Last week my friend and I had quite a food filled day, we both felt like eating something light for dinner and preferably vegetarian. We ended up at Nuba on East 3rd Ave.

We sat at the bar because we didn’t want to wait for a table, and decided to just get a couple things for dinner. We ordered a couple things to share: Chicken Shish Tawook and Vegan Meshwi.

These dishes were quite small for entrees. The Chicken Shish Tawook had 2 chicken breast skewers and it’s served on top of a bed of hummus and avocado, as well as some picked vegetables. The chicken was very nice. It was juicy and had nice bbq char on them. It really enjoyed the green chutney it came with as well.

I loved the Vegan Meshwi. It had 2 skewers of grilled onions, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and red peppers. I especially enjoyed the cherry tomatoes, they were sweet, juicy, with a bit of tanginess. These skewers were served on top of a bed of hummus and taboulleh. There was a nice balance of heartiness (grilled vegetables) and freshness (taboulleh) in this dish.

Their bold flavours and their portion control made me leave the place feeling completely satisfied, yet not overly stuffed. Great place to check out.

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Nuba
146 3rd Ave E
Vancouver, BC V5T1C8

After a decent Dine Out at Baru, I decided to also grab a shawarma plate across the street from Mac Falafel. Why? Because I’m stupid. I went in and ordered a chicken shawarma plate for $6. Really cheap price. The place wasn’t busy at all, and they  had the chicken sitting around in warming containers. One thing that kind of caught me off guard was when she asked what kind of salad dressing I want. At first I was thinking, what? Salad dressing on the tabouleh? Then I noticed that it was just a regular lettuce salad, and you could choose from a variety of standard salad dressings.

What I really look forward to when I order the shawarma plate is the tabouleh, hummus, meat and rice. If it doesn’t have one of either the tabouleh or the hummous, I guess it’s OK, but not including both of those is pretty bad. Well anyways, it was only $6, and I had to bring it home to eat.

The salad and rice was pretty standard. Ice berg lettuce salad with a tomatoes, and a nice house dressing. The chicken however wasn’t very good. It was pretty tough because it was sitting in the warmer for I don’t know how long. Some pieces were still moist, but the majority was dry. Also there was a slightly burnt and bitter taste that was on the chicken. The bad flavour was probably multiplied by the black peppers and the spicy sauce. Not good at all. I’d say it’s the second worst shawarma platter I’ve had. Maybe I should stop going when these places aren’t busy so that the meat would most likely be fresher.

PS. What’s with the name?

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Mac Falafel
3685 W 10th Ave
Vancouver, BC

(604) 739-4403

Nuba. A really popular Lebanese restaurant with 3 locations. We went to the highest rated one-the one in Gastown on West Hastings & Cambie, which I’ve walked past a bunch of times recently. I made sure to go with a bunch of my friends because I knew I wanted to try a bunch of things on the menu. We just ordered lots of share plates and appetizers but weren”t able to order any of the entrees. We got the fire-grilled halloumi cheese, najib’s special, chicken tawook, lamb kibbeh sainieh, lamb hushwie, tomato confit & macedonian feta, and le grande feast which comes with another chicken tawook, skewered prawns, lamb chops, and some tabbouleh, baba ghanooj, and hummus.

I started off with a Red Sangria. It was OK, but I wish it was more fruity, and had more fruits in my drink. We were also served cucumber water which was different but also good and refreshing. At first, I was like, what was that flavour? Did they clean the cups? Then my friend pointed out that there was cucumbers floating in the pitchers.

My favourite dishes were the chicken tawook ($7.50), najib’s special ($6.75), tomato & feta cheese ($8.00), lamb kibbeh sainieh ($7.00), and the lamb chop from le grande feast. The chicken was the probably the moistest, juiciest chicken I’ve ever had. It was really good. It had nice spices and a nice crisp skin. The najib’s special was seasoned cauliflower with tahini. This packed a lot of flavour, with a nice mix of middle eastern spices. It may have been cooked a bit longer, though as some pieces were really dark. The tomato & feta cheese was nice and refreshing. The cheese had a consistency similar to firm tofu and was a nice contrast to the warm tomato. The lamb kibbeh sainieh were ground lamb patties with a good mix of spices. Very tender and a bunch of flavour. The lamb chops looked a bit burnt, but were really not. Cooked to a medium, it was very juicy.

