Cooked with love, Al-Taher’s falafel wins our hearts.

Posted on 25 August, 2026

In order to put a roof over their family’s heads, Hesham Tomeizeh and his wife Sahira have done many jobs.

Despite Hesham earning his IT Degree in Palestine, where he had his own security system and technology equipment company, he has jumped into several occupations since arriving in Australia just to make ends meet – from taking on work in construction, as a handyman, kitchen hand and a barber. At times he worked multiple jobs for 20 hours a day.

The couple, who met in Palestine, also started cooking the food of their homeland as another way to survive, and, along the way, Hesham and Sahira have discovered their hearts really are in food.

Together they’ve built a tiny food empire in the Mawson Shops.

The Al Taher Kebab and Mandi takeaway sits on one side of the walkway, while the Sama Sweets shop, selling all manner of Middle Eastern desserts, is opposite.

Hesham mans the grill on one side while Sahira bakes the perfect Palestinian kunafa, baklava, pistachio cream, chocolate halawet el jibn, and warbaat on the other. They often dash between stores to refresh stock and discuss orders.

The busy couple, who have a growing family, spend long hours each day pumping out their exotically spiced, handmade food “made with love”.

“People must have said that to me a thousand times, that they taste the love in our food” says Hesham, who’s foray into cooking happened shortly after he and Sahira arrived in Canberra.

With precisely $1700 in savings, and two young children to care for, Hesham and Sahira made some humble bread to make a few extra dollars each week, selling it in front of the Woolworths at the Hawkers and Charnwood shops. It took a few weeks of sales to even pay off the fry pan they invested in to cook the bread – such were the small margins. Then Hesham decided to make falafel.

He wrote to his brother and asked him to visit a shop called “The King of Falafel” in Hebron on the West Bank – the best in the world according to Hesham. The recipe is quite involved, requiring 8-12 hours of soaking the chickpeas and the perfect ratio of shallot, onion, garlic and parsley.

Hesham quickly got the hang of it, and his instinct soon allowed him to “feel” the right consistency rather than depend on measurements.

Over the last ten years, his falafel have become famous around the city, and customers come from all over to get their fill of the perfectly moist, verdant balls that are pillowy soft in the middle but golden and crispy on the outside. The hummus sauce they come with packs a garlicky punch.

“There is an art to getting them exactly right. I know some people believe the falafel served in many restaurants are better used to shoot birds out of the sky than to eat,” he says with a laugh. “But mine are different.”

But one needs only to look at his more than 600 5-star rave reviews on Google to see his food hits the spot, including generous plates of kebabs, Halal snack packs, dips, skewers, kibbeh and mandi (meat served with rice). Portions are large, prices are low, and customers keep coming back.

The couple say that they have been the recipients of many acts of kindness and warm embraces since they arrived in Canberra more than a decade ago. They admit there were moments of fear as immigrants in a new country where they didn’t know whether they would make the rent each month. Hesham also arrived without a word of English.

When he was just starting out selling bread and sweets in Hawker, some regular older women customers who would always stop to chat and help with his English. “They would get out their notebooks and pens and teach me words and phrases,” he said.

One woman Betty, used to order at least $60 worth of food each week. He later found out she was diabetic and would give the honey-soaked desserts to friends.

“Our thanks will never ever be enough,” he says, covering his heart with his hand. The couple also want to shout out Wade, and Fatima (they know who they are) for their generous support over the years .

There were also dark days when Covid hit, just after they finally had enough savings to invest in their Mawson shop front that Hesham built by hand.

Again, the loyalty of customers as well as the camaraderie of other Mawson shop traders helped get them through.

Now the couple are continuing to work hard, Sahira often not getting to bed until after midnight and waking at 6am to pump out orders and ensure the sweet shop counter is stocked fresh each day.

Hesham is usually manning the grill, saying it is so difficult to find other staff to help cover all shits. But he is working on something special, a spice mix that he will sell to customers who want their meat at home to have the same aromas and punchy flavours as his.

“These spices are a mix of what is in my kitchen, what is in my grandmother’s kitchen and it is perfect to use with all meat.”

He hopes to have it bottled and on his shelves soon, so that customers who want to cook at home can do so with a little of Hesham and Sahira’s heart – and gratitude.