Ottawa, the shawarma Capitol of the world?? [General]

2012 Nov 1
Interesting article in today's Citizen. I'll admit, I eat it at least once a week and I have friends out west that eat a shawarma within hours of getting off a plane

www.ottawacitizen.com

2012 Nov 1
It might have the most places.

Quantity never overdoes quality though.

tbh I've not really had any quality yet either, but i've just recently returned.

I wonder how many McD's / BK / Wendy's each of these cities has(per capita)... that might be funnaeh!


2012 Nov 1
Yes but even some say the best in Canada are in Ottawa.

2012 Nov 1
I'm calling BS on that if you include Donair and Gyros. Cologne, Germany has the nation's biggest population of both Turks and Greeks (or it did when I lived there in the 90s) and it had way, way more than here in Ottawa.

2012 Nov 1
I think more then likely the increase in Ottawa has been the last 10-15 years including Gatineau there is around 75.

2012 Nov 1
I don't know why you would include donairs and gyros. The European donair is a much different animal.

2012 Nov 1
In what way? The accompaniments may vary slightly, but the marinading and spit cooking of the meat in a European doner kebab is exactly the same as a Canadian shawarma as far as I can tell.

2012 Nov 1
Well if anything that's marinated and put on a spit is the same, then yeah sure. But from the meat that's used, to the condiments, to the type of bread variations on the above formula are legion. I spent more time and money than I'd like to admit eating donairs while living in Ireland, England, and Germany, and the Ottawa shawarma is definitely different.

2012 Nov 1
Wow It just dawned on me how many shawarma joints are in Ottawa.. LOL they are EVERYWHERE!

I live on the Gatineau side now and have it once every two or three months now but when I lived in downtown Ottawa I had lebanese at least 3 times a month for sure. Not really a big fan anymore..

2012 Nov 1
Then you have a discerning palate, Brian. 36 years in England, the last 4 in Ottawa and more kebabs than is really good for me, I'm buggered if I can tell the difference.

2012 Nov 1
The famous doner kebab in England is a pita pocket full of lamby goodness, a food staple of monumental importance post pub and can trace it's origins to a Turkish cafe in Germany.. A shawarma is Lebanese and shares a certain middle eastern heritage with the donair. Shawarmas are beef and chicken but doner kebabs are usually lamb. Doners always come off a spit and are extremely fatty and more chopped and formed than the shawarma which is usually deboned chicken or layers of beef. Shawarmas are usually accompanied by garlic, hummus and /or tahini. The doner kebab is brightened by a spicy chili sauce. I love doners.

2012 Nov 1
Well unless you think telling the difference between lamb and chicken is a superpower, I really don't think that's it. Chicken shawarmas are a rarity in the British Isles, though they've started to pop up more and more as a posh alternative to doner kebabs.

I suppose there could have been a huge chunk of the Berlin population that was opting for chicken shawarmas over that city's justifiably famous doner kebabs, but they certainly don't have the pride of place in the city's snack food pantheon that chicken/steak shawarmas have in Ottawa.

2012 Nov 1
Speaking of shawarmas, does anyone know what's going on with Marroush on Elgin? I was by there today and it was closed down. I haven't been there in a while so I don't know how recent this is. Renovation? Moved? Closed?

2012 Nov 1
Sure they taste different based on the meats and typical veggies that go with each, but they are basically the same dish prepared in the same way. If you have a beef hamburger with mustard and mayo, and a chicken hamburger on a flat bread with ketchup and pickles, they are still both hamburgers.

2012 Nov 2
A hot dog and sausage can be used in that logic as well, but they can be vastly different from one another.

What is surprising, now that I think about it, is that essentially every place I can think of is named after the Shawarma, and none or very few are named after the Donair.

Shawarma King, Prince, Planet, Garlic King, etc...I can't think of one named after the Donair...could it be that the donair is just a beef/lamb shawarma? Or simply named after their biggest seller?

2012 Nov 2
They're all really just burritos. :P

2012 Nov 2
Named after their biggest seller. I think Donairs are only just starting to take off in Ottawa. I have yet to order one in the city and not have to wait for them to light the heating elements on the cooker... my love for donair overrides my concern over how long the meat has been sitting there. Nonetheless King Shamarma at Fallingbrook makes a great donair with Halifax sweet sauce if you can deal with the look of disgust on the owner's face!

2012 Nov 2
I've never had a kebab like the ones I ate in Spain of all places - just glorious, on a split, raised type of pita. Nothing at all like an Ottawa Chicken/Beef Schwarma, a British Doner Kebab, a Chicago Gyro, or a Halifax Donair.

All noble creations; all certainly different. Is it pretentious to call things by name?!

2012 Nov 3
I know allot of people from down east that lament the lack of the Halifax Donair in Ottawa.

I'm not one of them.

That sweet sauce just ruins the taste for me.

2012 Nov 3
I think that the sugar in the sweet sauce is what really helps to bind the garlic molecules to the inside of your mouth so that nothing can remove it. Nothing.

2012 Nov 3
I ate a lot of schwarma and zatar in the Middle east when I was working there, and it's nothing like what you get here in Ottawa.
Then I got a bad one and was sick for 3 days. . . . . . .
Love the Halifax donair tho, but you have to be drunk at 3 in the morning, or else it's just not right.

2012 Nov 3
Bobby Fillet, Romeo's Donair & Pizza has been on Merivale Road for over 25 years. I know I had a donair there long before I had ever heard of a shawarma.

2012 Nov 3
I drive by Popeye The Chef and Shawarma Station all the time and it makes me wonder how these owners can afford rents on theses large spaces when there are rarely any customers in these places. Guess customers must be in for late night eats. With another opening at Hunt Club and Bank where Tucons was saturation in that area would have to be at it's limit with three places in a two block area. Do Ottawans really eat that much Shawarma? Sugar with meat try not to eat it's a crime to ruin donair with a sweet sauce that lasting taste is a reminder of how good a donair really was LOL.

2012 Nov 5
Romeo's pizza is pretty good.
Their Donair is good- used to get delivery when I lived in Nepean.
Romeos also makes a good baklava and it is often sold out :(

Popeye the Chef does as lot of delivery and also it is a big Middle Eastern area of the city. When I go by there on the bus I always see people in there.
Their menu with the fish scares me though- they sell whole fish that are deep fried....?
I will order their Broasted chicken sometime,just have not gotten delivery food lately.