ottawa foodies

Grumble grumble. OK, you're right, Double F.

yessi, I just enjoyed a chicken shawarma plate from Shawarma Prince for lunch today. Granted, I was full, but it isn't really enough for two. Also, it cost $13 ($11.50+tax).

So keep cooking at home -- it's healthier too! :-)

It is getting increasingly difficult to rationalize going to the grocery store to buy ingredients for dinner and returning home to cook them up, doing dishes, etc. -- when I could just buy a chicken plate for 2, for $10.

We came to this new restaurant on Industrial at St-Laurent after my wife's coworker proclaimed it to have the best shawarma in Ottawa -- as good as what you'd get in Lebanon. After trying the small chicken sandwich ($4.99), I'd have to agree!

The chicken was tender and juicy with a hint of lemon, and the overall impression was a little lighter than we've had at Ottawa's other celebrated shawarma joints. The garlic sauce isn't as overpoweringly pungent here, meaning you can enjoy all the ingredients.

My wife's coworker also specified that you want your sandwich to be made by Mustafa. The friendly and boisterous man who made our sandwiches didn't wear a name tag but the quality of what we ate spoke for itself.

Can't wait to return and try one of their awesome platters!

Here is a picture of the chicken shawarma platter. I have had a lot of huge shawarma platters before but none this huge! This fed a family if two adults and two kids. The cashier kindly gave us 2 pita breads. This is one of the best I have had. I love the spices in the rice. The hummus was very smooth.

Shawarma platters are so massive that I've started going vegetarian when I expect to eat one by myself. The usual platter of salad, rice, potatoes, garlic sauce, and hummus was veganified by topping it with a tangy dolma and accompanying it with a side plate of falafel, grilled eggplant, zucchini, and broccoli. This huge tray full of food was around $13 and I ate everything except 80% of the garlic sauce and the potatoes buried beneath it.

The platters here are huge and delicious, but don't keep making the mistake I do by ordering the dry and gristly beef. The chicken is way better!

I've just created a new vendor entry for this location, as it really seems quite different from the Rideau location.

Had a Chicken Shawarma sandwich to go ($4.50 small, $7.50 large). My large was overall well put together and flavourful. Nicely grilled too! My only complaint is that the meat itself just isn't very tasty compared to other places. This time the chicken was moist but it had a bland stewed flavour. They were reasonably busy at 1:30pm on Sunday, but I'm not sure they go through enough volume here to keep the meat at its peak.

I saw some people getting the dine-in platter and it's incredible, a little larger than I've seen at other shawarma places. Probably the biggest pile of food you can get in town! With a side of extra potatoes and garlic sauce, this could feed a small family for under twenty bucks.

[EDIT] I forgot to mention that the service is nice here. The guys making shawarmas are friendly in the expected gruff-macho way and the woman at the cash is pleasant too. This is a huge improvement over the quarrelsome and uncomfortable interactions I saw on multiple visits a couple years ago! Some things do get better. :-)

The Shawarma Platter from the Carling location was not that great. In fact, I can't understand why they're so busy all the time when Mr Pie and BBQ is just up the street. The beef had a lot of fat and gristle and the chicken was dry. The rice and potatoes were good. The pink pickled turnip sticks tasted more like cucumber pickles and lacked the crunch I like so much. One big plus: they offered two pitas without me having to ask. Most places seem to give you one, which just isn't enough with a huge platter. The food prep guy told me there'd be a surcharge to get half beef and half chicken, but the cashier charged me the regular price.

I have lunch here probably twice a month. This restaurant is family owned. Chef Ali is very attentive to his clients. The lady at the cash will often prepare some very strong tea for clients after their meal, for free!

When the restaurant is very busy for lunch and the chef thinks that the Shawarma chicken could be cooked a bit more, he whips out a few chicken kababs and places them on the fire. (Free upgrade!)

The garlic sauce is intense! You will be tasting it all afternoon, and others will be smelling it off your breath...

The hummus is very nicely prepared with a bit of drizzled olive oil and parsley. You have to ask for extra pita bread to eat with it.

With out a doubt, I would recommend this restaurant for lunch to anybody looking for good authentic Lebanese cuisine. I have not had supper here... yet!

Note: The decor could use some work.

Last night I thumbed my nose at the controversial series of articles this week by the Ottawa Citizen, and went to my trusty-ol' Istanbouli for a Chicken Shawarma. They did not disappoint - awesome as ever. And look at that - 24 hours later and I'm still alive! People need a serious reality check ...

