When we moved to Norwich I was ecstatic to discover we had a falafel bar.
I love them, but can rarely be bothered to make them myself and they make the ideal snack for a wander round the shops – although I’d suggest sitting down to eat if you are as messy an eater as I am!
Here is my interview with Samia King who owns Moorish Falafel Bar.
Interview
Whenever I come into Moorish there is such a lovely atmosphere and the staff are all very friendly. Could you tell me a bit more about your team?
Yes, thank you for that lovely compliment! It is so important for us at Moorish that all our customers feel valued and important because without them we wouldn’t be able to keep going.
We currently have five full time members of staff, Dan (manager), Harry, Hannah, Matthew (chef) and myself Samia. We also have a couple of Saturday team members Naima and Joseph.
Everyone who works at Moorish pride themselves on good work ethic and the ability to create a fun and energetic atmosphere.
As you state on your website you are proud to provide a deliciously vegetarian menu. What made you decide to open a vegetarian café?
When I opened Moorish four years ago, I saw that there was a lack of provision in the area for vegetarians and vegans. I love healthy and vegetarian food myself so it seemed obvious to fill the gap!
To those of us that enjoy them this may seem odd, but a lot of people I meet have never heard of Falafels – how would you describe them to someone who’d never tried them?
Well, I also get this question regularly, probably about ten times a day in fact!
The easiest way to describe them is like a vegetarian kebab! (obviously home-made and freshly prepared!)
You prepare all of your ingredients fresh every day – how important would you say the quality of ingredients is to you and how do you source them to make sure they are up to your standards?
The quality of the produce we use is of the utmost importance. I use local suppliers where possible and everything that comes in is quality controlled.
I use a genuine Israeli baker in London for my pitta breads as the importance of a proper pitta when it comes to decent falafel is paramount.
You recently introduced a range of vegan cakes to your menu which look delicious. Are they made by the Moorish team or do you buy them in?
Yes the Vegan cakes are going extremely well! For the first year I used a local Vegan cake maker but then she moved away so we’ve branched out and now make them in-house and have expanded the cake menu too.
We do many different types of flapjack, rocky road, ‘Veganaire’s Shortbread which is gluten free also, and for christmas we shall be doing vegan mince pies.
We also have Baklava, which is not vegan but still sells extremely well so we’ve kept that one.
I see from your FB page that you also cater for events like weddings. Can you tell me a bit about how this differs from a standard day in the shop and how the menu choices differ?
Yes, for the catering side I offer standard ‘Moorish Buffets’ which include everything on the Moorish menu. I have also started a separate catering business (Sesame Catering) with my colleague Maria Evans.
We offer a more diverse menu, specialising in specific dietary requirements.
As it’s not part of Moorish we can offer meat and fish too, our specialties are Middle Eastern tagines and foods from that area.
https://instagram.com/p/2HuVD-DxIW/
Your menu changes somewhat with the seasons, recently the Soup of the Day has returned – just in time for the colder weather!
Do you change the menu at a certain time each year or is it more a case of when you feel like its time for a change? Is it nice to have a change from the falafels every now and then?
I generally only serve soup during the autumn/winter months so from September to April. It generally isn’t so popular when the weather is warm!
Occasionally I’ll make a few changes here and there on the general menu, if something isn’t popular I’ll remove it and replace it with something new.
If you could only have 1 topping on your falafels forever what would it be?
Ooh that’s hard! But for me personally I’d choose baba ganoush every time!
If you had a dinner party to cook for, with meat eaters and non meat eaters attending what would be your choice for the main course?
I have this problem regularly as I have meat-eating and non meat-eating friends. I usually go for something easy like a vegetable tagine with olives and take some out and throw in some chicken or lamb for the non-veggies!
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I’d just like to thank everyone who’s supported Moorish in it’s early years and taken the time to write reviews and spread the word. We love doing what we do and hope to continue and expand for the long-run!
And thank you to you too, I’ve enjoyed taking time out to do this blog
End of Interview
Thank you to Samia for answering my questions and providing for my falafel needs!
R
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