ottawa foodies

I think I ordered the same thing Chimichimi had, and I also can't remember the name of it. Anyway, it's the seasoned ground beef cooked on metal skewers, like Arabic Kofta or Persian Kubideh. Very tasty, although I found it to be a little on the dry side. Mine came with a white, somewhat garlicky sauce. I used the sauce for the meat and the (fried) potatoes.

The little pile of salad was a welcome addition, and the generous pile of (oily-shiny) rice was tasty. The bread is nice indeed -- kind of like a cross between Indian naan and Persian barbari.

All told, this place is a great alternative to the ubiquitous Lebanese shawarma outlets we're all used to. I saw someone eating in, and his plate seemed to have a little more rice and salad than my take out container. But I don't have a problem with that, since take out containers cost money and take out orders often are made sans beverage and sans tip.

I went to Ariana's Kebab Restaurant tonight because I was in a super rush and I've been meaning to try it out now since it opened. I was not disappointed. First, this is fast food, so don't expect fancy, elaborate food/atmosphere/etc. I ordered a kebob plate, the name escapes me right now, but basically it was 2 kebabs made of lightly spiced ground beef, served on basmati rice with a salad, some fried pita pieces, garlic sauce & potatoes. The kebab came with this green "special" sauce (never fails to make me laugh when people call it a special sauce, yeah, I'm classy), and this sauce reminded me a lot of a chimichurri sauce so it really won me over. My partner got a roasted chicken wrap (do NOT call it a shawarma here) and commented on how tasty and moist the chicken was. The server gave us some free roasted beef to try out - holy cow, literally, this was tasty. Next time I'm getting this to try it out.
The only things that detracted from our experience were the side orders we got - samosas and fried veggies. The samosas were just OK, I enjoyed them, my partner was on the fence. The fried veggies had a very heavy oil taste - probably from frying at a too low temperature. Easy things to overcome, and definitely not bad enough to make me avoid the place.

OH YEAH - DO NOT MISS THE AFGHAN BREAD! It is DELICIOUS - they make it fresh on site, from what I gather. It's like naan bread... so good... so much better than pita!

Overall, food was good/tasty, server was friendly, quality was on par with most Lebanese places in Ottawa if not better, price was very reasonable! (approx. $25 for two entrees, 2 drinks, and 2 side orders)

They also sell afghan style almonds - roasted with cardamom and coated in a lemony sugar coating... I want to try them!!!

Edit: went back for more, had the naan, it was amazing & super fresh, got some almonds, they're just ok. I'll be back again, for sure!