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| - Naf Naf is healthier middle eastern fast food, done pretty authentically. In the countries located where Africa meets Asia (Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan), this meal would be considered ubiquitous street food. Delicious, delicious street food! Here you can choose whether you want your meal served in a pita (which is extra soft and fluffy) or in a bowl. This seemed very Chipotle-esque (burrito vs bowl).
The bases include, basmati rice, hummus, couscous or lettuce. The hummus was pretty creamy and not as Americanized as what is typically found in the grocery store and most restaurants. I'd give it a B+.
Then you choose a protein in the form of chicken shawarma, falafel (vegan) or steak. I ordered the falafel, which was actually some of the most authentic I've had in Cleveland. These tiny little balls of deep-fried chickpeas and spices were being dished out from the fryer continuously during my visit, which meant they were ever fresh and piping hot. I never would have expected to find these in a chain restaurant! One bite took me back to Tel Aviv. A+
You'll want to top that bad boy with some veggies: chopped salad (aka "salat" in many M.E. countries), purple cabbage, middle eastern pickles and or sumac onions. Naf Naf gets an A for all of these, as well, as they were traditional toppings done right. Very fresh and tasty.
Lastly, we've got the sauces, which were tahini, garlic, amba, s'khug or harissa. I got a small cup of each and the tahini was, in my opinion, the only true miss of the entire meal. I cook with sesame paste all the time and have had tahini in multiple countries, yet have never tasted any like this before. It almost tasted stale or, dare I say rancid, which was extremely unpleasant! Tahini is a staple and should not have been an issue, so, sadly, Naf Naf gets a big fat F for that. *** EDIT - see update below!
However, the rest of the sauces were awesome! The garlic (Lebanese) is always one of my favorites- creamy and mild. Naf Naf's harissa (Moroccan) was less spicy than I'm used to, but might have been my favorite of the bunch. The s'khug (Israeli) was the hottest. I'm not a huge fan of mango amba (Israeli/Indian), but sampled theirs, which tasted typical. I do like how they represented so many different regions with these accompaniments.
The "naf fries" were super thin shaved discs of potato, similar to some American-style cottage fries. They were perfectly salted and delicious! I dipped mine in the garlic sauce, which was an amazing combo. If you ordered a pita sandwich in the Middle East, the fries or "chips" would be served inside the sandwich, so you might want to try adding a few to yours, too.
Naf Naf earned a solid four stars for me. If the tahini has improved during my next visit, I'll probably bump it up to a five***. Someone open up one of these on the east side, please!
***I've now eaten here half a dozen times and the tahini has improved! Review is officially bumped up to 5 stars.
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