Operation Sabah: A tour of Haifa's shawarmas - voila! Food

2022-09-20T06:02:20.037Z

Shawarma tour in Haifa: where are the best shawarmas in the city of Carmel? David Rosenthal went for a tour and came back thrilled, and not only thanks to the taste, enter the list of recommendations >>

Operation Sabah: a tour of Haifa's shawarmas

The match between Maccabi Haifa and Paris Saint-Germain gave David Rosenthal an opportunity to go on his favorite mission - skipping from pita to pita in Israel's shawarma city.

He came back thrilled, and not just because of the taste

David Rosenthal

09/20/2022

Tuesday, September 20, 2022, 08:25

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Which shawarma will you choose? (Photo: David Rosenthal)

Somewhere in the middle of 1982, my father took me to the first football game of my life.

It was at Bloomfield, a "double play" they called it then - two meetings played back to back.

We stopped at the express kiosk on the side of the mythical Nelo Stacia and from there we continued to the stadium.

The purpose of this insignificant and insignificant story is to emphasize that it established a philosophical thought that has taken root ever since: does the culinary experience accompany the one in the stadium or vice versa?

As obvious as the answer sounds, it is not.

In my eyes, their importance is similar - these two types of entertainment go hand in hand, each of them is a big event that has no right to exist without the other.

40 years have passed, and last Wednesday the big bang in history arrived: the Israeli champions against Messi, Neymar and Paris Saint-Germain at the Sami Ofer Stadium, just a few kilometers from the holy of holies of the Israeli shwarmophiles - downtown Haifa.

An excellent excuse to encrypt to Haifa (Photo: Reuters)

Until less than a decade ago, everything was simpler.

The teams from Haifa then played in Kiryat Eliezer, right next to Jaffa Road with the magnificent Shawarma Avenue - Bambino (which in the meantime closed and reopened on Bankim Street), Hazan, Hachiim, Moghrabi, Yu Niim It.

You would park, as much as you could find parking, and grab a portion before me.

Today it's a little less simple, and still - you can't give up the experience, but the distance of the stadium from the city center requires a slightly different way of thinking.

You can't get enough of the Jaffa way.

Such a trip must be carefully planned, and I could not have found a better guide than Shlomo Weiss, our football reporter in the northern region, a seasoned Yakanami who never skipped a Shawarma from Hadera to the Banias.

Since at these hours "Emil" is already out of bounds, Shlomo planned three other stations with the code name "Pita-Pita-Haci".

He arranged for my traveling partner Nathaniel and me to visit Ganam and Sabah in Wadi Nisnas and the mythical Shawarma Brothers ("there you must eat the turkey, take half a portion").

As we said - pita, pita, half.

The road was long, the traffic jams unbearable (and understand, I left the house 5.5 hours before the game).

Hunger raged in his eyes and soul.

We were already starting to worry that we wouldn't make it for the tour, but we arrived on time and the first show started.

Last week

The biggest myth about this shawarma turned out to be true, and that's not necessarily a good thing

To the full article

Shawarma Ganam - Asfor 19 Haifa

Shawarma Ganam (Photo: David Rosenthal)

The first thing I noticed about Ganam is the cleanliness.

The place is relatively small but very cute.

The veal wheel was turned, the turkey wheel was empty of a block of meat, but who cares.

The guys at Ganam take their time, and when it comes to the first dish it's critical.

In the end we got the pita.

She was full and wonderful.

Recently I wrote quite a bit about shawarmas in the central region which are gifted with stinginess.

In Ganam, and not only with them, this is not the attitude.

The meat felt a little basic with mild seasoning and still - very tasty and different.

And the price, oh the price.

In Gnam I finally understood that in the area between the fence and the room we are simply being bullied.

Price of a pita:
NIS 38
Price per cake:
NIS 45
Plate:
50 shekels
KMA index (quantity-price-quality):
9

Shawarma Sabah - Derech Allenby 33 Haifa

Shawarma Sabah (Photo: David Rosenthal)

The distance between Ganam and Sabah is about 200 meters.

The guys there also take their time, but it's definitely worth the wait.

Again a large portion, the meat is slightly more seasoned than Ganam and therefore tastier in my eyes, although Nathaniel was actually more enthusiastic about Ganam.

The prices for pita and lapa are even cheaper than those of the competitor.

If I didn't continue to another station, I would have dropped off the half already here.

Delicious to God.

Price of a pita:
NIS 37
Price per cake:
NIS 42
Plate:
50 shekels
KMA index:
9.5

Shawarma Brothers - Jaffa Road 136

Shawarma Brothers (Photo: David Rosenthal)

I know the "brothers" well from previous trips to the city, and therefore the recommendation for half a portion of turkey was well made.

Honestly, I saw the block and I couldn't believe it was turkey - it looks like veal/lamb and it tastes almost like veal/lamb.

The meat has an interesting sourness that enhances the aura around it.

The pita is of even better quality than the other two places and the service is faster and more orderly, but the price is higher, expensive for Haifa, still cheap from Gush Dan.

By the way, do you think I was satisfied with the original offer for half a portion?

Let's just say that the "pita-pita-half" operation became the "pita-pita-pita" operation.

Price of a pita:
NIS 43
Price per cake:
NIS 48
Plate:
NIS 51
KMA index:
8.5

Conclusion: I'm moving

This visit justified every superlative that was poured on Haifa.

The city designated as the shawarma capital of Israel retains its title brilliantly and inspires the desire to pack up and just move there, or at least make this journey even when there is no game around (not an easy task, I know).

It's hard to return to the Tel Aviv reality after something like this and deal with the prices knowing that 100 km away there is better shawarma at a much cheaper price. It was fun, indulgent and delightful.

Oh, and it was also a perfect match.

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