This is by FAR the best place to get shawarmas. Always fresh and delicious. Chicken of HIGH quality- never any bones or cartilage or membrane or other sketchiness found way too often elsewhere! Other places are nasty by comparison!

I stop here at least twice a month on the way home from work to pick up 4 large Chicken Shawarma for the family for supper. Very yummy, and the owners are extremely friendly to talk to. Delivery is fast as well when you are lazy.

The store is under new ownership and has gotten better. Better than Price Gourmet, Shawarma Garlic and Onion but not as good as Shawarma Palace. It was a good sandwich but I prefer to go to busier places like Shawarma palace where chicken is guaranteed to be fresh and sandwich is crisped over charcoal. Service is friendly and kind. If you’re in Bells Corners and you’re craving a Shawarma it’s good but not great.

I always forget the name of this place ... but drove by today and made a mental note. I really like the shawarma here. The garlic sauce is very good, and the chicken is usually quite juicy. If you are in Bells Corners its a good bet for lunch.

I haven't been for a while - so it may be time for another visit :)

I've been there more than once; I tried different meals and It's always great, fresh. Atmosphere: homy place, clean; very good prices specially lunch time the very friendly chef Jamal is very very quick in serving you with avnice smile. You walk in happy you leave happy and FULL!!!!!!
HIGHLY recommended

This is by far my favorite Shawarma spot. Theres not much to be said for the decor, this isnt a fancy restaurant like some places try to be.

Its cheap $9.50 for a Chicken Plate (Meat, Rice, Salad, Tabouleh, Hommous, Garlic Sauce, Pita), $6.50 for a Chicken Pita, Potatoes and A drink. Its pretty busy at lunch time, but Shawarma master Jamal makes the line move quickly. Everything always appears to be freshly prepared (that day). The Garlic sauce is to die for (most certainly my favorite anywhere) and the hommous is quite good. Tasty wihtout getting that "dirty" taste in your mouth.

Highly recommended to all for a quick tasty and healthy bite.

The picture is of a Chicken Plate to go, I'm just about to tear into it :D.

(I'll try for a better picture next time I go)

I go there probably every other day, it's clean and the food is tasty. And they have a nice combination of poutine and shawarma in the same plate, try it folks and you won't get disappointed.

I heard their fried fish is supposedly from Pelican Fishery?
anyone else hear this?

I do find the portions are quite generous.
Their menu board needs to be more clear though.

-only a price for poutine and not plain fries?
-was told there is a brochette sandwich..but nothing on their menu about that or prices?

another kind of annoying this..they have some ice cream for sale that looks good..no ingredients on the containers.
..looked kinda like how Malak's packages their ice cream...

Their baklava are good, but not as fresh as the bakaery across the street.
If you are in that area across the street is an Arab bakery and you can buy a scoop of ice cream or sorbet for $3 a small cup and $4 larger cup.
-had some watermellon sorbet and kiwi sorbet today.

Yeah. I had a similar experience about three months ago - fancy plates (for a Lebanese joint) and a nice spot to sit, but the food was a real disappointment.

Not sure I'd go 0/10 on the experience, but I recall being underwhelmed by the food and the selection of items included in the 'platter', and a similar tab of around $15 for lunch. Add a less-than-excellent service experience, and that's enough for me. I won't be visiting again.

Too expensive and not very good.

Zero Hummus, Zero Tahini, Zero Eggplant, Zero Cauliflaur, Zero traditional shawarma condiments except the bad sauce, and the turnips I asked for.

In other words, Garlic Corner, Zero out of 10

It wasn't just mediocre, it was missing staple ingredients and just plain bad.

The disappointing garlic sauce seems to run across most of Ottawa! :( Did you get deep fried cauliflower or hummus? +1 if you got hummus, but I've never liked that deep fried cauliflower stuff.

After eating Shawarma here I am very sorry for my review of Shawarma Palace - in which I refer to it as over priced and mediocre. S-Palace isn’t the best, but Garlic Corner is soo terrible - at least from my experience their two nights ago.

I had heard good things about this joint from a few friends of mine, and I have always walked by wondering how it was (but always heading for Maroush, Shawarma Palace or Castle). After 4 years of living in Ottawa I gave in, and with a name like "the garlic corner" I was expecting some decent 'garlicky' goodness.

