Falafel Station is bigger and better with new east side store
The Prospect takeaway joint has moved east side and is now serving a broader, more authentic Lebanese menu that has “lemony, zesty, citrus” flavours.
When I sit down to interview Mazen and Sahar El-Baba on their new Falafel Station location, we do so over Lebanese food, cooked by Mazen himself.
They’re generous not only with the food portions – they let me snack on an entire table filled with items off their latest Falafel Station menu – but with their story.
Mazen began working in a kitchen in Lebanon when he was 12 years old for his family business.
He then worked in restaurants and hospitality companies in Lyon and Dubai before moving back to Lebanon where his family had a “famous company for sweets”.
“What made us leave [Lebanon was because]… every time you build your dream, there’s that something happens in the area that you feel that your dream is not going to come true,” Sahar says.
“We left Lebanon to Saudi Arabia as a family. I worked there. He worked there, but we thought of the future for the kids. We don’t want to go back to Lebanon and experience the war every time.
“And we came here as a skilled immigrant, so we’re not refugees. We came as skilled immigrants on his skill as a chef…and then we have to come to a regional area.
“Adelaide is considered as regional and we came to Adelaide, and then we started to build up.”
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After Mazen worked for over a year as a chef for Qatar and Malaysia Airlines in Adelaide, he and Sahar decided to open Falafel Station in Prospect as a takeaway offering with a vegetarian menu.
“We didn’t know anyone. The first customers who came to our shop was the plumber and people who went in the shop to help us install the things – these are the only customers that we got on the first day,” Sahar says.
This year, they decided to upsize and move to Magill Road with an expanded offering.
“The Lebanese kitchen, it’s a big kitchen, it’s a very huge kitchen that has a lot of different tastes, different flavours,” Mazen says as I grab a bite of fatteh.
“We were doing very small part of it [at the Prospect location] – the vegetarian and vegan part – and we want more. We want to let people know the Lebanese kitchen as it is.”
What Mazen and Sahar found was customers that came in were “very happy with the food” but “they weren’t satisfied with the dining area”.
“There was no space for them to bring if they have visitors or friends, it was only takeaway,” Sahar says.
“This is what motivates us to look for a bigger shop.”
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Falafel Station have also expanded on its food offering, with a focus on traditional Lebanese breakfasts along with a broader menu beyond just vegetarian options.
The food at Magill Road’s Falafel Station is “always authentic” with “lemony, zesty, citrus” flavours.
“We want to let people know the Lebanese kitchen as it is,” Mazen says.
“For the breakfast that we do, fatteh with lamb mince, full of all this stuff [like yoghurt, chickpeas and more], that is authentic Lebanese breakfast.
“And we have lunch and dinner as well [on Saturdays]…in Prospect, we didn’t do that and for dinner, we have the skewers, the sujuk and the lamb skewers and the kafta as well.
“We have the tabbouleh, the stuffed vine leaves. We still have a big, huge menu.
“Of course, we do our falafels freshly made once the customer orders. Of course, it’s nice with the hummus and some pickles.”
The man’ouche, which is a Lebanese flatbread that looks similar to a pizza, is one of the main focuses on the menu. It’s cooked in a wood-fired oven and has a range of toppings like lamb mince, tomatoes, onions and more.
But what Sahar noticed about hospitality in Adelaide is that Lebanese options are few and far between.
“The population there [in Melbourne and Sydney] is much bigger. The demand is bigger. And also the Lebanese community is bigger,” Sahar says.
“But also the Australian people, or the other people who live in Australia, they know so much about the food. That’s why all the Lebanese people may get encouraged to open more shops because people know about the food.
“Here…we have difficulty in just convincing the customer to try something [new].
“They always come for the falafel. We tell them ‘try something else’.
“We have like difficulty in encouraging the customer to try [something else], but when they try it, they love it, and they come next time to order it.
“So we have many customers now from different cultures who come for these dishes.”
Falafel Station is located at 405 Magill Road, St Morris. Connect with the business on Instagram for more.
