Shawarma is shawarma, right? Wrong.
And don’t get us started on doner. That spinning log of mystery meat might fill a guilty space after the pub, but shawarma is a cut above, a thing of genuine beauty.
But not all shawarma is created equal. The Syrian-style, as seen at Shawarma Abo Al Abed on the Curry Mile, is something else.
While many lesser joints will buy in a ready-stacked skewer of layered, spiced chicken or lamb, here they layer up 150 chicken breasts daily, a feat of engineering, pressed down with a weight once complete.
This family business, run by father and son Nidhal and Osama, as well as manager … and expert shawarma carver Ismail, is not just about great food but what Nidhal calls a ‘universal language’.
“[Food] is a bridge,” says Nidhal. “A bridge of communication with other people.”
He also says it’s a privilege that the family – and the staff here are very much included in their extended family – get to meet people of all cultures, all meeting to break bread together.
“One of the best things about this street is that you can meet so many people from different origins. It’s one of the things, really, that we feel proud of.”
They should.
Seasoned shawarma chef Ismali is usually seen through the window, going the extra mile to make this among the best sandwiches in the city.
The lamb or chicken is scythed from the kebab spit, and then the several-stage construction begins.
There’s the homemade garlic sauce – Ismali makes litres of it every day – and then the homemade pickles, fresh Arabic salad and chilli sauce. The Lebanese-style flatbread is then wrapped around it all, dipped in the chicken fat and sealed with a flaming flourish on the kebab grill.
Then a second, thinner bread is dipped in the chicken juices before being wrapped around the shawarma and pressed on the hotplate with a weight to be toasted again.
The result is an extra layer of crispy bread, adding texture. It’s a miraculous sandwich.
Meanwhile, next to it, Arabic style rotisserie chickens are bronzing in the hot box, slowly rotating and getting slowly more appetising.
You can order a whole or a half, snipped from the rotating bars with shears and then given a final press down on the grill.
Falafel, is of course, made in house. To do anything else would simply be an outrage, Osama says. The fatayer and crispy ‘broast’ – pressure fried – chicken are worth trips on their own merits too.
This is homely food. Grab a table in the back and join the family.
Sounding tempting? You can order Shawarma Abo al Abed through Uber Eats. You’ll be able to get buy one get one free on shawarma wraps as well as 25% off whole roasted chickens until Wednesday 3 September.
Shawarma abo Al abed, 89 Wilmslow Rd, Rusholme, Manchester M14 5SU
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