly remember the slice, which I miss.

dark? really?

dingy? no more dingy then half the street slices in the city (Joe's for instance, even dirtier/dingier).

Dirty? prep surfaced always looked clean to me, that's all I care about...

[Pan]

I care about years-old grime on tables and dustballs on the floor, too.

But to each his own.

Anyway, that's gone, and now we have bright Chickpea. At this point, my favorite thing to get there is the felafel sandwich, and I like it with both hot sauce and the spicy mixed vegetable pickles, plus other stuff (tahini, etc.).

[jeunefilleparis]

I passed by Chickpea last night and it looked great. The place was packed and I didnt go in to look at the menu, but i d like to check it out. I espeically liked the hewbew spelling of chickpea below the english. I have to say that I at St Marks place after a show at the now defunct Coney Island High with a certain band member so I had some feelings towards the place, but I dont recall the pizza being great at all

oh well, out wiht the old in with the new!

Lauren

[Pan]

This place grows on me more and more as the weeks go by and I have yet another sandwich with fragrant felafel or delicious chicken shawarma plus the fresh, flavorful sauces and sides. I had my digital camera with me tonight and decided to take some photos of the food and some of the ambiance in the place. Eti, a member of the management team, was happy to give me permission to take some pictures of the shawarma and the counter when I assured her I would write a complimentary story. I warned her that I am not a professional photographer and promised to link to the restaurant's website, which contains a bunch of pictures better than mine. Please have a look at the restaurant's website:

http://www.chickpearestaurant.com/

That said, here are some of my photos:

These are some of the beautiful bottles of fruit-and-vegetable-infused oils that help provide a pleasant ambiance at the dining counter in the front of the eatery.

And this gives you a bit of a sense of what the small, relaxed back room with low tables is like.

This is my best effort at a closeup photo of my chicken shawarma sandwich (probably taken too close in). Ingredients: Chicken shawarma, salad, sauerkraut, regular pickles, spicy mixed-vegetable pickles, tahini, and hot sauce, in a freshly-baked pita. MMMmmmmmmmm!

Here you see the shawarma cooking. The chicken shawarma is on the left, the turkey shawarma on the right. Those are onions on top of both types of shawarma.

As I tried my best to disturb the staff and people waiting on line as little as possible, I did not get any closeups of just-cooked felafel, but under this case, you see, clockwise from the upper left corner, felafel, pickled hot peppers, salad, a few regular pickles in the shadow, spicy mixed-vegetable pickles (which include the cauliflower in the center of the plate), and rice. I think that providing visual samples of their product for customers to look at when they approach the counter is a very smart move by Chickpea's management. My experience is that the staff is also happy to provide new customers with small samples to taste, to help you determine what you'd like to order.

Here, you see various sides and condiments that can be part of your sandwich or platter. Dimly, you can see a corner of the salad compartment on the upper left corner. Proceeding from left to right on the further row, you see hummus, something I can't identify offhand, and baba ganouge, then a bit of the red onions that belong to the varied salad bar (which I have yet to partake of). From left to right on the closer row, you can see sauerkraut, regular pickles, and spicy mixed-vegetable pickles. Closest to the viewer, on the counter, you see a bottle of tahini and a fresh pita.

If you want a beverage with your sandwich or platter, among your choices are lemonade and iced tea with lemon and mint leaves. I haven't tried the lemonade but certainly recommend the tea.

I didn't take a picture of their lentil soup, but if you're in a mood for soup (I wasn't on a hot day like today), it's very soothing.

Soothing is a good word for this establishment. It's a comfort to know that it's there when I want some food that will put a smile on my face every time.

Edited June 19, 2004 by Pan (log)

[jeunefilleparis]

just wanted to say that i had dinner there last night and it was awesome. the freshest falaffel i ve ever had and i love that they have all those toppings, i got artichoke hearts! the pitas are so fresh and fluffy,,,,,,,,, hopefully people will skip over MCDonalds and go there instead!

[Orik]

I haven't tried their Shawarma, but the falafel wasn't bad at all. Patties were a little too mushy for my taste (I prefer Mamoun's), but that may be random. Nice salad selection and good hot sauce. Wouldn't mind having a branch in my neighborhood. Unlike the pizza place that used to be there, this is good enough to try even when you're not totally drunk at 2am.

Pan, you should have complained about that fuzzy shawarma.

[Pan]

Pan, you should have complained about that fuzzy shawarma.