It seems like when friends Shuki Rosenboim and Louisa Allan met in a Melbourne share house, they were destined to make falafel together. The former grew up eating Middle Eastern food in Israel, while the latter grew up on a grain and pulse farm in the Mallee.
They first started preparing dips (hummus, baba ganoush, harissa, etc.) in a community kitchen and selling them at farmers’ markets around Melbourne under the name a few years ago. When they added falafel to their offering, it didn’t take off right away but, when it did, customers got really into it and it soon became their best seller.
“We were ready to do more than just dips. It grew from there, and people started asking us, where was our falafel shop?” says Allan to SBS Food. Since they already had a big following, opening in Brunswick, in 2016, wasn’t too scary. They knew their loyal customers would come.
Shuki Rosenboim and Louisa Allan have gone from dips and farmers' markets to their very own falafel shopfront. Source: Audrey Bourget
While you can still find their stall at , they had to stop going to other markets because the shop was too busy.
What’s on the menu?
“When we first started, I went to Israel and my mum showed me everything,” says Rosenboim, “and I got the falafel gun!” These small metal presses, which his mum keeps sending from Israel, are used to make the falafel fresh throughout the day.
The falafel are crispy on the outside and green and full of texture on the inside. They recommend you have it in a pita, but you can also eat them on a plate with dips, pickles and salads. There is a choice of four salads every day, changing with the seasons and the owners’ inspiration. Now that we’re getting into winter, expect comforting options like Brussels sprouts with walnut and tahini, and ras el hanout roasted potatoes with greens.
At Very Good Falafel, the chickpea balls are rolled fresh every day using a small metal press popular in Israel. Source: Audrey Bourget
Also on the menu is sabih, an Iraqi Jewish eggplant dish. Rosenboim explains how he used to eat it back home. “You can’t cook on Sabbath so we fry eggplant and boil the potatoes or make potato fritters on Friday for the next day. You chuck eggs in it as well. In the morning, the eggplant is fried, potatoes are boiled and you don’t need to cook anything. You just take a pita and make your own pita.”
While most of the dishes are vegan or vegetarian, there’s one meat option, ktzitot, which is an Israeli meatball, similar to lamb kofta.
If pita isn't your thing, eat your falafel with dips, salads and sides. Source: Audrey Bourget
You can also order hummus and baba ganoush on the side, as well as ask for more , a garlic chilli paste, which Rosenboim used to eat with every meal in Tel Aviv.
Good news, you won’t break the bank by eating at Very Good Falafel; prices range from $8.50 for a pita falafel to $13 for the kzitot plate.
But it’s more than just the price that keeps people coming. “Everything is really fresh and we love doing it. We love making the food so hopefully, people can feel it and taste it when they come to the shop,” says Allan.
629 Sydney Road, Brunswick, Vic
Mon – Sat 11 am – 10 pm
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