Royal Rooster Shawarma

We (my teen son and I) were picking up some food for takeout as we heard that this was the place for "authentic" shawarma. We have tried many different varieties of shawarma (lebanese, syrian, turkish, afghani, persian) so we were excited. We each had the Saj platter - he had the chicken and I had the lamb. We also ordered the French chicken sandwich for my husband. Now we were familiar with Saj bread (as we used to get it fresh from Shami's bakery in Convent glen, but they later started ordering it from Montreal). I asked the owner if they made it fresh, but he seemed evasive so I had my doubts. They loaded up all sandwiches with the garlic sauce, lettuce, tomato, pickles. The platters came with more pickles, a small container of garlic sauce, coated fries and creamy coleslaw (a mixture of creamy mayo, carrot and green cabbage). I wasn't a total fan of the coleslaw as I prefer the vinaigrette-based varieties, but it was ok, my teen son loved it). The Saj sandwiches were then sliced into 2 inch wide pieces, while it made for a nice presentation, made it very awkward to eat. They would be further ahead if they just sliced it in half. The meat was tender and mildly seasoned. The coated fries were ok, nothing special. My husband's toasted sandwich was basically a shawarma on a french baguette. He was a little shocked at the price for the amount of food - he expected more, although he said it was tasty. He has had larger sandwiches (from Shawarma palace, and Garlic king) for about the same price. The pickles tasted ok, but they were not to my liking. My teen son loved them. I also ordered a slice of pistachio baklava, which was very dry and not as flaky or flavourful as other ones I have tried (the best is at Greek plus in Convent Glen). I would like to try the chicken plate to taste their rice and potatoes. Overall, I would give this place another try, but the kid who initially served us was unusually quiet (I am not sure if his English was particularly strong or if he was still very new to the job), making it hard sometimes to make sure that our order was taken clearly and properly. Make sure you speak up and be patient, we were waiting for our order for about 20 minutes :-)

Most authentic shawarma in Ottawa. Worth the wait and worth every penny

If you’re looking for the standard Lebanese shawarma, like that of Shawarma palace or Prince, then this isn’t the spot for you.

It’s an entirely different sandwich as they use a Syrian style bread (much thinner) and the spices on the rice / potatoes are completely different.

We got a chicken platter and chicken sandwich and really enjoyed it. The chicken was tender however the potatoes were a bit old.

The staff were very friendly, in fact he gave me a free cup of their yogurt drink to try as I had never had it!

Cool ‘insta’ vibe atmosphere.

I honestly expected better shawarma. I tried the mixed plate and the lamb shawarma and chicken shawarma on another visit. I was disappointed that each time, the lamb squewer had barely any meat left on it and ended up dry. The chicken was okay, a little dry also. The place is very clean and nice and the atmosphere is great.