All About The Shawarma

I’ve enjoyed meals at several Middle Eastern restaurants since I have been working in the Dearborn area and never really had a bad experience. However, after a while, every place almost has similar flavors. So being surround by a sea of Middle Eastern cuisine, how do you find that “one place” that sets itself apart? One such place is on Warren, Ave.

Since I have been working in the area, there is still one place that has been recommended to me several times, but I have never made it there. Today was the day though, because I was in a mood for a Shawarma and Tuhamas has a reputation of having some of the best Shawarmas in the area; I needed to experience myself if they lived up to this claim.

If you drive through certain areas in Dearborn, you are going to find a Middle Eastern restaurant or market at just about every corner; Warren Ave is one of these areas. So when going to Tuhamas, you have to be very careful, as it is really easy to miss; I didn’t even see a sign.

As soon as I walked in, I realized that Tuhamas was definitely not known for their ambiance and environment. The place is definitely outdated and very small; it seats no more than 15 people and the only obstacle blocking the kitchen is a counter. But you quickly come to realize that ambiance doesn’t matter so much as soon as you see and smell the stacks of seasoned meat and chicken sitting on their rotating spits in the kitchen. For a foodie and meat lover, it’s a great site to see.

The menu board was filled with many great items, such as, shish kafta, shish tawook, and shish kabob made to go in a sandwich or pita wrap.  If you really want to be adventurous, you can order a chicken liver or lamb tongue pita. I was not adventurous today, so I order exactly what I came there for and that was a meat Shawarma, especially seeing the juicy season meat rotating on the spit.

As I have mentioned previously, this place is definitely small and it was packed; so I had to make my order to go. I took my meat Shawarma back to my desk at the office and began to dig right into it. Before I go into my overall thoughts, let me first explain what a Shawarma is. A Shawarma is essentially an alternating stack of season meat (beef or lamb) or seasoned chicken with strips of fat that sit on a rotating spit and is roasting all day. Shavings are cut off the blocks of meat or chicken for serving. A Shawarma is usually served in a rolled pita mixed with onion, tomato, parsley, pickled turnips, cabbage, and is topped with a tahini or tom (garlic mayo).

So now that you know what a Shawarma is, did Tuhama’s meat Shawarma live up to its street cred? Yes it did, it was by far the best Shawarma I have had, which is saying a lot since there are so many great places in Dearborn to find one. The meat was perfectly seasoned and was very juicy. The parsley provided a fresh herbal flavor, while the pickled turnips and onion provided that necessary crunch. I believe that Tuhama’s used both tahini and toum sauce, as I could taste both the garlic from the toum and the sesame from the tahini. For $3.75, this was by far one of the best food purchases I’ve made since working in Dearborn; my only regret was waiting six years to finally try this place out.

I definitely recommend you to try out Tuhama’s if you find yourself in the Dearborn area. You should definitely order the meat or chicken Shawarma; and if you are feeling adventurous enough, try out the lamb tongue or chicken liver. If you do try out the lamb tongue, let me know what your thoughts were.