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<\/a>\nOne of the newer establishments in Brooklyn\u2019s Middle Eastern neighborhood (which I still think should be called \u201cLittle Levant\u201d) is Al-Sham Restaurant at 7701 5th Ave in Bay Ridge. On its compact menu, you\u2019ll find the usual suspects like hummus, baba ganoush, and falafel, but their emphasis seems to be the chicken shawarma, available on a platter with fries or as a \u201csandwich\u201d (their word) since it\u2019s really shaved into a piece of laffa (flatbread), rolled up with pickles and toum, and grilled. Toum is a sauce made primarily of olive oil and garlic that\u2019s whipped into a fluffy, snow white blizzard of a condiment; you\u2019ll receive a hefty dollop of it on the side if you order fries. Think of it as the Levantine answer to Mediterranean aioli.<\/p>\n
There was something undefinably fresh about this chicken shawarma (the only kind they offer, BTW); I don\u2019t know if it was because it was a new batch or because of the continual application of toum, but here\u2019s hoping they maintain that same quality as they whittle it down. And yes, it\u2019s a stop along my Middle Eastern Bay Ridge food tour; to learn more, check out my Ethnojunkets<\/a> page. Hope to see you! Instagram Post 7\/3\/2019 (Click on any image to view it in high resolution.) One of the newer establishments in Brooklyn\u2019s Middle Eastern neighborhood (which I still think should be called \u201cLittle Levant\u201d) is Al-Sham Restaurant at 7701 5th Ave in … Continue reading <\/a>
\nStrategically positioned by the window, the chicken shawarma is gargantuan compared to others along the strip. Foodies fond of photographing favorite finds frequently position a quarter or a spoon beside the food for the purpose of demonstrating relative size. Here, we\u2019ve situated a human to serve the same purpose. Kidding. But seriously, that\u2019s one big honkin\u2019 shawarma. As he rotated the shawarma, shaving it down, he repeatedly slathered it with a substance I couldn\u2019t quite make out, but I\u2019m guessing it was toum, glorious toum.<\/p>\n
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