Your sole destination for shawarmas

An employee prepares chicken shawarma at Al-Bake

Located in the heart of New Friend's Colony, Al-Bake is one place you will always find crowded. Not that it offers a fine dining experience or a good crowd to be around, but the food you get here will make you visit again and again.

Well-known in the Capital for its finger-licking shawarmas, Al-Bake is the only joint (not restaurant) that offers shawarma the way it should be -- soft, juicy and tender! Take a bite and it all melts in your mouth.

Chicken slices cooked over a rotary flame, seasoned with lemon juice, tomatoes and lots of coriander is rolled inside pita bread and is served with freshly-prepared white mayonnaise with a hint of garlic. No packed sauce is a match when it comes to Al-Bake's mayo, which is pure divine. A small amount of dahi is also served, if you ask for it.

I haven't had the veg shawarma, just doesn't sound right. The place is better known for the chicken one. A plate of shawarma will cost you Rs 90, which has two rolls.

The place isn't that great to sit and enjoy food, flies and men will not really let you eat in peace. But you always have the option of a take away, which is not too bad. 

Al-Bake offers a wide variety of non vegetarian food including fish tikka, chicken tandoori, Chinese dishes, etc. (will upload the menu card later). I decided to settle for fish in hot garlic sauce. It was spicy and left me with a runny nose but the taste was worth it. Rumali roti was a turn off probably because it was not fresh. I carried some fish for my colleagues and it was an instant hit with everyone. Trust me when I say this: I was glad I ordered fish!

Anyway, hungry or not... order a few plates of shawarmas and you are good to go, be it night or day!

© 2014 Nasreen Ghani