Between winter weather and the pandemic, the world can feel pretty small right now. That's why we're launching The Dish, a weekly story devoted to a single item at a Halifax restaurant. Whether it inspires you to dine in or take out, we hope to expand your eating horizons.
Homemade falafel pocket at Kam-Moon, $7.95
You know falafel, the savoury nugget of fried chickpea batter. But you probably don’t know the falafel at Kam-Moon.
What makes its Egyptian falafel different from other falafel balls around town is the fava beans. “We don’t really put any chickpeas in the mix,” says Hossam Ramadan, general manager of the restaurant that sits on the corner of Brunswick and Cogswell Streets (2013 Brunswick Street).
“Our falafel is only made purely with fava beans, which gives it a different texture, it’s more green, and we don’t put any wheat in it at all so it’s gluten-free as well.” Like a lot of Egyptian cuisine, the falafel pita is also entirely vegan.
The falafel is spiced with plenty of cumin—which is actually what Kam-Moon is named after, the Arabic word for cumin is kamun—as well as onion and garlic. Then it’s served with tomato, lettuce, red onion and parsley in a pocket of Egyptian bread.
“We bake the Egyptian pita bread here fresh in-house,” says Ramadan. “We bake it fresh every day.”
Finally, the pocket is topped with a tasty sauce. “We have some dressing options,” Ramadan says. “We have our traditional tahini dressing, we have our garlic dressing and then we have a crushed olive and olive oil dressing, which is very unique to us.”
The dressing and toppings come together to create a perfectly crunchy, tangy and creamy combination. The cumin overpowers any chance it has to be "too spicy" even for the mildest tastebuds, and it's not as messy as it looks. The side of marinated carrots is a nice touch of crunch, too.
How is Kam-Moon doing in the pandemic?
The restaurant will celebrate its three-year anniversary this June, but Ramadan says the past year has been particularly challenging because fewer people are out and about downtown at Scotia Square and the Scotiabank Centre, which are near Kam-Moon. “When there’s like any hockey games or anything we’ll see a lot of traffic then, so with Covid traffic slowed down. Especially during summer, we used to get a lot of tourist traffic here, with the hotels across from us and behind us here as well.”
Despite the struggle, in early February Kam-Moon opened a second location, in Lower Sackville (619 Sackville Drive). “We want to cover HRM as much as possible,” says Ramadan.
Dining details
Kam-Moon’s downtown location is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 9pm, and Sundays from 10am to 8pm. If you’re getting take-out, instead of using a delivery app consider going directly to the restaurant’s online ordering system. Ramadan says Kam-Moon incentivizes direct ordering by offering free delivery on all orders over $20, anywhere in HRM.
We can use inspiration, too! If you've got a favourite treat to recommend for a future edition of The Dish, email The Coast or tell us about it in the comments.
