Worst Shawarma I've Ever Had

A disappointing experience at Shawarma King in Houston! My combo plate of chicken and beef shawarma was dry and flavorless. The fries were unremarkable. The tabouleh was nearly flavorless. (See video below.)

I've had good shawarma hundreds of times around the country, including a few right here in Houston. So when I saw a place that calls itself "Shawarma King," I was willing to assume that they're the royalty of local shawarma. Ooof. 

The worst shawarma I've ever had

From Shawarma King's website: 

"We have perfected our Shawarma with warm fresh pita bread, your choice of chicken, falafel, or beef all rolled up with tahini and sesame-garlic sauce. We also have a selection of delicious kabob dishes all served with salad and hummus."

Nothing they served me was "perfected." Granted, that's a description of the shawarma sandwich, and I had the platter. Even so, every shawarma platter I've ever had included a side of pita bread and tahini sauce. Not at Shawarma King, though. 

Perhaps that cup of flavorless mayonaisse-like substance was supposed to serve as tahini. Tabouleh should have at least a hint of mint. Theirs had none that I could taste. Shawarma King's website claims they have the best shawarma in Houston, but certainly not in my opinion. Maybe they just had a bad day in the kitchen, I don't know.

To be fair, Shawarma King gets a lot of good reviews. But to be honest, I don't think most of those people really know how good shawarma can be, because they're not familiar with Middle Eastern cuisine. I offer this review by a Google Maps Local Guide as evidence:

David admitted that it was the "first time with this type of food." In other words, he'd never had shawarma before. Being unfamiliar with shawarma the way it should be, he nevertheless described his shawarma plate (yes, he had the same dish I had) to be "amazing." I'm not sure what he was comparing it to, but it wasn't to shawarma the way it should be. 

It would be like someone going to McDonald's to experience their first-ever hamburger and proclaiming the McDouble to be "amazing." And there's actually nothing wrong with that; to them it might be genuinely amazing. But that doesn't mean it's the epitomy of what a burger should or could be.

I don't mean to diss David. I respect his honesty. I'm glad he enjoyed his substandard crappy shawarma, to which by his own admission he had no other shawarma by which to judge it. But I would love to see his face if and when he should ever get a plate of genuinely good shawarma. He'll wonder why he gave Shawarma King five stars instead of the one or two that they deserve.