Wednesday, March 15, 2006
La Shish
1383 Clyde Avenue
March 13th, 2006
Shawarma: 2/5
Mesa: 2/5
Experience: 3/5
Last Friday I did something I rarely do; I won at playing poker. Oh, playing poker I do frequently; but winning is rare.
While playing, a friend of mine mentioned that his favorite place to get a shawarma used to be La Shish. But now with new owners, to his mind, it isn’t as good. He told us that the original owner had lost the place in a poker game for $40 grand. I’ve tried La Shish several times over the years and found it to be good enough. But maybe my buddy was right. Maybe it’s not as good as it used to be. I took my winnings, not to mention good luck, and decided to check it out myself.
La Shish is probably best known for being beside CD warehouse on Clyde Avenue. It’s clean and well lit. The smell is inviting. I sat down at one of the tables with my food.
The meat wasn’t the best. The chicken was fine with a citrony tang, but nothing special. The beef was dry and tough. A Lebanese place has got to get this stuff right. Maybe my friend was right.
Much of the rest of the platter was also disappointing. The salad was so limp it was more like seaweed. The potatoes were cold and lacking flavour. The pickles were also bland. The rice dish and tabouli were similarly ordinary. The garlic sauce and homous were okay, but there are clearly better out there.
I was happy to see, however, that the menu offered many dishes besides the regular. What’s this? A rainbow trout? Sounds neat. If only I was happy with the basics, I would be willing to try something like that. They also had a lentil soup. I was happy to see the drink fridge offered a good selection of traditional Lebanese drinks. I picked out some guava juice.
La Shish also offers many Lebanese pies. I ordered a meat and cheese pie. This was the saving grace of the meal. It’s like a Lebanese pizza, but better. They charge only $1.75 for this! Forget the shawarma. Go for a pie.
This is what $40K buys eh? It’s tempting. Who knows, if I keep on winning I might find myself owning a place like this. But with the low-stakes poker I play, I would need a winning streak lasting the rest of my life to buy it. I’ll let others run it. I’ll just eat there, ordering the pie.
Maybe La Shish used to be better. Maybe not. But for now, their products are uneven. Some things are great; some are poor. Pays your money and takes your chance.
March 13th, 2006
Shawarma: 2/5
Mesa: 2/5
Experience: 3/5
Last Friday I did something I rarely do; I won at playing poker. Oh, playing poker I do frequently; but winning is rare.
While playing, a friend of mine mentioned that his favorite place to get a shawarma used to be La Shish. But now with new owners, to his mind, it isn’t as good. He told us that the original owner had lost the place in a poker game for $40 grand. I’ve tried La Shish several times over the years and found it to be good enough. But maybe my buddy was right. Maybe it’s not as good as it used to be. I took my winnings, not to mention good luck, and decided to check it out myself.
La Shish is probably best known for being beside CD warehouse on Clyde Avenue. It’s clean and well lit. The smell is inviting. I sat down at one of the tables with my food.
The meat wasn’t the best. The chicken was fine with a citrony tang, but nothing special. The beef was dry and tough. A Lebanese place has got to get this stuff right. Maybe my friend was right.
Much of the rest of the platter was also disappointing. The salad was so limp it was more like seaweed. The potatoes were cold and lacking flavour. The pickles were also bland. The rice dish and tabouli were similarly ordinary. The garlic sauce and homous were okay, but there are clearly better out there.
I was happy to see, however, that the menu offered many dishes besides the regular. What’s this? A rainbow trout? Sounds neat. If only I was happy with the basics, I would be willing to try something like that. They also had a lentil soup. I was happy to see the drink fridge offered a good selection of traditional Lebanese drinks. I picked out some guava juice.
La Shish also offers many Lebanese pies. I ordered a meat and cheese pie. This was the saving grace of the meal. It’s like a Lebanese pizza, but better. They charge only $1.75 for this! Forget the shawarma. Go for a pie.
This is what $40K buys eh? It’s tempting. Who knows, if I keep on winning I might find myself owning a place like this. But with the low-stakes poker I play, I would need a winning streak lasting the rest of my life to buy it. I’ll let others run it. I’ll just eat there, ordering the pie.
Maybe La Shish used to be better. Maybe not. But for now, their products are uneven. Some things are great; some are poor. Pays your money and takes your chance.
# posted by Ottawa shawarma @ 6:49 AM 
Comments:
<< Home
la shish definitely used to be better. i used to go there every day in '02-'03, and the quality has gone downhill from there. it used to be very very good.
Post a Comment
<< Home
