Oh why did you have to do that?

*adds Voner kebab to list of things to try (handy as I'm planning to be in Harrogate this autumn and Berlin next spring (the latter apparentl having a few outlets offering the stuff).

(Omnivore here)

Falafel is vegan but its widely available from a variety of different vendors whereas seitan is a much rarer find.

I frigging love falafel but I were at a kebab shop that offered seitan, I'd order that (at least the first time) because I also like seitan and I can't get that at any other falafel place.

I'm surprised by the recent popularity of seitan. Obviously you don't have to avoid gluten to be vegan, but I've always had the impression gluten avoidance is adjacent to veganism. At least for vegans who cite personal health as their primary motivator.

Gluten avoidance is nothing to do with health benefits - it’s a constraint imposed by celiac disease. If you don’t have the disease, there is no reason to avoid gluten.

Ya I'm highly skeptical of avoiding gluten providing any benefit to people without celiac disease.

Many avoid it nonetheless.

It depends, many places I've been you can get a falafel based meal to be made vegan, but typically they will include sauces not vegan, thus they are vegetarian meals by default. Not hard to swap the sauce to make it vegan though.

I don’t know about “typical”... the traditional sauce to put on falafel is tahini sauce which is vegan.

Some Greek places put yogurt instead of tahini which is not vegan, but I wouldn’t call that typical. I would call it a “too common aberration” and “a reason not to eat Greek falafel”.

The majority of places I have been put more than a single sauce. I've found mediterranean places love their sauces and it's something you usually get a lot of.

Falafel themselves might or might not be vegan (I've seen recipes that contain eggs, and some that don't), but it would almost certainly be served with a yogurt-based sauce.

Can't speak for every kebab shop but here it's typically served with hummus, tahini and sometimes an eggplant spread.

Edit - also the traditional way to make falafel is vegan as it originated as a fasting food for Middle Eastern Christians (traditional fasting rules dictate no animal products).

Falafel shouldn’t have any egg in it if made properly.