ottawa foodies

Last Saturday I went on a lunch date with a friend to Pita Bell. It's in a non-descript strip mall on Carling that I'm sure I have passed thousands of times without even noticing. My friend lives in the area and she has been meaning to try this place for some time. She knows I like trying new foods and when we were planning on a lunch date she recommended Pita Bell. The first thing we noticed is how brightly painted the walls were - it almost has a mediterranean feel to it. The menu includes an assorment of plates to choose from as well as a few sandwiches. My dining companion and I both chose plates - she chose the one with two chicken kebabs and I chose the one with three kebabs - chicken, beef and lamb (I think) as well as rice and salad on the side. We were also given little containers of hummus and garlic sauce which is very addictive. The portions are HUGE so I ended up taking half the rice and salad home since I couldn't eat everything. The food was excellent and reasonably priced and I look forward to returning.

We've had takeout from here a couple of times and really enjoyed it. The falafel is really good, and comes either as a sandwich or a plate with rice or fries and hummus. The fries are ok, but the rice is definitely the way to go. It has chickpeas and spices in it. My only minor quibble is that the first time we ordered the falafel plate it included toum and the second time it didn't. Next time I'll order an extra side of it to be safe - you can never have too much toum.

My husband has tried a variety of the meat options. He liked the shish taouk and filet mignon better than the regular skewers. The meat plates come with rice or fries, salad, pita, hummus and toum.

Do not skip the cheese pie.

After reading the review in the Ottawa Citizen, I put this on my list of places to try. It is a fast food shawarma place that does not look at all exciting from the outside. I have walked/driven by it many times before with no urge to try it. Having said that, if you need a quick and delicious bite I would urge you to try it.

My boyfriend ordered the filet mignon plate and I ordered the shish taouk skewers. We were both amazed by the quality and deliciousness of the meat and the humus. The meals also came with a delicious warm pita, large cut fresh french fries and salad. The french fries and the salad were the least exciting part of the meal. The only things I would change would be the fries which I wish were garlic potatoes, and possibly the jazz the salad up maybe with some parsley or a different dressing.

I was really intrigued by the stuffed pita pizza which I saw other customers wolfing down and would like to try that next time. Strongly recommend the meat at this place!

After reading Peter Hum's glowing review in yesterday's Ottawa Citizen, we decided to go there for lunch and liked it so much we went back today and had lunch again. We have had the stuffed pita pizza, which is about a foot and a half long, the spicy Adana sandwich combo, and the charcoal broiled chicken wings. One of us had the Adana sandwich yesterday, the other one had it today. The food here is excellent, and the pita they use for the wraps are not a thick pita, rather more like the thickness of a tortilla. The prices are reasonable and we will for sure be back.