Shawarma Snack Center

*reposted from my old Multply blog dated August '07.

Alladin???Not!!!

Well, our magic carpet took us into this hidden joint in the heart of Ermita. If you are not familiar with this or haven’t heard about this place, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t easily notice this place.

Last weekend, we dropped a visit to this hidden shawarma joint in Ermita which serves delicious but cheap mid-east food. Actually, this is the third time that my girlfriend and I went here to have a good mideast chow.

Let’s take a look at the resto.

First of all, the place is simply called SSC or in its lengthened form, Shawarma Snack Center. As you go inside this one, you will notice a cozy place complete with glass tables and sofa sets enough for you to relax and unwind will having your chow. The place is owned by a Jordanian couple. I learned that the husband is the Jordanian while his wife is the Filipina. I noticed this when I asked the waiter about the owner since the place has a portrait of the late King Hussein of Jordan and the current His Majesty King Abdullah II.There is also a huge Jordanian flag draping in the staircase of the resto. The original resto is situated just across the street. It is quite smaller but they serve the same food. We chose to visit the annex since it's more spacious and well airconditioned.The menu of the resto is so diverse. They offer a wide array of different mid-east dishes from kebab to shawarma to lahem and baqlawa desserts. When we went here, we always order their specialty which are the kebab and of course, the shawarma.

First of all, the shawarma is a pita sandwich roll stuffed with chopped tomatoes, onions plus a choice of beef, chicken or lamb. No pork option since muslims consider it as non-halal food hehe! This food is endemic from the region of Persia(modern-day Iran) up to North Africa and coming back to Turkey and Greece. Greeks call their shawarma, GYROS. Their shawarma was served very good! It passed my expectations since the balance between the onions and tomatoes versus the meat is right. Their chef didn’t use the tomatoes and onions as extenders so that they can minimize their meat serving. The meat portion is so generous you can feel the meat chunk in every bite. Their meat is roasted to perfection. It has the right balance of spices and the meat is not dry but juicy and sumptuous. The pita bread toasted right also since it is not burnt. You may opt to eat the shawarma by itself since it is so tasty and delicious but for those people who are searching for a spicy twist, you may add the garlic mayo sauce or the blended red chili sauce. Their garlic sauce also tastes good. It is perfect for garnishing any mid east dishes that the resto offers. To have a more spicy twist, you can opt to spread some red chili paste to your sandwich. However, I would suggest that you might want to try to have a combination of these two sauces since it really damn tastes good! Filipinos would say ‘….may sipa…’.

Next stop, the kebab. Like the shawarma, the kebab is served and eaten from Persia up to Greece and Turkey. A kebab is a meat dish that is seasoned with spices, skewered then roasted in an open grill. This may come in a ground meat or a beef chunk serving. Here in SSC, the kebab is served in three sticks but they serve it un-skewered already. The kebab dish comes with the usual roasted whole tomatoes and red onion. It also comes with a condiment of chopped tomatoes, onions, cucumber and lettuce seasoned with pepper. The dish is delicious since they have it roasted to perfection. In all the three times that we paid visit to this place, I haven’t seen a burnt kebab or a portion of it that is burnt. The meat is not dry but juicy. The spice blend is also good. It is not bland nor too much spicy. As a patron, you may opt to choose varieties of the kebab. You can choose from the ground beef kebab, to Shish kebab to chicken tikka kebab(spiced chicken breast) to prawn and seafood kebab.If you want to try a sampler, I suggest that you order the mix platter kebab. This consists of a ground beef kebab, beef tenderloin chunk kebab and chicken tikka kebab.You may eat the kebab with its complimentary Pita bread or you can order a rice if you’re a rice person. You can also eat the kebab by itself since it is so tasty but you can always try it with my personal favorite of mixed garlic mayo and red chili.

For beverages, we ordered our favorite of watermelon shake. The watermelon shake is generously served with a good amount of blended watermelon. The drink is not like an ‘ice-with-a-hint-o-watermelon’ but like a ‘watermelon-with-a-hint-of-ice’. This is the perfect topper to my mid-east dinner.

Shisha or water pipe is also available here. The joint offers a shisha section where you can order a shisha. I haven’t tried the shisha so I cannot provide a feedback about it.The joint also offers a carpeted area with pillows where you can unwind and relax while eating your Arabic mezze or dinner or simply puffing your shisha while chatting with your folks. When we went there, there were a few Arabs who were lounging in the carpet and eating their baqlawa(mid-east cream puff).

Overall, the dinner costs us less than 500 Php. Pretty cheap but damn sure that the food is very delicious. This is also an authentic place since most of its patrons are mid-eastern folks. If you’re lucky, you can have a free taste of their delicatessen. During one of our visits, we were fortunate to have a free sample of their pickled olives. The pickled olives taste like ‘KIMCHIed olive’. I think it is marinated in olive oil with red chili. They might come as a good condiment to eat with your meal or you can have it like a ‘pika-pika’ or an appetizer. Next time, I pray that we can have a free sample of the Baqlawa so I can compare it with the other restaurants that serve it. I plan to come back to this place more often to try their other different dishes.

So what are you waiting for, hop-in to your camel and have a ride towards this oasis of good mid-eastern chow.

Shawarma Snack Center is located at R. Salas Street, Ermita, Manila