Newly opened Felfela advertises itself to be an Egyptian restaurant. Personally however its not as strictly Egyptian as it claims to be, it seems to serve a mixture of Lebanese or Iranian food, together with a few African dishes. Think Mediterranean, Moroccan and Persian, which in my perhaps confused mind, I find that in the Near East and Middle East region one sees very similar styled food – the major differences between them mostly lies in the minute spicing details and dish spellings, which often offers a clue to its intended authenticity. This is classified as a proper HALAL restaurant by the Islamic group locally in HK.
Appetiser of pickled Cucumbers and Olives, with a bit of sumac influence..
A Chardonnay from Lebanon from Chateau Ksara, which was crisp and dry,
which went well with the food despite the use of spices throughout.
Felfela’s Signature Mezza Platte, $120 with no 10% Service Charge
This was pretty good value for money locally speaking, with 7 kinds of food to be trialled all in one go ~ 7/10
Hummus Chickpea Dip - a little undersmoked but still good. Taboulah surprisingly lacked that very fresh parsley herbal taste I was after, which really lets it down, but then again the same could be said of anywhere. Baba Ganoush eggplant dip was a bit too watered-down for my liking, not much smokiness trait or that slightly tingling feeling.
Pita Bread was home-made and very excellent, one of the best I’ve ever had before..
Samak Makly, marinated Salmon cubes were ok.
I am used to eating Falafels which are slightly less browned and thicker, also with more herbs and chickpea influence. Invented by Egyptians, the version here were actually made of fava beans, which explains why it tastes a bit different from what I’m used to.
Shish Taouk, basically chicken grilled on a pole with tahini sauce. Enjoyable.
Felfela Fingers were made of parsley, feta cheese, tomato and olives in a fried filo pastry wrapping.
Not bad, but seemed a bit moist on certain bites.
No 10% Service Here, and the food and drinks are a bit of a bargain within the Lan Kwai Fong rectangle. They also serve my favourite shisha water pipes. All in all, not as Egyptian a cuisine wise as I was thinking, but its close enough. Afterall, who really can tell the difference?
(Certainly not me!)
Price: $180
Score: ★★★★☆☆
Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun - TBA
Address: 中環蘭桂坊榮華里15號地下
(15 Wing Wah Lane, Lan Kwai Fong, Central)
Ph: 2840 1140
I find the food just superb
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