Fun with Hummus!
Greetings! I am RJ, Rarely Ordered’s Middle East correspondent. I was busy cursing Fiel via YM because their Italian review made me hungry when my cousin Sultan asked me if I wanted to grab a bite. We then went to some Indian-operated cafeteria somewhere in Sharjah(read: I have no sense of direction) and ordered food to go.
Chicken Shawarma
Here’s something I learned during my first week here in the Emirates: Authentic shawarma is vastly superior to the ones I had in the Philippines! Having said that, this one easily passed my expectations. The chicken blended well with the garlic mayonnaise while the vegetables and tahini added flavor along with the toasted pita bread. I added some hot sauce for to add some kick. For a very solid dish, I give it solid 8/10.
Roasted Chicken with Garlic Sauce and Hummus(mashed chick pea)
We ate the roasted chicken by placing the chicken meat on pita bread and dipping them on the garlic sauce and Hummus. Hummus, for those who are unfamiliar is a popular dip in the middle east made from mashed chick peas blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and other ingredients. The texture and juiciness of the chicken was very good, but it generally lacked flavor in my opinion. This was remedied by the garlic sauce and hummus. I give this a 7/10.
When I went: Tuesday, July 8, 2008.
Where it is: Al Rawda Cafeteria, Al Falah Camp, Sharjah UAE.
Budget Range: The Roast chicken costs 18 dirhams, a shawarma costs 4 dirhams each. (x12 to convert to PHP).
July 9th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
WHY IS IT SO CHEAP FOR ITS VALUE FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.
Seriously? 48 bucks for AUTHENTIC shawarma THAT size… (Well, by just imagining how it’s actual size would be when looking at the picture…) That is incredible!
Hummus is one of my favorite dips. I would know. We once got a jar for no other reason than to eat it with nachos. I never thought it would go well with chicken!
July 10th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
RJ you have dealt damage back to me by posting this one!
I haven’t had lunch yet as I write this and I feel jealousy towards you as I crave authentic foreign food. boo!
Excellent first entry man!
July 10th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
I must also say that the shawarma which costs 4 dirhams is amazingly cheap - even in my country.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Looks delish!! Good job RJ.
July 12th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Damn it… I’m hungry…
July 13th, 2008 at 1:42 am
The Shawarma isn’t THAT big, I used a relatively small plate.
July 13th, 2008 at 2:00 am
so so so… its an illusion? T_T
July 13th, 2008 at 5:42 am
But for even for something like that, big or small, it’s still very cheap. You’d probably get this for >6 dirhams (or malaysia ringgit) here.
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:14 am
I was saved by Hummus once!!! (not allowed to say what this is about for now)