You can’t walk more than 10 metres on rue des Rosiers without tripping over a falafel stand. L’As du Falafel (the Ace of the Falafel) is the most popular, attracting locals and tourists by the hundreds each day. Mi-Va-Mi is apparently the boldest of the competitors, daring to set up shop directly across the street from the Ace. It has to be said that both serve up excellent falafels, 5 euros each, generously stuffed with crisp chickpea nuggets, shredded cabbage, humous, cucumber, eggplant and harissa (the one pictured above is from L’As du Falafel). Mi-Va-Mi seems to provide a better cucumber-to-cabbage ratio, while the Ace’s pita appears to be fluffier, but additional samplings must be conducted to ensure that these observations are robust. Mi-Va-Mi’s falafel was also more garlicky — this being a pro or con depending on which branch of the family tree you ask — although it is unclear whether this was due to any of the actual components (i.e., the yoghurt sauce, humous or eggplant) being more garlicky, or whether it was just because we asked for extra harissa. In any case, you can’t go wrong with either.
Both places are closed Friday sundown until Sunday morning.
L’As du Falafel
34 rue des Rosiers
Tel: +33 (0)1 48 87 63 60
Mi-Va-Mi
27 rue des Ecouffes
Tel: +33 (0)1 42 71 53 72
See Paris roundup for more Paris addresses.
