Shawarma Restaurant In Dearborn

[Kiliano Ratha]

Somepeople have a sweet tooth. Me? I have a shawarma tooth. There are few foods I crave more than a big plate of fresh-off-the-spit (or grill) shawarma. Maybe it's the Lebanese part of my heritage or maybe it's the unmistakable succulence that only shawarma provides. Sadly, I did not grow up with a shawarma spit in my house, but thankfully there were plenty of places serving shawarma relatively close to home.

Shawarma can be prepared a couple of different ways, namely on a rotating spit or on a grill. Though the rotating spit may be considered more authentic, tasty shawarma can be made with either technique. There are times, happens every week to me, where the shawarma craving hits me hard. While I am always up for trying new shawarma spots (tell me your favorites with a comment below), I do have a few go-to spots that I would recommend with confidence.

As you probably know, we have Dearborn, the epicenter for Middle Eastern cuisine and culture outside of the Middle East, in close proximity to us. Warren Avenue, located in Dearborn, is home to a multitude of Middle Eastern restaurants. Simply visiting any of the dozens of restaurants on Warren is a safe bet, but here are a couple must visits:

Al-Ameer recently was recently named one of James Beard's American Classics. Only five restaurants were chosen nationwide, so this was an incredible honor. Over the years, Al-Ameer has grown both in physical size and notoriety. The huge restaurant is quite often filled and for the good reason. While the James Beard Foundation might not be concerned with shawarma specifically, Al-Ameer's version is delightful. A blend of white and dark meat gives the chicken shawarma pleasant texture without drying out. Al-Ameer bakes their own bread, so fill one of those warm, fluffy loaves with a scoop of shawarma, a dollop of toum, and get after it!

Hamido has two locations, one in Dearborn and another in Dearborn Heights. Upon entering, your eyes will quickly notice the two huge spits glistening as they rotate over the fire, one is chicken, the other is meat (usually a mix of beef and lamb). Hamido's chicken shawarma is primarily white meat, but it maintains supreme succulence. In traditional preparations, meat and fat alternate layers on the shawarma spit, which means the meat can cook all day and remain moist. Remember, fat is flavor and the rendered fat is one of the reasons shawarma tastes so good.

You might be surprised to learn that a place with falafel in the name has incredible shawarma, but Rafic's Falafel does shawarma right. Marinated at least 24 hours, Rafic's chicken shawarma is equal parts charred and tender. The sandwich I devoured had three elements: shawarma, pickles, and toum. Given its simple composition, the sandwich was a perfect method to highlight the shawarma and not distract with a multitude of toppings.

The world of food has always been one filled with immigrants; the restaurant scene especially has been, is now, and will continue to be a place where immigrants find widespread opportunities for success. There's something culturally universal about the power of food. Immigrants and their descendants create these restaurants because they're seeking something from their culture, something familiar and achievable, and somewhere where hospitality and kindness can always be found when in a strange land. It's beautiful with a tinge of sadness, and it highlights the complexity of the cultural mixture that is our country.

At your table, there's a bottle of olive oil. With your pita, a dish of pickled turnips and pepperoncini arrives. It's hospitality in simple acts that signal the food here is to be enjoyed. There's nothing on the menu to really surprise anyone. It's the staples of regional cuisine you see at most any similar place: kebabs, shawarma, grape leaves, hummus, and a particularly refreshing lemonade slush. The offerings at Al Saha are simply executed with care and love, and that enables them to offer a better plate of food to each and every guest.

Salads are an interesting way to illustrate the simple differences in regional cuisines, and so it's worth noting that most of the salads on the menu revolve around tomatoes, cucumbers, and simple accompaniments. The Lebanese salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and fresh herbs is only so different from the Arabic salad with tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and parsley; all of these are simple, unique variations on foods that have only been in the region for the last several hundred years. Even the Greek salad still revolves around these nightshade relatives, which flourish in the Mideast's climates. They're a reminder that ultimately, we all eat what we enjoy, and that's much the point: Sit down, and enjoy.

The entrees are reasonably priced, even the lamb chops, and come with portions that border on uncomfortably large. The evidence of a spirit of generosity comes through in making sure your guests never go hungry. The rice is particularly good, which might be an odd compliment unless you think about the meats and vegetables as garnish to a big plate of rice; instead of that vermicelli-and-almonds stuff you find elsewhere, this is cooked with some spices and flavor, and serves as an enjoyable base.

