The first time I had schwarma, I was in my first year of university. It was at La Zeez (now Pita Land), a small fast-food schwarma joint close to my university residence. I don’t remember much about my first schwarma, other than it didn’t compel me to have it again. The closest I would come to having a schwarma for the rest of the school year was the Extreme Pita kiosk in the residence cafeteria.
That summer I went with my friend Alex to Université Laval on the EXPLORE program to learn French. By the time we arrived in Ste Foy, it was late and we hadn’t eaten. We walked past the set of three malls next to the campus, half exploring, half desperate for a meal. The only place that was open, was Beyrouth Cité, a 24-hour Lebanese restaurant. The man who worked the night shift dressed like a pirate, blared Middle Eastern techno music and gave us generous doses of garlic mayonnaise, or “mayo magique.” His persona was too weird to be normal, too real to be a gimmick, but either way we ate it up. And it was delicious.
(Prepare for old, slightly embarassing picture)
Some of my best memories of Québec City involve schwarma and this man (pictured center.) He had whetted my appetite for schwarma but I needed to find a place in Toronto that could sustain it.
Wrap & Grab
618 Yonge Street/ 416-915-7482
Wrap & Grab was a big part of my life in second year. It used to be located at Yonge and College, which made it close enough from campus for lunch and on route to the streetcar ride home. This summer they moved to a new location at Yonge and St. Joseph (one block north of Wellesley) but I still find myself making the trip. $6.99 buys you 2 schwarmas, chicken or beef, but I don’t go there for the price. I pass at least 10 schwarma places on the walk from school to Wrap & Grab but I doubt any can do the schwarma this kind of justice.
Their schwarma is, in a word, godly. The meat is freshly cut and expertly seasoned. Opt for the hot sauce, it’s the flavourful kind of spicy, not hot. Personally, when I remember I pass on the hummus and ask for extra garlic. Maybe eating schwarma lets me relive Québec, or maybe I’m just partial to those flavours–either way, it tastes amazing.
