Chickpea

[Pan]

After a while, I forget just how good the chicken shawarma is at Chickpea. I went back there for dinner tonight for the first time in some time, and man, was that good! Shawarma with tahini, hot sauce, salad, spicy mixed-vegetable pickles, and red onions, accompanied by nice lentil soup with an extra freshly-made pita, still hot, and iced tea, all for $10. For the quality and the pure smile factor, it really is a great bargain!

[Stone]

I like the electric hand saw they use to slice the schwarma. (Talk about lazy.) It's very Jason meets Michael.

Glad they added lamb to the mix.

[Pan]

Glad they added lamb to the mix.

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They did?

[Pan]

This is just a heads-up about a great new offering at Chickpea: Coconut cookies. They have such a rich, powerful coconut milk taste! $1.90 for a bag of six. Go get 'em!

[Luckylies]

Glad they added lamb to the mix.

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They did?

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they did, finally! Though the schwarma is tasty, I've found it to be a bit dry (don't kill me pan!) lamb may remedy this malady...plus now there are three varieties they'll deliver to my fat ass in the middle of the afternoon...oh...and the lentil soup is quite soothing. the lemonade always tastes like ice has melted into it, and for some reason always makes me think of whatever bacteria unrefridgerated lemons take on (I'll eat undercooked pig off the cround but unrefridgerated lemonade aaaaah!) I likes.

[Pan]

Where is the lamb? I see only chicken and turkey shawarma. Is there lamb mixed into one or the other?

[AmyDaniel]

Hmmmmm...

Maybe I should try Chickpea's falafel again if everyone here likes it so much. When I tried it (my only time), I thought it was the most tasteless falafel I've ever tried! And I know little about falafel in the city.

In my opinion, the best falafel I've tried (so far) in Manhattan is at Hoomoos Asli, where the falafel sandwich comes with Israeli/Arabic salad (no lettuce ), great hummus, and plenty of zhug (hot sauce - but not the red stuff outta the squeeze bottle). I love this place.

Here's the menupages.com link for the restaurant.

[Pan]

Amy, I have the chicken shawarma a lot more often than the felafel at Chickpea. Thanks for the recommendation for Hoomoos Asli.

[Pan]

Chickpea is cutting corners now, saving time and catering to non-conoisseurs instead of doing it right and making people wait as damn long as it takes. They now refuse to put hot sauce or tahini in the shawarma sandwiches (because some customers were complaining that it was messy, they said), so if you want the right taste, you have to get the food to stay and put the sauce on yourself; the spicy mixed-vegetable pickles I loved have been permanently eliminated (because the manager wants to speed up the line, they told me tonight); and it's possible I'm imagining things, but the last two times, the pita didn't have that fresh-baked taste to me. They will see me less often, and I can no longer give anything close to a strong recommendation for the place. I can understand why they'd choose greater profits over higher quality, but places that do that are not for people who care about quality above all. It's too bad that the owner hasn't been around for me to express my disappointment personally, but I doubt it would make a difference. I will be looking for better shawarma in my neighborhood.

[AzianBrewer]

I walked into Chickpea yesterday and bought a falafel sandwich. The falafels are nicely crunchy on the outside and moist inside. However, I still vouch Mamoun the best in NYC. Sorry, Pan the place might be a shabby and greasy hole in the wall joint but the real deal sharwama is the true champ.

[Pan]

I've always liked Mamoun (though it's been a while since I've been there) and I don't believe I've ever said anything negative about the food I've gotten there.

[Pan]

Update:

The mixed-vegetable spicy pickles are back and the chicken shawarma has the nice allspice taste again. Still no sauce from the countermen, but the shawarma has been good the last three or so times I've had it.

[weinoo]

Today I passed what looks like a new outpost of Chickpea -, that is, unless they're moving. The new shop is being readied on 14th St. between 2nd and 3rd.

[mascarpone]

Chickpea is cutting corners now, saving time and catering to non-conoisseurs instead of doing it right and making people wait as damn long as it takes. They now refuse to put hot sauce or tahini in the shawarma sandwiches (because some customers were complaining that it was messy, they said), so if you want the right taste, you have to get the food to stay and put the sauce on yourself; the spicy mixed-vegetable pickles I loved have been permanently eliminated (because the manager wants to speed up the line, they told me tonight); and it's possible I'm imagining things, but the last two times, the pita didn't have that fresh-baked taste to me. They will see me less often, and I can no longer give anything close to a strong recommendation for the place. I can understand why they'd choose greater profits over higher quality, but places that do that are not for people who care about quality above all. It's too bad that the owner hasn't been around for me to express my disappointment personally, but I doubt it would make a difference. I will be looking for better shawarma in my neighborhood.

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Perhaps this is because they see that their clientele is mainly a less descrimintating university crowd . . .

[Pan]

Yes, but also Israelis.