If anyone's still sitting on the fence, here's the review I wrote a while back. Also, I take back my comment about Shawarma Time as a first date.
Anyone who can handle shawarma is a catch. (laughs)
616 Ellice Avenue
(204) 774-2109
Oh, the years of my life that I wasted before eating at Shawarma Time!
I’d noticed this restaurant’s fantastic name months before I got around to trying its food, and I try not to think too hard about the many weeks of my first few years at University of Winnipeg where I chose to dine in the cafeteria (shudder) or Subway instead.
After moving back to the West End, though, it’s a whole ‘nother story!
I hit up Shawarma Time about once a month or so, sometimes more frequently because it’s like crack. Granted, our great city has very few shawarma offerings - the other being Baraka Pita Bakery on Main Street - but Shawarma Time has very rarely failed me.
It’s a little family-owned Lebanese restaurant on the corner of Ellice and Maryland, plastered with good reviews, and usually full of regulars. A husband and wife team man the counter and they’re always ready with a smile. They’ve been good to me in the past, donating a prize to my fundraiser, and they still recognized me after a year-long absence.
The restaurant tends to be warm in the spring until the air conditioning gets turned on for the summer. The three upright spits radiate heat as they slowly cook the shawarma. Three kinds can be found here, chicken, beef, and beef/lamb combination. Each have their own distinct flavouring, with chicken being the lightest and tangiest, while I find the beef to be very deep and rich. It’s one of the few restaurants where I find lamb to be enjoyable, with absolutely no gamey taste.
If it’s your first visit and you are a meat-eater, you can’t go wrong with a fresh shawarma. Save one or two occasions (where I got a discount), the meat’s always shaved off fresh, slid into a large pita, topped with garlic mayonnaise, hot chili sauce, tomatoes, lettuce, and pickled turnip (yum!), and finally pressed for a little more stability in a sandwich press. Be forewarned, this is not the place for a first date! If you’re like me, you’ll order your shawarma spicy, which means lots of chili oil that drips all over your sandwich, fingers, and maybe the arms and table. Lots of napkins are necessary!
I’ve also had the fries (freshly cut and fried, so expect a long wait), hummus (wouldn’t order it again), baba ganoush (good), stuffed grape leaves (oily), fuul (not for me), and falafel (good).
Love this place.
