A Bad Case of Azars
I actually made it through the tunnel recently, and so it was that I found myself driving aimlessly through Norfolk, tummy grumbling, looking for a bite of lunch.
Turning the wrong way down a one-way street, I found myself facing Azar's Natural Foods Market and Cafe. The name rang a bell... hadn't I read a good review somewhere? I pulled into the parking lot and scurried in.
The interior was fairly large, the area to the right taken up by by racks of shelf-stable goods, and an extensive refrigerated section. Directly in front of me was the lunch counter, and a deli-case, filled with a variety of salads and dips.
Quickly perusing the menu, my eyes stopped at the word, "Shwarma". Usually they're called gyros on this side of the pond, and come in lamb, beef, or chicken. I grew addicted to shwarma over in the Netherlands, and haven't had a really good one since.
I ordered the beef (no lamb available, sadly), and sat in the nearly-empty dining room to wait. And wait. And wait.
After an interminable amount of time, my food was ready. And it looked like this:
Very unpretty. And it bore no resemblance to any shwarma I've ever come across. Suspiciously, I bit into it. The meat didn't even taste like shwarma-meat; it was like thickly-cut, overcooked, unseasoned steak. The rolled bread was crunchy, and shattered when I took a bite.
Eventually, I gave up, and just munched on the hummous with a bit of pita. The hummous was okay, but I've had better.
Looks like I'll continue to wait until my next visit to the Netherlands for a really great shwoarma. No stars upon Azar's!
Turning the wrong way down a one-way street, I found myself facing Azar's Natural Foods Market and Cafe. The name rang a bell... hadn't I read a good review somewhere? I pulled into the parking lot and scurried in.
The interior was fairly large, the area to the right taken up by by racks of shelf-stable goods, and an extensive refrigerated section. Directly in front of me was the lunch counter, and a deli-case, filled with a variety of salads and dips.
Quickly perusing the menu, my eyes stopped at the word, "Shwarma". Usually they're called gyros on this side of the pond, and come in lamb, beef, or chicken. I grew addicted to shwarma over in the Netherlands, and haven't had a really good one since.
I ordered the beef (no lamb available, sadly), and sat in the nearly-empty dining room to wait. And wait. And wait.
After an interminable amount of time, my food was ready. And it looked like this:
Very unpretty. And it bore no resemblance to any shwarma I've ever come across. Suspiciously, I bit into it. The meat didn't even taste like shwarma-meat; it was like thickly-cut, overcooked, unseasoned steak. The rolled bread was crunchy, and shattered when I took a bite.
Eventually, I gave up, and just munched on the hummous with a bit of pita. The hummous was okay, but I've had better.
Looks like I'll continue to wait until my next visit to the Netherlands for a really great shwoarma. No stars upon Azar's!
posted by s'kat at 2/13/2006 03:41:00 PM
4 Comments:
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-3008564-ten_top_restaurant_the_norfolk-i if you make it thru the tunnel again try this place it's 'tops'!!
Now that sounds exactly like what I was looking for!! Thank for the recommendation.
Hey S'kat,
There is a huge differnece between Shawarma and Gyros no matter what side of the "POND" your on.
Gyros have a tazaki sauce usually on some form of meat with lettuce, tomato, and such.
Shawarma Spices are what make Shawarma whether it is lamb, beef ( STEAK) or chicken. So when your looking for Gyros don't go for a shawarama
Not the same thing Buddy, even in the netherlands..
Actually, I was looking for a shwarma, which is why I was so happy to see it printed as such on the menu. Sadly, it wouldn't have mattered what it was called, it was still bad.
Nonetheless, thank you for your clarification on the matter!
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