Shawarma Hazan (Haifa, Israel)

HaHistadrut Avenue 56, Haifa, Israel, T: 04-841-6560

 

HaHistadrut Avenue is a major road in downtown Haifa and one section has a whole row of shawarma restaurants bordering each other. Shawarma Hazan is a Haifa institution, allegedly even inspiring local musicians – the album Legend of Black Shawarma of trance duo Infected Mushroom. It has a classic set-up: big skewers and condiments on the side, where you walk past and point out what you want as you order.

I’m getting a shawarma wrap, rather than pita, as it is bigger, with onions, spicy sauce, salad, and pickled beets. You can also take some free condiments from a small ‘salad bar’, which includes olives, cauliflower, etc. Full anticipation I start eating, but I’m soon disappointed by the dry and chewy meat, which seems of a remarkably inferior quality, even for a shawarma place, and has an odd taste. I mainly continue eating because of a simmer of hope that somewhere down the warp it will get better. It doesn’t.

VERDICT: 65/100

This shawarma would have disappointed in the Midwest of the US, so you can imagine how disappointing it is in Haifa, where there must be so many better options.