Hello, good evening, WELCOME!

So I ran a poll (see last post) asking which eatery I should review next – the choices were Shawarma Grill, in the city’s sexy southern district, or The Partick Kebab Van, in the city’s up-and-coming “west end”. The poll was close, but here was the final result, and the vote was binding.

In a vote almost as close as the vote on whether or not we should do a brexit, you voted in your… well, numbers aren’t important. 15 people voted. Let’s move on.

You may have noticed two things by this point – one, that the title of this post isn’t “The Partick Keban Van, Partick, the up-and-coming West End”, and thirdly, that the picture of the place being reviewed isn’t a picture of the Partick Kebab Van. What kind of an affront to democracy is this? WHY AM I IGNORING THE PARTICK KEBAB VAN’S CLEAR DEMOCRATIC MANDATE TO GET A REVIEW, HUH?

Well, shortly after the poll went up, I got this comment on the Shawarma Police Facebook page (it’s basically this website, but you only get the first few words – the BEST WORDS – and the photo. And occasionally other stuff.)

What kind of democrat would I have been to ignore a clear expression of intent on the wrong platform? This young man was disenfranchised by not having a Twitter account, something which in 2020 seems more and more reasonable, lets face it. So I allowed it, and that put the vote at eight votes each. A tie!

This, alas, wasn’t the actual reason why Shawarma Grill’s getting a review at the expense of the Kebab Van on Beith Street. The actual, factual reason – it was shut. I went up there, only to find they shut at 5pm these days, and aren’t open at the weekend. Due to the day job, this makes visiting this place near impossible, but I shall try to get up there one lunchtime soon and make amends.

Anyway, this post is about Shawarma Grill, which is well overdue a review in any case – 1) there is no ambiguity about this place – it’s a Grill, that sells Shawarma. The fact that this website has been going for about 5 years and I’ve only mentioned it in passing, if at all, is a massive oversight on my part. 2) – FRESH MEAT EVERY DAY. I don’t know if this is a dig at some of their rivals – the perceived implication being that if they use fresh meat every day, some other guys don’t – but it’s certainly reassuring, and well worth advertising on a big massive neon sign.

But big signs with large illuminated writing on aren’t enough. This is 2020. We’ve seen everything, and frankly I wouldn’t blame you if you just walked by. Big neon sign – big deal. The letters should at least change colour or something, and that FRESH MEAT EVERY DAY message should move in a scrolling pattern, right?

At 10 of an evening, no matter how much you’ve had to drink (and as you will guess by the shoddy camerawork, drink had been taken), there’s no missing this place. We see now that the full message is “USE FRESH MEAT EVERY DAY”, which if I’m honest changes the message entirely – what was a reassuring message about the food now seems to be a sinister threat. But I digress.

The wrap itself was very good. When I visited, they only had chicken left as is pretty standard for a late night visit to anywhere, frankly. Quickly made but not rushed, the salad on this one was pretty comprehensive – both a spicy and creamy sauce was applied to the usual suspects (cabbage, tomato, cucumber, and olives!) and it was served in foil, which is always a nice touch. Taste wise, the meat certainly was fresh, and there was a lot of it! Not too greasy and some considerable bite to it, I would sincerely put Shawarma Grill in the same league as the likes of Shawarma King in town, or the two Kurdish/Kurdistan places in Govanhill – it ticks all the right boxes. Pricewise – I was charged a fiver for this, which came as a bit of a shock, as only last month the big flashy sign was advertising it at £4. Perhaps the electricity bill arrived in the interim. That said, it’s easily worth a fiver, so why not? Locally, Beirut Star sell a similar wrap that’s about half the size for about £4.50, so it’s still a good deal. Should you ever find yourself in Cessnock, I’d thoroughly recommend the place. Just be sure to bring sunglasses.

Shawarma Grill, Paisley Road West, Glasgow. Near Cessnock Subway Station.

Chicken Shawarma Wrap, £5.

9/10