In recent months, a satirical movement known as "Shawarma Law, not sharia law" has gained momentum in Dearborn as activists seek to educate the public about their community through Middle Eastern food. Specifically, Shawarma dinner parties are taking place at local restaurants in a building-bridges effort that seeks to wipe out false stereotypes about Muslims and inform folks about what Metro Detroit's Middle Eastern community is all about.

"You name it, Dearborn has it. Anywhere you go all up and down Dearborn, you see different cuisine, like Sushi. Sushi is all over Dearborn," said Hammoud, who on Saturday hosted a "Shawarma Law, Not sharia law" dinner party at his Sahara Restaurant on Michigan Avenue.

The 31-year-old restaurant owner -- who was born and raised in Dearborn-- served up the popular spit-roasted meat pita roll-up to about a dozen folks who came to to learn about Dearborn -- and enjoy the scrumptious Shawarmas.

Hammoud said he thinks it's important to address misconceptions about Dearborn, which, he has witnessed himself. For example, he recalled working in a Kalamazoo restaurant three years ago,when he overheard a man tell a woman, " 'Don't go to Dearborn. They've got sharia law over there.' "

The 'Shawarma Law' movement is the brainchild of restaurant owner Zahra Ayoub, 42, who a few years ago held up a sign joking that Dearborn was under shawarma law during a visit by controversial anti-Muslim pastor Terry Jones to Dearborn. Her sign also was a response to a 2013 satirical article on the National Report website that said Dearborn had enacted sharia law.

Made with vertical rotisserie meat, usually lamb and beef, the döner is similar to gyro or shawarma, but has a distinct flavor all its own, and is usually served with a garlic yogurt sauce and crispy vegetables like lettuce, tomato and sometimes cabbage, carrot, cucumber or onion.

Most importantly it is served on pide, Turkish flatbread that is crusty and soft, and far more substantial than lavash or pita. The meat, sauce and veggies aren't rolled up into the bread, but stuffed into a triangle-shaped slice of pide.

This restaurant is what started the döner kebab craze in the Detroit area. Owner Juma Ekic has two Balkan House locations; the first opened in Hamtramck in 2019, and a Ferndale outpost debuted shortly after. Ekic and her team also have a few food trailers so they can bring their "taste of Europe" all over Metro Detroit.

The meat is tender, very thinly sliced and well-seasoned, but it's the warm, house-made bread and yogurt-based sauce that really makes this a prime example of döner kebab for me. It's hard to order anything else because the classic döner ($13) is so good, but it's also fantastic as a bowl, which has all the same ingredients as the sandwich, but over rice instead of on bread.

This colorful, hip restaurant is the only full-service one in town serving döner kebab. By that I mean there's a dining room, full bar and they take reservations. One of my picks for the best new restaurants of 2021, Supergeil is still super awesome as it approaches its third year of business.

The bar features Two James Distillery spirits, plus some fun frozen drinks and an interesting reserve spirit list, and the cuisine is a blend of European and Middle Eastern. The thinly sliced lamb and beef döner is lovely, with warm, crusty pide, a garlic-y sauce, a spicy sauce and crunchy cucumber, tomato and lettuce. They also have a creative eggplant version with tomato, an apricot sauce, mint and tahini.

My favorite, however, is the chicken curry döner, which will hit the spot when you have a curry craving. It comes with garlic sauce, cucumber, tomato and lettuce, plus zhoug, a spicy cilantro sauce that is tasty but not overpowering. Sandwiches run $15-$17.

Carnivores, do not leave Supergeil without ordering the Georgian soup dumplings (dinner menu only). These beef and pork balls with broth are wrapped in a thick dough and served in threes, steaming hot, on a bed of sour cream, sliced pickles and dill.

The Döner Shawarma's sandwiches are sold as beef, chicken or a vegetarian version with fries, plus lettuce, tomato, pickled red cabbage, onion and two sauces all stuffed into a triangle-cut loaf. The bread is crispy on the outside (it's pressed on a grill), soft on the inside, and dotted with two kinds of sesame seeds. This one sandwich ($10.49-$14.49) could easily feed two people.

As the name implies, this late-night food stand also has beef and chicken shawarma sandwiches and serves döner as a sandwich, a bowl over rice or as a burger with jalapenos and Doritos on top. The whole menu here is halal. Order at the window or call or order ahead online.

Briefly: Heidelberg Restaurant & Bar in Ann Arbor had a chicken döner sandwich on its menu, but the restaurant is currently revamping its kitchen and is running a limited pub menu for the time being.

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