Oh boy was I ever disappointed. To begin, the platter was expensive. 14 dollars after tax. NO POTATOES were given to me. I wasn't paying too much attention when the guy was making it, thus I only noticed when I got home. Initially I thought the potatoes would be under the rice, but there were no potatoes :( SHAME!

Also included in the platter was a tasteless white chick pea salad with a bit of parsley. Awful even though chickpeas are one of my favorite foods. And if I may add, unorthodox for a shawarma platter in Ottawa. The tiny bit of fatoush Iwas given, had no fried pita's, very little dressing, old tomatoes, and funny tasting red cabbage (almost like they used a dirty knife cause it tasted like "dishes" - in addition, I was given part of the heart of the cabbage, which I didn't notice until almost breaking my jaw).

No pickles, no onions, no hot peppers, no tabouli, no anything. I did however make sure the guy gave me some turnips, but he did so with attitude. I have to mention, that during this whole process the server was womanizing with ladies instead of paying attention to serving up a decent platter.

Now for the chicken, completely dry, completely tasteless and not edible if it wasn't for the bottle of water I had handy. The garlic sauce was just as weak as the chicken. So weak in fact that it is hard to describe... just BLAND. And I was thinking it would be the best garlic sauce around - since the joint is called the garlic corner.

In sum, the platter was half full; the chicken was terrible, it included weird side dishes (chickpeas), the platter had no tabouli/standard shawarma fixins, weak garlic sauce, and NO POTATOES. WTF?

Maybe I got this place on a bad day, or the particular servers were concerned with other things. BUT I WILL NEVER EAT HERE AGAIN, and I urge YOU TRUE SHAWARMA LOVERS TO AVOID this place - it was unacceptable (even if it was an off day).

Thus, please take my previous post about Shawarma Palace with a grain of salt. If you are around the market, AVOID the GARLIC CORNER. They do have shisha smoking tho, but meh - i'll skip the lung cancer.

When Maroush and Castle Shawarma are around the corner, save your money and get a proper shawarma.

I wish I could get my 14 bucks back. Nothing is worse than being completely disappointed with fast food - especially in terms of Shawarma,which I find Ottawa to be pretty consistent with.

Boooourrns Garlic Corner.

Rob

I've been a few times, including today, and the food is always pretty good. The shawarmas are above average, especially compared to other sources in Kanata and Stittsville. The chicken was super moist and delicious today! I usually get the full platter, which recently went up in price ($11.50) but is still a good deal compared to most restaurants. It's a pretty standard platter: tons of meat, lots of potatoes and rice, pickles, tomatoes, fresh salad in oily dressing, and a pita.

Best fattoush salad I've ever had. And with the shawarma chicken it's a real hit. Other Lebanese dishes are available, but once you've had the fattoush you'll never want anything else.

This restaurant opened earlier this year and I finally got a chance to check it out. The service was great and you can tell the owner is very eager to please his new clientele. The lunch deals are very reasonable and I ordered a shish taouk (chicken) shawarma with a side of potatoes. The food smelled so delicious and it tasted even better. The chicken was so fresh and tender and the potatoes were very addictive topped with fresh & perfectly seasoned hummus.

The restaurant itself has a nice classy dining area accompanied with a sleek bar. This would be a very appropriate place to have a meeting or impress your business partners or clients.

Welcome, Restaurant Beirut.

Donair and chicken shawarma mix platter

One of the best chicken shawarma in the region. Fresh and a good size platter.

Service is very friendly and bilingual too.

It's 1 km East of the #5 highway when you take the Old Chelsea exit.

happy to say that portions have not decreased and prices have not increased here at all since opening ~2 years ago. quality is top notch - salad is mixed fresh on order and the chicken is always fresh and juicy. staff are usually very friendly.

it's refreshing to see consistency in all the above at a quick service place like this!

Massive chicken shawarma plate.

Largest I ever had ... including the huge one at Shawarma Palace (Carling). South Keys location heaped on the chicken !

No wonder they have the self serve styrofoam take-away containers at the order counter.

If I tried to finish it I would probably be moaning, or, at the very least, have to let my belt out a notch.

I grabbed a chicken shawarma today while I was there picking up my organic turkey, and it was absolutely fantastic! Very large sandwich.

The service here is great, i.e. very generous helpings, willing to substitute, always friendly. And the chicken is great too. I never get sandwich, always plate and usually bypass the rice and go for salad instead. But, when the potatoes are right out of the kitchen I pick up a small portion to go and boy oh boy are they yummy.

