shawarma is sh*t

no shawarmas were harmed in the making of this opinion.

before you close this tab...relax.

This is not a hate post. I love shawarma, I've built my many of my evenings around it. Bengaluru loves shawarma too. Late nights, afterparty hunger, or one of those weeks where your bank balance is more of a suggestion. It's reliable. It's comforting. It shows up when nothing else is open. But I also grew up eating shawarma from it's very birthplace, the Middle East. Once you've had that version, you start noticing small things and details in every bite. Like...why is there a cabbage in here? who invited a truckload of mayonnaise? and why is it wrapped in 3 blankets of rumali roti? Don't get me wrong, not bad food, just confused food. Somewhere along the way shawarmas here started doing the most. More fillings, more sauces, bigger portions, louder flavours.

so what constitutes a good shawarma you ask?

Call me the Gordon Ramsay of shawarmas but a real shawarma does NOT need that kind of validation. Well-marinated meat, slow-roasted for hours, shaved fresh, couple of pickles for balance, two fries (not a handful, not a packet, but TWO). Garlic sauce or hummus to bring it all together. Bread that knows it's job and does it well. That's it, the simplicity and minimalism that goes into a tasteful shawarma. The benchmark for me will always be Mama Noura in Riyadh. It didn't need to impress me, it showed up and did it's thing. Honestly, might've ruined me for life. Now, for our first suggestion, Bengaluru has a shawarma joint that closely comes to just that. King of Taste, Kammanahalli gets this. It feels intentional, the bread makes sense, the meat is perfect and nothing feels unoriginal. Get the Hummus Shawarma and you will not regret it.