A little about this place
About Just Eat Shawarma & Poutine
Just Eat Shawarma & Poutine is a shawarma counter at 233 Laurier Avenue East in Sandy Hill, Ottawa, near the University of Ottawa. Its published delivery menu includes chicken, beef and mixed shawarma sandwiches, donair, falafel, platters, family meals, wings and several poutines. It also lists shawarma on rice, saj wraps, salads and baklava. Google lists dine-in, takeout and delivery. HFP previously listed this same address and phone under Al-Basha Shawarma; the current Google place and exact-address delivery storefront use Just Eat Shawarma & Poutine. Published delivery prices may differ from prices in store. Confirm current halal sourcing directly with the restaurant.
HFP review summary
What diners mention
4.5 / 5551 Google reviews
Saved ratings and review totals may have changed.
Rating breakdown at this snapshot
- 5 stars
403 403 - 4 stars
84 84 - 3 stars
23 23 - 2 stars
5 5 - 1 star
36 36
What people enjoy
- Staff and owner are the most consistent praise: seven of the ten reviewers in the sample called them friendly, kind or welcoming. Google records 'friendly staff' as a review topic in 80 reviews and 'friendly owner' in 27.
- Portion size against price recurs across four reviewers: one got a wrap with a generous amount of meat for under $10, one a $13 sandwich-and-drink combo they called excellent value, and two described the portions as generous or decent for the price.
- The garlic sides are singled out by three reviewers - herb-tossed garlic potatoes and a garlic sauce described as thick rather than runny. Google records 'garlic potatoes' as a review topic in 7 reviews.
- Three reviewers commented on cleanliness, describing the restaurant, kitchen and seating area as clean and tidy.
Things to keep in mind
- Dry, flavourless chicken is the dominant complaint in the lowest-rated reviews, from four distinct reviewers who variously described the shawarma chicken as 'horrendously dry, excessively thick and tasteless', as tasting old 'like it was refrigerated and reheated', as 'disgustingly dry', and simply as tasteless on a platter.
- Portion size relative to price draws three distinct complaints: one reviewer said a two-for-one plate deal arrived with the portions halved and only three or four spoons of rice, one said $20 bought a very small portion, and one said a request for more garlic sauce yielded about a teaspoon.
- Slow or inattentive counter service is reported by four distinct reviewers: one waited 30 minutes for two sandwiches with no other orders in progress and had one remade after it was forgotten in the heater and burnt, one was left waiting roughly 10 minutes while the sole staff member took a loud video call, and two described the person working as rude or unhelpful.
- Three distinct reviewers criticised the vegetables, describing browning lettuce, unappealing colour and texture, and low-quality veg for the price.
- Five distinct reviewers, all writing two to three years ago, say the food declined sharply after the business changed hands, several of them naming the previous operator as the reason they had come. Note that the listing overall still stands at 4.5 with 403 five-star reviews, so this cluster sits in a minority tail and is largely historic.
