Falafels are deep fried patties or balls made from chickpeas, fava beans or both. They usually are flavored with fresh parsley, scallions, garlic, cumin and coriander. The best falafels are said to have a crispy exterior and a moist flavorful interior.

Recently a professional food critic from a local magazine wrote that the above falafel was the best falafel in all of Metro Phoenix. I kept reading this over and over because I thought I was seeing things….because………My experience did differ to say it mildly as possible…..While I found that the falafel pictured above had a desirable crispy exterior the interior although fluffy and slightly dry was mostly tasteless and totally lacked fresh herbs and any flavors a falafel traditionally has. The falafels I tried only tasted like  sesame seeds. Honestly I thought these Falafels were among the worst I ever tried anywhere.

I’ve had not all the Metro Valley has to offer in falafels but I tried more than a few so it’s not like I’m a falafel virgin.

The above fresh herb falafel is green inside and is fresh with flavor. This one didn’t have the crispy exterior but it had great flavors and didn’t leave any grease in my mouth. A few I tried not pictured here were greasy. This came from a place no longer open for business in Scottsdale.

The Falafel pictured above rates very high on a popular review site. I don’t remember if this one had any crunch but I remembered that it lacked flavors. You can see this one lacks herbs. I remembered I never wanted to go back. This one came from the Arrowhead area…not sure if this place is in Peoria or Glendale.

The above Falafels were seasoned well and were herby with a great crisp exterior. These were among the best that I tried in Metro Phoenix because of the flavorful interior and the crispy exterior.

Solid good crunchy Falafels from my favorite falafel fast food kind of place in Tempe.

This Falafel hasn’t won over any love from Professional Food Critics yet but it is among the better with a crisp exterior, and a moist fresh herb flavorful interior. Also the Eggplant dip from here was delicious with lemon and smoke. Got this one in Scottsdale.

Here’s another Falafel from a newer restaurant in Phoenix. It’s an decent Falafel….Not my favorite but not bad and OK.

Here are falafels from a newly opened place in Scottsdale. They have the correct flavors but have like a really weird soft wet meatball texture.

Back to the professional Food Critic’s pick…”Best in Metro Phoenix”….(????????????)

It’s a fact that I don’t know if the Food Critic got the same thing I tried pictured above from this same place. (As you know experiences may differ…..) The Professional Food Critic wrote for all of Metro Phoenix to see that the above Falafels are the BEST that Metro Phoenix has to offer…….

Is it possible that the recipe has changed????? ……..Is it possible that almost tasteless dry falafels are the best?????

I don’t FORKING know!

The Forking Truth is……..You aren’t always going to agree with food critics.

REMEMBER EVERY FORKING THING IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE and your experience (or my Forking experience) may or MAY NOT differ.