Décor leaves a lot to be desired, but I live close by so take-out is the way to go.

The St. Laurent location is good, but Alta Vista and Bank is better.

This is my favorite place for Shawarma and plates. I usually get the combo plate and have a hard time finishing it because of it's size. Great value for money. Their rice is good as well it doesn't have the clove spice to it as so many places do. Instead they have small noodles in the rice. Only draw back is they do not make fresh baked pies(Cheese and zatar).

Old ingredients, not enough meat and too much sauce. I last had shawarma at this place over two years ago and the memory still smarts. (It was among the closest food outlets to my home and therefore had many opportunities to redeem itself.)

I went there on Saturday evening around 5:30 for the first time. Ordered a sandwich, beef samosa and potatoes with garlic sauce. I LOVE how the potatoes were not sitting in a lake of oil, they were not greasy at all and at the same time not dry. The sandwich was really good, and i like how they use jalapeño peppers instead of the same old pickled bell peppers. Nice change. Chicken was moist too. Beef samosa was just okay, it needed to be heated up more. The place was pretty busy and the all the guys behind the counter were very friendly and courteous. I will definitely be going back!

Spicy garlic sauce on a chicken shawarma platter. It was my colleague who ordered this. The salad was tabouleh instead of a garden salad. The platter cans up to $17. It is a bit more expensive than most place but it was even fuller than other platters!

I picked up a chicken Shawarma for dinner and it was excellent, with enough picked beets and pickles for the tang and enough garlic sauce for the necessary flavour. It was an introduction to the meal for a coworker traveling from Regina and thus it was a success, though unfortunately the pita wrapper was a little too fragile. Excellent though, at least at the Rideau location.

zymurgist, bear in mind that donair and shawarma are two very different tastes, even if they have a lot of similarities.

I agree, Marroush makes the best shawarma in town...but can anyone find me a good donair in this city?

I would have to disagree... I worked at a location very close to Marroush on Elgin. Most of the time the shawarma is good - not great. It really gets nasty at the end of the night (Friday and Saturday), as the stumbling crowds head for a grease pit that serve up the goodness... I've seen his staff feverously fry chicken in a frying pan in the back to satisfy the insatiable apetite of the masses lining up to get a shawarma. Some of it was definitely raw (as in not cooked!). Of course no-one notices as they take their turn dancing on the bar or gettting yelled at by the self appointed "Shawarma Nazi" (all in jest of course). Mind you this is the end-of-the night rush, and surely does not represent their day-to-day offerings...

Overall, I would give them 5 stars (out of 5) for their "sweet sauce" (highly reccomended), 3 stars for shawarma, and no stars for Friday and saturday night food...

IMO, the best of shawarma in ottawa is Shawarma Palace on Rideau - always a line-up. Succulent chicken (that has NOT been drying on that spit for two days like other unnamed places), tasty garlic sauce that is not overpowering and is just right, and greatly spiced potatoes...

PS - ask the Marroush guy for his photo album which he keeps below the counter - featuring best "grills" Elgin has to offer - LOL

No shawarma for you!

Ha, ha, haven't been here in years but their chicken shawarma's sure were good! And huge! Note the other place "Maritime Donair" that used to be in the same building has long since gone out of business, but Marroush just keeps on going!

Really enjoyed the Chicken Shawarma here! It had a number of ingredients that I am not used to seeing at my regular place - including red cabbage which was extremely yummy! Very different from my regular, but very good. I work near here so will definitely be back - this was my first trip.

And at just a tad over 4 bucks for the small it is quite a bargain. The small filled my fairly hungry belly.

We shared a chicken shawarma and a beef shawarma (that's why the beef shawarma in the photo is chopped in half). The chicken was kind of dry with a slightly powdery texture, as is common in Ottawa's chicken shawarma's. The beef shawarma was very good!

While ordering, I saw another customer get hot sauce on his shawarma -- worth mentioning because I don't think all shawarma places offer it.

Well, despite my initial bad experience, I've actually been eating here several times a week, largely because it's a couple blocks away from both home and work.

I don't think the quality has improved, but I am definitely irked about the prices that keep going up every few weeks. I thought Shawarma was supposed to be cheap :/

It's not bad, but I've had much much better elsewhere for less.

Best shawarma place in town. And I've been to plenty in Ottawa (but then again, I always hear great things about Shawarma Palace and I haven't been there yet.

