1 /5 Lin lio: I was genuinely excited to try this place because I’ve been craving Mediterranean food. I was married to an Israeli for eight years and even dated an executive chef from Israel at one point, so I’m very familiar with authentic chicken shawarma and traditional Israeli flavors.This restaurant would be the closet thing to it. Unfortunately, my experience here was extremely disappointing.
I arrived around 5 PM, and the restaurant was nearly empty—maybe two or three customers waiting. I ordered a simple bowl with cilantro pesto, hummus, Israeli salad, arugula, and chicken shawarma. What I received, as shown in my photos, was essentially the leftover scrapings from the bottom of the shawarma pan. Instead of fresh, carved chicken, I was served dried-out pieces that looked like what should have been discarded.
For $20, I received a tiny portion of chicken, maybe two spoons of hummus topped with the watery juices of Israeli salad, soggy arugula mixed with feta, and cilantro pesto. To make it worse, it took them 20 minutes to assemble a bowl that was clearly an easy prep and later to be sitting on the counter. As I watched, it became obvious they had run out of fresh shawarma and chose to give me the scraps rather than simply ask if I was willing to wait for the next batch.
The portion size was unacceptable for the price, and the quality was nowhere near what authentic Mediterranean food should be. On top of that, being asked for a tip before receiving any service or seeing the food is frustrating and, honestly, something I believe needs to stop—especially when the meal and service don’t come close to justifying it.
Needless to say, I left disappointed, and I do not plan on returning.
The picture show what I got when I received the one with the two forks is the day after and the nice pictures are what Real Shawarma chicken pieces should look like FYI
