Amazing and always consistent! Always a pleasure and greeted with a smile by the owner!

Lancaster Shawarma A Review by Hassan Hawash ‘Been ‘ere over 100 times easy’ A step inside this neighbourhood neighbourhood joint is reminiscent of a greasy spoon, in my view, in the very best sense of the term – a place where locals have come to trust for the quality of their lunch time fix which the modest line of those waiting to place an order bears witness to. And locals there were, repeat customers who I engaged in a friendly exchange or two. The first fella I spoke to at the back of the routine lunch queue replied, “oh yeah, it’s good.” “Now that’s a knowing nod of approval,” I remarked back to him. “Yeah, been coming here for years,” in his understated but definitive statement in support of his eatery of choice. Another fella I engaged with echoed the first customers input, “been coming here for years, better than that place up the road.” Curious to know why the preference I pried, ”what sets this place apart from the one up the road?” The fella says, “well, I guess the meat here is less oily and I prefer the taste of the pickles.” Yet another regular informed me that he had just recently moved back to the area and has been to this local take away easily 150 times and especially likes the quality of the hummus. Having heard him say that I felt a little regret realizing I had not included hummus amongst the spread of fixings such as the garlic spread, lettuce, cabbage, onions, pickled turnip, tomato, cucumber, cheese and, of course, the heaping quantity of chicken shawarma, my middle-aged host, originally from Afghanistan, generously shoved into the mouth of the pita. “Oh well”, I optimistically mentioned to the regular, “next time”. True to form, this rival shawarma restaurant is the real deal – very tasty. The chicken reminded me of the taste of the chicken from the day before’ s roast. The fixings were fresh and the hot sauce had just the right amount of kick.