I didn’t like the halloumi cheese much as it was way too acidic for my tastes. It seemed like a mix of cream cheese and yogurt. Not sure why it was considered “fire-grilled”. I didn’t like the lamb hushwie much either. It was served on a pile of hummus, and the lamb, but I found the meat a bit tough and stringy.

The trio of cold sides/dips – the baba ghanooj, hummus, and tabbouleh with a bunch of pita bread. Separately they’d cost $7, $6, and $6 respectively, but these ones came with our grande feast. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything to special about these either. I found them to be a bit bland.

Now that I think about it, the dishes are quite pricy. We spent $17-$25 depending on if we ordered drinks or not, and I wasn’t overly full, but was satisfied. I’d come back to try out the mains for sure, which are all under $20, though I’m not sure what the portion sizes are. Some of the dishes were really good, some were misses.

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Nuba
207 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

(604) 688-1655

http://www.nuba.ca

Falafel Maison is a little Middle Eastern restaurant beside the new Japadog on Robson. It’s really small, and I think I just normally walk past it without noticing it. But my friend lives close by and he recommended the place. I was impressed.

Another friend of mine told me to try a shawarma plate next time I go to this type of place, and I’m glad I did. It was so good, and very filling. I ordered the Shawarma plate here for $8.50 which doesn’t seem too expensive. It came with a nice flavoured rice, chicken with two sauces on it, tabbouleh, hummous, and some pita bread. I loved everything, as they all complimented each other well.

I could’ve created my own mini shawarma’s but I was too lazy. I just wanted to eat. So I just took a bite of this, and a bite of that, and I loved every bite of it. The chicken was nice and tender, and well flavoured. They had a white sauce, and a red sauce. I’m not sure what the white is, but the red sauce definitely added some nice heat to it. The rice was nice and fluffy. It had a middle eastern flavour to it, and I really liked it. This was also my first time having tabbouleh, which is kind of like a parsley salsa. It was very fresh and had a bit of acidity to it. It went well with the meat. The hummous was very good as well. It was cold, and had a pretty creamy texture to it. I tried to get a bit of everything in my mouth at the same time to get all the wonderful flavours in my mouth. I was very full by the end of my meal, but I was happy that it tasted so good. I’d definitely get this again.

My friend ordered the shawarma sandwich, which is basically what you would get at a donair shop. What’s the difference? I don’t really know what the difference between a Gyro, Donair, or Shawarma. I’m sure there is, but I don’t know. I guess I should look it up before I look like more of a food noobie. All I know is that I really like them. His shawarma sandwich ran for $6.50, and filled him up as well. They aren’t as big as the one’s at Donair Affair, but it used the same meat, so it was just as good as what I had.

The girl working there didn’t really seem like she wanted to be there though. She didn’t seem very friendly.

Falafel Maison
516 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

(604) 647-6450

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I visited Babylon Cafe right after my horrible experience at Tsunami Sushi. And this place saved my night.

Babylon Cafe is a very tiny falafel/shawarma restaurant located right at the intersection of Granville and Robson Street in downtown Vancouver. I think this place has its own little following, because there is always people lining up whenever I walk pass it. I ordered a falafel wrap ($4.95) and my friend ordered a chicken wrap ($5.95). Soon after I ordered, 4 people came to line up behind me instantly.

It is like when you go to Subway, where you order and you watch them make your food. So after we ordered, we were left there watching our wraps being made. They do not skimp out on the meat! As my friend puts it, ‘when he put the chicken on my wrap, my eyes were smiling because he kept on going!‘ You may choose your own toppings for your wrap, I went for everything. The falafals in my wrap were giant, and very flavorful, the amount of spicy sauce was just right. However the whole wrap all together was a little on the dry side, I would ask for extra tzatziki sauce next time.

After we paid, and tried to leave, one of the dudes lining up behind me had to walk out of the restaurant in order for me to get out. That’s how tiny the place is. The lamb wrap here is really popular, and they sell out fast. One of the guys lining up behind me tried to order it, but he didn’t have any luck. Overall the food was really tasty, and the portion is very generous. It’s a good place for a quick lunch or a quick bite to eat. Although I was a bit turned off by them using the microwave to heat up my falafals, this is still one of the few fast food places I would return.

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Babylon Cafe
716 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z1A1
Tel: (604) 677-3522