Portion-to-hand ratio: huge.
Gozel Falafel (Photo: David Rosenthal)
A few weeks ago I took the car for a wash.
I have a tab.
You know, that lie of "pay for 10 washes, get three free and a Siamese cat as a gift", only without the Siamese cat part and sometimes also without the three free part.
Either way, in the end I was not satisfied.
Then the inevitable and oh-so-Israeli thought crossed my mind "Well, they are no longer what they were".
For all the columns of "Rosie the Taster"
the lightness of this sentence, "They are no longer what they used to be", is unbearable.
After all, between us, they are exactly what they were.
Even then, in the times of "the ones that were", sometimes I left satisfied and sometimes less so.
And why did I remember that regardless of anything?
Because recently I was recommended an old establishment called "Gozel and Ziona" that has falafel and shashuka inside a bread square.
How simple, how attractive.
Petah Tikvaim know him well, others less so.
I went through the reviews a bit and found some "they are no longer what they used to be".
Nevertheless, an institution of 50 years,
There is a basis for comparison.
On the one hand daunting, on the other intriguing.
institution.
Gozal falafel
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How did I actually end up in Petah Tikva, and even further to the distant Maccabim Street?
You can guess that I didn't really volunteer to do it.
A friend from the office, a good and pleasant man, highly recommended.
I forgot to mention that the nice and pleasant man is also originally from Kiryat Yam, and recommendations from people from Kiryat Yam are not refused, not even politely.
So I took the car and drove.
The problem with this place, and maybe with every place in Petah Tikva actually, is that when you get off Route 5 you are under the feeling of "Oo-too-too I'm there", and then you find yourself wandering for many kilometers between bus routes and passing by huge (not) ornate buildings , and as the song says, it doesn't do you anything.
But in the end I arrived, only to discover to my astonishment that "Gozel and Ziona" today is actually Gozel falafel.
A short search revealed that the place underwent a rebranding in 2021.
Here you have "they are not what they used to be" a particularly bright one.
A culinary journey
The shawarma was an excellent starter.
Then came the hummus
To the full article
Clean, polished, inviting.
Gozel Falafel (Photo: David Rosenthal)
If your appetite is not in the sky, you can be satisfied, by the way, with half a portion (NIS 20).
This is not a question for me
Either way, I entered.
This is one of the cleanest and most polished eateries I've ever been to - bright, shiny, happy.
Fresh breads greeted me on the counter.
And all this when it's almost empty, yes?
It was 10:00 in total, I'm guessing around noon this place is packed.
The hearty man, probably the owner of the place, asked what to prepare.
Well, what else can he make?
After all, I came for the flagship dish, shakshuka and falafel in a loaf of bread (NIS 30).
If your appetite is not in the sky, you can be satisfied, by the way, with half a portion (NIS 20).
It's not a question for me, I went, of course, for the XL.
XL - there is no better definition than this.
This is half a loaf of bread full of everything - fresh shakshuka, soft falafel and fried eggplant.
The Mahadrin would also take tahini, salad and sauces, but this dish is too beautiful to overload it.
I took the first bite and flew into the sky.
I don't know what the "not what they were" is in their case, because it's hard for me to surpass such a dish.
It was a perfect combination, as if my mouth was winning over the philharmonic at that moment.
I just can't remember when I've enjoyed a meal so much, and all this when shakshuka and falafel aren't at the top of my priorities.
Oh, and Falafel Gozel has other things to offer, like schnitzel in a baguette.
I wish I had room.
So how did it come out?
When I started with the KMA index (quantity-price-quality, from 1 to 10) the decision to be like the maniac teachers in high school, the ones who never give the maximum score, rewarded me in my heart. Perfection, I thought, is something that doesn't really exist, you will always find some A disadvantage, some kind of weak point. The meeting with Gozel completely disrupted this principle for me. The combination between the quality of the raw materials and the size of the portion and its amazing price - only NIS 30 - simply made me realize that it will not get any better than this. While the street food culture is undergoing a mass
extinction , because you can't call a pita with some meat that costs NIS 45 "street food", Gozel's falafelshuka dish restored my faith in humanity. Since it was my first time there, I don't really know if they are "what they were". I do know that today they are completely different from everyone else
Falafel Gozel - Maccabim 29 Petah Tikva
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