Hello Falafel

Vegetarian Middle Eastern eats in Bay View

When I wrote about Bay View Gallery Night, I gushed about cream pie. But I skimmed over an equally tasty portion of the evening: Dinner at Hello Falafel. It's a new venture from the brains behind the super-delicious Odd Duck. The restaurant sits at the busy (and kinda confusing) crossroads of Howell, Kinnickinnic, and Lincoln. The exterior was recently painted bright blue, so it's hard to miss it. 

The inside is small. There's a counter to order your food and maybe six small tables (if that), plus a countertop along the window with barstools. The food prep is fast. Overall it's very casual and not the kind of place you'd necessary go out of your way to show your friends, based solely on appearances. But then you taste the food.

On my most recent visit to Hello Falafel, our group shared two falafel rice bowls and a side of charred Halloumi cheese. The falafel preparation is insanely delicious. We went for the beet falafel (roasted beet spread, fennel, cucumber salad, onion, green tahini, and goat cheese — pictured up top) and the classic falafel (house-made hummus, mixed pickles, lemon tahini, and red cabbage — pictured above). The classic really knocked my socks off. There's something about those pickled veggies! Your life will never be the same. Enjoy the falafel over rice or in a pita. Yum.

Now for the Halloumi cheese. It's a semi-hard cheese that, according to Wikipedia, has a very high melting point, so it's easily fried or grilled. At Hello Falafel, the cheese is beautifully browned and served with fresh herbs and tomato chutney. Oh my heavens. Cheese fans, drop what you're doing and go eat Halloumi cheese! You can thank me later. Preferably with more Hallmoumi cheese.