When ordering a plate/platter, I love how they just pile on the food into a little mound. I can stuff it all if I really want to, but if I want to be moderate, then I can easily split it between two meals, it's that much food.

I'm a big fan of their rice, it's not just plain white rice like other places give you.

Shawarma's King used to be the best in the city but since a change in management, the sauce isn't as garlicky and the quality has gone down. Very dissapointing.

Sorry, I found their shawarma very disappointed. Flavourless and overcooked meat. My favourite is Cedar Valley in Orleans. Excellent.

Maybe I'm just fussy but I didn't like the meats in their shawarma. Some bits were rock-hard overcooked, and well the other half was lumps of fat. I ate half of it and threw the rest out, then drove to my beloved Gatineau to get a better one.

I'm a fan of garlic potatoes, so Shawarma's King totally rocks my socks. There's nothing quite like feeling the garlic sauce coursing through your veins the day after you eat it.

Just a great blend of fresh ingredients with strong (but not too much) flavoured sauce. You might want to avoid kissing loved ones for a bit, but well worth a trip out of your way.

The Shawarma Shack is where I usually get my shawarma fix. They used to have the best potatoes (tossed in a mix of fresh herbs, garlic and olive oil) but a recent change in management has reduced the quality of the ingredients (and the staff). But, it's still one of the best spots.

Tried the "Mixed Plate" shawarma platter from here. It was very good, with most of the expected components. Like some other places, they use pickled red cabbage instead of pickled turnips. It's a little cheaper than Shawarma Palace on the next block, but I would also say it isn't quite as excellent.

A nice thing is that there is no extra charge to get half chicken and half beef. Recommended, but I will continue to come here mostly for the fried chicken!

This was one of the better shawarma platters I've had. This was half beef and half chicken. Carefully assembled and easily sharable by two people.

Looking forward to trying more foods from this new restaurant. It's actually quite nicely set up for eat-in dining as well.

The Shawarmas here are not too bad, but not the best in the city. For the price, its great, but I think the chicken is coated in BBQ sauce before it is roasted on the spit... making it pretty salty with all the other sauces and accoutrement. The potatoes are not the best, but the rice is unbelievable; by far the best I've had in Ottawa. It has peas and whole spices cooked in for maximum flavour. The staff is really friendly and remember you, which is nice. Also, I always ask for double garlic, which is garlic sauce on the rice and potatoes, then again on the chicken... delicious but not so good for your breath the rest of the day.

Worth the stop.

The Garlic King may be flashier, but for my money this is the best shawarma in Orléans.

Excellent shawarma! Juicy and big, lots of condiments, and terrific, friendly service. A gem!

I hate being the dissenting voice here, but I didn't have as good as experience as the rest of you seem to have. I grabbed the trio for lunch today. Now, first off, I did like the taste and all that, but in my shawarma sandwhich there was a distinct crunch and a rock hard bit. I don't know what it was since I got chicken, tomato and garlic sauce only on it. That being said, the rest of it was really good. I asked for extra garlic sauce on my potatoes (I really like Garlic Sauce. I blame my girlfriend) and it kinda congealed into a lumpy, yet still delicious mass. So, I'm not sure if I'd go back. I mean, normally I wouldn't, but from the rest of your reviews, it seems like I got a fluke, so maybe giving them a second chance is in order.

Looking for a light lunch today, I picked up a lentil soup and tabouli/fatoush salad.

The first few sips of the soup were very salty. It might have been reducing for a while (or even worse, maybe it wasn't made today). I'm not sure what I was thinking ordering a soup on the hottest day of the year. After a few bites though, the nice onion, light cumin and lentil flavour started coming through. Salty or not, I thought it was pretty good.

The tabouli was fantastic. It was everything a tabouli salad should be. The fatoush (minus the fried pitas - not sure why they don't add these) was pretty good as well. Nice and lemony! I asked for extra pickles and turnips, which were fantastic. The pickle had that super sour Lebanese taste that I love so much.

$7.50 for soup and salad? Bad deal... I should have got the shawarma trio which rounds out to about $8.90 after tax.

Ah well.

In reality, no complaints - this place serves consistently good food, there is always a line up, the spits are always fresh, and the owner runs a very well managed and might I add clean establishment.

Highly recommended

I second the comment from Adam Bergeron. While I am in the camp that exclaims that Shawarma Palace is the cream of the crop in Ottawa, the Orient House comes close. The portions are large, but not as large as the Palace - that being said, it's quite a bit cheaper too.

