Light on Pocket but Heavy on Taste Dine-In Experience with Operation Falafel

By: Hamza Shafique

We have recently discovered Operation Falafel Dubai Boulevard and it has fast become one of my family's favorite dine in place in the area. Its location, ambience, food and cost all work superbly well for us and here is why.

Dubai is such an amazing place that everyone especially Desis consider it as a perfect holiday destination, which means I get a lot of guests. Taking them on a Dubai tour is off course one of my responsibility as a host and first thing on my list of places to see is Dubai Mall, mainly for Aquarium and Fountain show. One thing I always struggle is to stay within budget when treating special guests with a nice dine in experience in or around Dubai Mall as every dine in experience with in the vicinity costs approx. 100-dirham minimum per person but thanks to Operation Falafel this problem is solved.

Now if a nice dine in experience is required I follow a different routine. Instead of going to Dubai Mall I take my guest to Burj Plaza. I always park at Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard parking P1. There is always enough parking, which is another plus point considering hassle of finding parking over weekends in Dubai Mall. Burj Plaza always has some activity going on and offers one of the best view of Burj Khalifa. It is, THE best spot for selfies and group photos with the landmark. From Burj Plaza we can get to the Burj Park easily, where we get a less crowded and perfect view of the fountain show. Once we are done with the tour and it’s time for food, we head to Operation Falafel which is just couple of feet away from Burj Plaza right on the Boulevard.
The place has both outdoor and indoor seating arrangement. I prefer indoor which has the usual modern chic interior, decorated with Operation Falafel’s signature lamps on an iron stand and graffiti sort of wall-art. I personally found out door seating to be bit uncomfortable as the cars can get really loud on the boulevard and also its right-on top of parking exit which further adds to the nuisance but no issues as indoor is perfect.
 Operation Falafel offers Arabic cuisine with a very rich and balanced menu. There are salads, manakesh, appetizers, platters and hot/cold beverages. So, last time when we were having guests we took them there and they loved it. we ordered Stuffed Falafel platter, Shawarma platter and Shawarma wrap along with lemon mint.
Food looked great and tasted equally good. Winner for me was the stuffed falafel platter. In this platter, we got humus, vinegar pickles, green salad and unlimited freshly baked bread along with the falafels. All these elements worked well with the stuffed falafels which were in themselves quite innovative take on usual falafels. Each falafel was stuffed with nuts and veggies which added another dimension to the taste. Shawarma platter and wrap were also exactly how they should be. However Lemon Mint was a bit sour to our taste but there are a lot of other decent options to choose from.

I simply loved the idea of unlimited freshly baked breads which were being replenished as soon as the basket was empty. These warm soft breads felt so good that I enjoyed having them alone or just with humus. On different occasions, I have also tried their Nutella with Banana bread, Grilled Halloumi cheese and regular coffee, all of them are recommended. Service was ok with usual wait time of 10 to15 minutes only and servers were always attentive to our need.Their cost bracket is very pocket friendly, with 20 dirhams for a Falafel platter and 33 dirhams for a Shawarma platter. With addition of drinks, cost maximum ranges from 30 to 40 per person.
For Desi tourists, the food is sort of exotic and comes within the price range of a regular McDonald meal. Highly recommended even if you are not having guests.