Shawarma Shawarma

This is a small take-out restaurant on my way to Queen's campus. I always wondered what the hell Shawarma was (my colleagues kindly educated me that it is a middle eastern sandwich and it is similar to gyro). Anyway, I noticed on their store front window that it says "large poutine $6" and I needed to try it. But after hearing about schawarma and other forms of middle eastern sandwiches, I couldnt just order a poutine... so I had a chicken schawarma and poutine.

Poutine $6.00
This place has one size yet, advertising that "large poutine $6", which I found is a bit misleading.

Location: 163 Division St

Overall: For $6, the serving size is similar to that of Jimmy's or the Small Fry's small poutine, and these places charge only $3.25. Thus, in terms of mere quantity, this is absolutely overpriced and NOT a good value. HOWEVER, if you want to try poutine with unique gravy, you might want to check this one out... at least once. Their gravy is very original and spicy (not hot). But that's the only thing that interested me. But overall, this poutine, you can definitely skip -- get the shawarma instead.

Fries: Not cooked well. They are just about to be crunchy but not quite reached the optimal point of crunchiness... They were in the fryer for a long time but came out very pale. Presumably the cooking temperature was on the low side. This made the fries cooked thoroughly yet the edges were kind of "spongy" rather than crunchy... Not good... They were seasoned liberally with salt, thus on the salty side.

Gravy: this is the only thing that stood out. Traditional beef gravy yet, the flavor is very "middle-eastern" with a lot of spices (not hot). A burst of those spices in is quite pleasant, actually. This gravy is on the salty side as well thus, the fries and gravy together make the overall poutine salty but not unbearably salty (i.e., Bubba's in the hub).

Cheese: they are big chunks and very melty, about 2-3cm3. They remind me of mozzarella. I saw them measure the amount of cheese. Very good method of standardization. but I think other things (e.g., how the fries are cooked) need to be prepared with more care rather than the amount of cheese.

**** digg it! ****


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