Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Civic Shawarma & Pies
915 Bank Street
August 14th, 2006
Shawarma: 2/5
Mesa: 5/5
Experience: 4/5
Shawarma places are common where there is a need for convenient, good tasting food. They are common downtown, where office workers need to find a quick lunch. And they are common in the market where revelers need a late-night snack. Most central Ottawa neighbourhoods have plenty of shawarmaries.
The Glebe has always seemed an exception. I guess somehow Lebanese fast food didn’t fit into the community’s mindset. The Glebe is the hub to many of Ottawa’s most fashionable professionals. Clemow Avenue and surrounding streets offer some of Ottawa’s most desirable and expensive homes. Bimmers and Mercedes are the norm cruising up and down Bank Street. Paths running along the canal lining the neighbourhood are the natural habitat for people pushing baby-joggers, while yapping on their cell phones about Monday’s deadline, and Tuesday’s conference.
Glebeans also appreciate good food, however. Some of Ottawa’s funkiest restaurants line Bank Street. Restaurants of many flavours attract diners from the neiboughood’s discerning and well-heeled residents. For years, Kamal’s offered up-market Lebanese food (Admittedly it did have a take-out counter). Sadly they closed up a few years ago. The Glebe Café, recently renamed Jericho, is another good Lebanese Restaurant. But somehow a traditional shawarma house was not to be found.
The Glebe however is also home to many of Ottawa’s young, if slightly well-to-do students and young couples. Many grand old homes have been converted into trendy apartments. Some banged-up Toyotas and rusting-out Chevies share the streets with the more flashy wheels of their neighbours. Twenty-somethings in ripped jeans and dreadlocks share the sidewalks with the shirt-and-tie set.
It was only a matter of time before a proper shawarmarie moved into the neighbourhood.
Civic Shawarma & Pies sits at the South end of the Glebe, in the block before Lansdowne Park. On a warm August day, the front door was a screened door, the kind you find on a small town general store. I was welcomed by a kind gentleman.
I ordered a mixed platter, but after noticing the huge selection of pies (well it IS Civic Shawarma and PIES) I had to try one of them out. Although Civic offers a nice place to sit and eat, one of the best things about this place is it’s proximity to park space. I took a place on a nearby bench to enjoy my shawarma.
The chicken was a little overcooked. It was a bit dry, and at times almost burnt. The beef was donair meat. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not the biggest fan of donair meat. I prefer what is refered to as beef shawarma. Still it wasn’t bad as donair meat goes. Both chicken and beef were covered in too much sauce. It was okay meat, but not the best.
That’s all the negative stuff you can say about this place however. The potatoes were fantastic. The rice looked bland, but actually was full of aromatic, herbal flavour. What was that!? Cardamom? Anise? The pickles were as good as I have had. The salad was excellent. Olives and slices of red pepper were included in the pickles and salad. Usually a restaurant like this would shy away from providing relatively expensive ingredients like these. And the pie was fantastic, it was topped with fresh tomatoes, sesame seeds, and some sort of brown sauce (maybe balsamic-based?). It was excellent.
In short, the Glebe has a very good shawarmarie. The meat might have shortcomings, but the rest is as good as you can find.
August 14th, 2006
Shawarma: 2/5
Mesa: 5/5
Experience: 4/5
Shawarma places are common where there is a need for convenient, good tasting food. They are common downtown, where office workers need to find a quick lunch. And they are common in the market where revelers need a late-night snack. Most central Ottawa neighbourhoods have plenty of shawarmaries.
The Glebe has always seemed an exception. I guess somehow Lebanese fast food didn’t fit into the community’s mindset. The Glebe is the hub to many of Ottawa’s most fashionable professionals. Clemow Avenue and surrounding streets offer some of Ottawa’s most desirable and expensive homes. Bimmers and Mercedes are the norm cruising up and down Bank Street. Paths running along the canal lining the neighbourhood are the natural habitat for people pushing baby-joggers, while yapping on their cell phones about Monday’s deadline, and Tuesday’s conference.
Glebeans also appreciate good food, however. Some of Ottawa’s funkiest restaurants line Bank Street. Restaurants of many flavours attract diners from the neiboughood’s discerning and well-heeled residents. For years, Kamal’s offered up-market Lebanese food (Admittedly it did have a take-out counter). Sadly they closed up a few years ago. The Glebe Café, recently renamed Jericho, is another good Lebanese Restaurant. But somehow a traditional shawarma house was not to be found.
The Glebe however is also home to many of Ottawa’s young, if slightly well-to-do students and young couples. Many grand old homes have been converted into trendy apartments. Some banged-up Toyotas and rusting-out Chevies share the streets with the more flashy wheels of their neighbours. Twenty-somethings in ripped jeans and dreadlocks share the sidewalks with the shirt-and-tie set.
It was only a matter of time before a proper shawarmarie moved into the neighbourhood.
Civic Shawarma & Pies sits at the South end of the Glebe, in the block before Lansdowne Park. On a warm August day, the front door was a screened door, the kind you find on a small town general store. I was welcomed by a kind gentleman.
I ordered a mixed platter, but after noticing the huge selection of pies (well it IS Civic Shawarma and PIES) I had to try one of them out. Although Civic offers a nice place to sit and eat, one of the best things about this place is it’s proximity to park space. I took a place on a nearby bench to enjoy my shawarma.
The chicken was a little overcooked. It was a bit dry, and at times almost burnt. The beef was donair meat. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not the biggest fan of donair meat. I prefer what is refered to as beef shawarma. Still it wasn’t bad as donair meat goes. Both chicken and beef were covered in too much sauce. It was okay meat, but not the best.
That’s all the negative stuff you can say about this place however. The potatoes were fantastic. The rice looked bland, but actually was full of aromatic, herbal flavour. What was that!? Cardamom? Anise? The pickles were as good as I have had. The salad was excellent. Olives and slices of red pepper were included in the pickles and salad. Usually a restaurant like this would shy away from providing relatively expensive ingredients like these. And the pie was fantastic, it was topped with fresh tomatoes, sesame seeds, and some sort of brown sauce (maybe balsamic-based?). It was excellent.
In short, the Glebe has a very good shawarmarie. The meat might have shortcomings, but the rest is as good as you can find.
# posted by Ottawa shawarma @ 4:07 AM 
