Located at a narrow street somewhere in Ubud, Warung Falafel lives up to its’ name as it was very small and compact. The Mediterranean food spot is surrounded by local people and their booths of Balinese handcrafts competing against each other to sell some goods to foreign tourists. Dad and I were just casually strolling around Ubud with our motorcycle when I happen to have this sudden urge to munch on Falafel. I quickly typed in “great falafel in Ubud,” on Google’s search engine and the first option that popped on my phone was the one and only Warung Falafel. I didn’t have to think twice to ask Dad to turn around as we just passed the designated road that would lead us to the warung.
There were no exclusive parking spots for the customers of Warung Falafel, so I do not recommend you to bring your own motorcycles, let alone cars, as the narrow alley was already too small and compact for pedestrians to begin with. You might want to use local transportations, or online transportations, or if you happen to bring your own bike, you can definitely park it on the sides of the streets near Warung Falafel.
I made my entrance to the warung and was welcomed with the friendly staff who was just serving free samples to tourists. I spent a minute to enjoy the lovely vibe that the food spot gives. Despite it being way too small for a restaurant, or a cafe, Warung Falafel has this vibrant color scheme that makes it delightful to look at. All those splash of blue and green really work well in bringing a comfortable atmoshphere.
“Hi, welcome to Warung Falafel. If you have any questions, let me know,” said the man behind the counter. He was a bearded man with swishy brunette locks and beautiful olive eyes. Was it olive? Or was it hazel? Now, I’m not so sure anymore. But, I do recall being shy when I talked to him as he was very beautiful. All of the staff at Warung Falafel were all local people, except him, so I’m guessing that he’s probably the owner of the plant-based food booth.
I had a hard time choosing my preference despite the fact that there were only three choices of dishes, which are pockets, wraps, and bowls. All of the three comes with falafel, a generous slop of hummus and tahini, and three choices of add-ons of your favorite greens. I settled for the wrap had the sprout salad, Arabic salad, and Tabouli for the three extra ingredients, then the staff gave me some extra spicy carrot and this generous translucent sauce which I don’t know the name of and forgot to ask. “Do you prefer the normal size, or the royal size,” asked the brunette man. I was feeling a little bit famished, so I impulsively went for the royal size.
“Is the wrap gluten-free,” I asked. “Our wraps have gluten in it, but we also have gluten-free wraps. Are you gluten intolerant,” he replied. I briefied him about how I actually don’t have any intolerances towards food and that I’m currently on a no-carbs no-sugar diet. He nodded quickly with a smile and complied with my request.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that Warung Falafel is an open place, smoking is not allowed on the table. I had to smoke outside its’ territorial, even when it means that I’m smoking exactly adjacent to the imaginary border of the warung.
I diligently watched the staff preparing my lunch. The falafels were in the frier, my gluten-free wrap was spread out on the cutting board, a handful of sprout salad was placed on top of the hummus-glazed wrap, then came the splash of the translucent sauce followed by another handful of the Arabic salad, and she kept going building my wrap until the whole ingredients were overflowing. I was super excited!
A minute later, my Falafel Wrap was served on the table, although it didn’t look much like a wrap but more like a soft taco. “Miss,” the brunette man approached me, “our royal wrap today are smaller than our usual, so it’s just our normal wrap. And since the gluten-free wrap is smaller than our normal wrap, we couldn’t wrap the whole thing, so it is shaped similar to a taco.” I’m not complaining, the dish looked sexy!
Most gluten-free food that I have eaten so far would result in me having a nausea after eating too much of it but, thank God, not this baby. I know I would have enjoy tortilla way better than this, but it ain’t bad, especially when you’re trying to lose weight but still wanting to eat sinfully delicious food. The gluten-free wrap has this chewy and rather flaky texture that is similar to a tortilla, and it tasted bland, although had a bit of sweetness in between my bites.
My wrap was filled with four pieces of falafels that tasted very delicious. It had a quite mushy texture, which was kind of a let down because I love my falafel to be slightly crispy and has this bitable chickpea bits in it, but it definitely satisfy my need for pea fritter. On the one hand, I really love the Tabuli as it was very refreshing and crispy. I would definitely come again to have my wrap with extra Tabuli in it, along with a dash of lemon zest, yum! “Mbok, enak ini,” I said to one of the staff who was busy preparing some ingredients at the open kitchen. She smiled and thanked me for the positive feedback.
After I finish the whole thing, I got me a bottle of Warung Falafel’s mint-infused water, which was stored inside an empty Marjan (Indonesia’s leading brand of bottled fruit-flavored syrup) bottle. One bottle costed me Rp20.000,00 and I got to keep the bottle to myself, which is a great deal! I also ordered a couple of falafels to go for dinner. “Do you want a bag, or banana leaf is okay for you,” asked the brunette. “I’m cool with banana leaf!”
Warung Falafel
Jalan Karna, No. 15
Ubud, Gianyar - 80571
Opening Hours:
MON - SUN: 9AM - 9PM
Contact:
+62 813 3722 8733
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