- We're interviewing people for a food show,
would you be interested in...
It ain't happening.
I'm Cody Reiss,
and I'm your New York City host
for 5 Buck Lunch.
My love of food has taken me
to more than 35 countries.
I've wokred as a cook, farmer,
and cheese maker.
Now, I'm in NYC in search
of the tastiest and cheapest
food my duckets can buy.
Join me as I take you
to the dankest lunch spots
for 5 bucks or less.
Some people call these guys crunchy cadets,
other people call them tiny little pita poppers.
They're these deep-fried little balls of chickpeas,
herbs, spices, sometimes garlic, a little bit of flour.
Falafel.
You know, you can find them all over New York
in halal carts on the corner,
but the problem is,
a lot of falafel is actually pretty wack.
They're dense, they're lukewarm.
A falafel should be crisp, light,
it should be surrounded by a bunch
of fresh and pickled veggies.
It should have a bunch of super dank sauces on them.
Sounds pretty chill right?
But you know the rules,
I've only got five bucks.
Could I possibly find something so dank
for so few money duckets?
Of course I could.
We're gonna hit the streets of Williamsburg,
it's the beard and beanie
capital of New York state,
and we're gonna find out what people think about falafel.
All right? Let's check it out.
So today we're talking about falafel.
When's the last time you had falafel?
- Never.
You've never had it?
- Nope. - Damn.
- Probably like six months ago honestly.
- Six months?
- Probably like two or three years ago, sadly.
- Do you know what falafel is?
- No.
- Cool, what do you think it is?
- Waffle with like white stuff on it?
- Yeah, I like that.
- Am I right?
- White stuff is right.
- The ideal falafel is usually, I don't know,
crispy on the outside but nice and warm on the inside.
- That could be the title of my memoir.
Do you know what the actual falafels are made out of?
- Yeah.
What's...
Oh no.
- It's dough.
- It's dope.
- First time I got falafel, I kind of went too large
and I got all of it.
- Yeah.
- I would say, probably in the future, I would tone it down.
That might have been why I haven't had it for six months.
It was a little overwhelming.
- Well that was too many sauces for me for a half a year.
Believe it or no, don't believe it,
people aren't eating as much falafel
as I thought they were eating.
Is it possible they're having bad falafel?
I think that might be the case.
Well, let's go show them how it's done.
Scoodily doop.
Here we are at Oasis, right on the corner of Seventh and Bedford,
in a neighborhood that's gone to the world of dark,
bougie dining.
It's an affordable, reliable spot.
So we're gonna go snarf some falafel.
Come on.
Hey, excuse me.
Hi, how's it going, I'm Cody.
- Oh hey, I'm Eliot.
- I have a little microphone, don't be scared.
- Whoa, I'm not.
- You obviously just ate this food.
Is it your first time here, have you been here before?
- No, I've been here many times.
- Is there like a certain thing you'd recommend
to someone that's coming here for the first time?
- The falafel sandwich is really tasty and super cheap.
That's what I got for years-- - Oh yeah?
You've been coming here for years?
- Oh, for like probably seven years maybe.
- Whoa.
So how'd you first come across this place,
like how'd you find it?
- Oh my laundry lady brought me here.
- No way.
- I swear, man.
Well we fell in love and she wanted to
take me out for some food.
- Is that for real?
- I swear to God, man.
Every bite reminds me of her.
- Oh no dude, don't do it to me.
- Americans like the burgers.
Arabs or Palestinians, falafel is the way to go.
We got falafel, we got shawarma
chicken shawarma,
kabobs of all kinds.
- Can I have a falafel exactly the way
that you would make it for yourself?
- Yeah, definitely man.
- Cool.
- All vegan, you know, gluten-free falafel.
- That's awesome.
- So usually when I make a falafel sandwich for myself,
I put a little bit of lettuce.
And like a little bit of cabbage,
and then it goes really, really good
with the pickles an onions.
- Oh hell yeah.
- Tahini and hot sauce go perfectly together.
- Sweet, yeah.
And if you've got something soft like
hummus or baba ghanoush--
- Yeah we got hummus and baba ghanoush for you.
It's $4 for the sandwich and 50 cents for the hummus.
- Nice, sweet.
Well, I got a nice, fresh five dollar bill right here,
with Mr. Abraham Lincoln on it.
Thank you very much.
- Thank you very much.
Here you go bro.
- Take it easy.
Remember to tip and remember to smash.
All right, this looks super dank.
It's basically like a little sandwich slumber party.
All taking place inside of a nice little pita sleeping bag.
All the homies are here.
You got falafel ball, pickled onions, you got
spicy sauce, you got
tahini white sauce, there's a little bit of hummus in here.
- Oh this is chill.
All right you guys, I'm about to turn
into a little snarf monster, OK?
So get the hell outta here.
My mama said, "Don't let anyone watch you eat,
or else you gotta take their soul."
So get outta here.