Comments on: The Chronicles of Shawarma: Book I

By: dan

dan — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 01:02:04 +0000

Sorry to hear that Carlos, but I really doubt it had much to do with their food – especially when you say you had a lot to drink.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:45:35 +0000

I eat Demashk’s shawarmas for a week, then had a lot to drink one night, puked, and never tasted middle eastern food again. I don’t know if it was Demashk, the food, the drinks or the mix, but I can’t stand the smell of smashed eggplant and humus all of a sudden.
Too bad, I was addicted to it.

By: dan

dan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:06:40 +0000

I must admit I’m surprised that you found it difficult to locate Arab, or Middle Eastern restaurants here. With a Middle Eastern population of a couple of hundred thousand within BA itself, and over a million in the country as a whole, there seem to be a large number of the restaurants throughout the city. Of course, I wouldn’t vouch for authenticity – as you noted, the place on Lavalle isn’t – while I didn’t note the level of authenticity, I think I made it pretty clear I wasn’t impressed, no? If you didn’t follow up on this post, there are four more that continue the “series”, you can also see the roundup of all of them on this page.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:41:06 +0000

Having grown up in Saudi Arabia I am a huge fan of shwarmas!! When I got here I found it surprisingly hard to locate Arab restaurants. There were only two that I discovered early on–one the one you mentioned on Lavalle, which I feel you neglected to mention is terrible and completely unathentic. I was bitterly disappointed, but then found one a little closer to home on Monroe (altura about 3500, don’t remember exactly)–it’s just a takeout, and I have to say the shwarmas were once again disappointing, much more akin to fajitas! So when I was told of Scalibrini Ortiz (could almost be called Arab Av.) I was excited, and trying the falafel sandwich at Haysam confirmed this. Delicious! In fact, I have yet to try the shwarma there because i’ve always been lured back by the falafel. And I for one love the atmosphere! For me, hole in the walls automatically feel more authentic, and there’s no denying the smell coming from their bathroom is authentic Just don’t sit close to it. Great reviews though.

By: SaltShaker » Blog Archive » What Happened in 1893?

SaltShaker » Blog Archive » What Happened in 1893? — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:05:02 +0000

[...] I could easily have eaten the 6 piece one myself. We left hungry, and, walked the 9 blocks down to Haysam where we sat and had a shawarma and some kebbe – the former being raised up a notch or so [...]

By: SaltShaker » Blog Archive » The Chronicles of Shawarma: Book IV

SaltShaker » Blog Archive » The Chronicles of Shawarma: Book IV — Sun, 17 May 2009 04:19:09 +0000

[...] requires getting to and paying the entrance fee to Tierra Santa. I think this space just edges out Demashk, if for no other reason than its spectacular sauce. The meat is juicy and well seasoned, a good [...]