What shawarma is, and what else is on the menu

Shawarma

Shawarma is meat stacked on a vertical spit and cooked slowly against an open flame, then carved off the outside in thin slices as it turns. The outside crisps, the inside stays moist, and the slices come off a little different every time depending on where they were on the stack.

We carve two: chicken, slow-cooked over an open fire and served with pickles and garlic sauce, and Black Angus beef, served with grilled tomatoes, onions and tahini. You can have either as a wrap in flatbread, in a bowl over smoked rice, or on a plate.

Shawarma, gyro and döner — the same idea, three kitchens

They share a method: meat on a turning vertical spit, carved to order. The differences are in the seasoning and what comes with it. Döner is the Turkish version and the oldest of the three. Gyro is the Greek one, usually served with tzatziki. Shawarma is the Levantine one — the eastern Mediterranean, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria — and it is the one seasoned with the warm spice mix you taste here, served with tahini, garlic sauce and pickles rather than yoghurt and cucumber.

If you have only ever had a gyro, shawarma will taste familiar in shape and quite different in flavour.

Off the grill

Kufta kebab is minced meat seasoned with herbs and spices, pressed onto a skewer and grilled — we do it with meat or with chicken. Shish tawook is marinated chicken in cubes, grilled on a skewer, and is the mildest thing on the grill if you are ordering for someone cautious.

The dips, and what they actually are

• Hummus — chickpeas puréed with lemon and sesame paste.
• Muhammara — roasted red peppers, walnuts, breadcrumbs, olive oil and pomegranate molasses. Sweet, smoky, a little hot.
• Muthawama — garlic whipped with lemon into a thick fluffy dip. Assertive. Made with egg white, so not vegan.
• Baba ghanouj — roasted eggplant with sesame paste. Ours is blended with yogurt, so it is not vegan.
• Yalanji — vine leaves rolled around rice, vegetables and herbs with olive oil, served cold.

Nine dishes on the menu are vegan, including the hummus, muhammara, yalanji, falafel and the salads — see the full menu for which.

Worth knowing about

• Falafel — ground chickpeas and herbs, deep fried, with tahini. Vegan, and the thing to order if you want to try the kitchen without meat.
• Meat arayes — minced meat with onion, tomato and herbs stuffed into the pita and grilled, so the bread crisps in the fat. Not widely sold around here.
• Fried kibbeh — bulgur wheat shells hand-formed around seasoned ground meat and pine nuts, then fried.
• Fattoush — the salad with sumac, lemon and pomegranate molasses; tabouleh is the parsley one, with bulgur and tomato.

Halal

We buy only halal meat. Certification for the kitchen is in progress.