For me the big sell at this place is the cleanliness. This is a very, very well managed and clean restaurant - perhaps the cleanest shawarma joint I have ever seen. The service is super friendly and efficient and they don't get caught up charging extra for small requests - like extra tabouli, or substitutions.

The food itself is very good. Nice juicy shawarma chicken. They are only open during week days, thus you can be assured you are not eating old chicken. There is a fresh spit everyday, unlike some sketchy shawarma joints in which the chicken is rock hard from sitting on the spit for a few days, cough "Garlic Corner", "Diamond Shawarma" etc.

The only thing that can be improved upon (IMO) at Orient House is the pickled turnips. They likely make them in-house, and they are not crunchy like they are supposed to be. Not a big deal.

I eat here a couple of times a month, and it is totally worth it.

I love this place for a work lunch/dinner.

I say work lunch/dinner because i order the chicken shawarma plate, and it comes with so much that you will make two meals out of it. Theres usually a choice of salad to go with, either traditional taboulleh, a regular salad, or a bean salad (on occasion). This place sees quite a few people around lunch time so any time between lunch and dinner is a great time to go. The chicken is usually moist and tender, and their hummus is my favorite hummus. The roasted potatoes could cook a bit longer on some days, and i find the rice rather bland, so i just have them subsitite half the rice with potatoes.

Two meals for $10.72 taxes in. Nothing to complain about, except the garlic breath. lol.

This is where my work buddies and I grab lunch if we're feeling lazy, as it's just a short stumble from the office.
They make a decent chicken shawarma and, despite my dislike for the decor, they've never let me down in the taste category. The $4.50 price tag is a bit much, since the sandwich itself is quite small. By buying it as part of the trio, you get a better deal. Alas -- I'm in a perpetual state of weight watching.
Bottom line: Yummy in a pinch.

I've been eating shwarma there for years (since it opened) and they are very tasty. The platters are generous and they have a variety to choose from. Their potatoes are the best I have ever had, the rice is soooo moist and they always have fresh stuffed grape leaves on hand which I love.

Ate here recently and didn't think their shawarma was any different than the average shawarma place. It was good, it just wasn't anything spectacular and I wouldn't go out of my way to return.

Used to eat here a lot 2-3 years ago and the chicken shawarma was always terrific.

Well, my son an I tried it for the first time last night. Rideau location.

My son said it was the best shwarma he's even had.
But he also said he found the chicken quite dry.

I slather mine with garlic sauce so it didn't matter.

We both had the Chicken Shwarma plate.

Other point - the food trays weren't all clean, one had some hair on it (yuck), and the cutlery wasn't super clean either.

The guy making the chicken platter touched the salad with his open hand (pushing it in towards the center of the plate). He could have use the salad tongs.

I not squeamish, but the cleanliness of the place did not impress me.

Also for two chicken shwarma plates plus two small mango drinks it came up to $35.

I think that's rather pricey.

You can get about the same or better quality at Shwarma King on Bank a lot cheaper.

I was able to finish mine my paltter too, though I can rarely finish a plate from Shwarma King, they give you so much.

This is the first time I tried the Rideau St. location of Shwarma Palace.

I'll be going back to the Shwarma King on Bank, or the Carling location of Shwarma Palace next time.

UFC fighter Nick Denis wrote a blog on his love for Shawarma Palace.

topmmanews.com

In regards to T. Hills I have to say I'm not surprised by his comments regarding racism at all! I'm an Arab-Canadian who was born and raised in Ottawa and speak very little Arabic.

I walked into this place with a friend a little while back so that I can introduce to him what I once thought was the best shwarma in Ottawa. By the time it was our turn in line, I proceeded to place my order in English. I could tell the man behind the counter was disappointed. He must have asked me about 4 or 5 times why I don't speak the language while giving me dirty looks the whole time. Worse yet, I had repeatedly asked him to put hot sauce in the shwarma and he just kept ignoring me completely, as if I was even there. The only time he acknowledged this request was AFTER the shawarma was folded up and mumbled I would get some on the side. After that he started talking to my friend in Arabic who does understand the language about me and how I should know it.

Just because I look like an Arab doesn't excuse this man or anyone else for that matter to behave so ignorantly. This is discrimination. I mean God forbid I speak English when we live in Canada!

As far as the food quality quality goes it has indeed declined. Whoever said the Shawarma was dry and the hummus tasted like cardboard in a previous comment was right on the money! So all this considered, needless to say I will not be back here.