A new king of shawarma has been crowned. Judges handed local favourite Shawarma Palace the top prize during a blind tasting test at Ottawa’s first-ever Shawarma Festival on Sunday afternoon. Second place went to local virtual restaurant Caspers and third place went to Montreal’s Boustan Restaurant with a location on Rideau Street. CTV’s Stefan Keyes, Ottawa’s nightlife commissioner Mathieu Grondin, Coun. Catherine Kitts and award-winning food critic Mat Beausoleil were offered various platters to carefully choose the winning dish. Over a dozen vendors participated in the ByWard Market one-day festival, which celebrated Middle Eastern food, music and culture. The city is home to nearly 200 shawarma restaurants, serving up the meal featuring marinated meat, garlic sauce and other toppings commonly prepared in a wrap. Ottawa’s city council declared the nation’s capital as the “Shawarma Capital of Canada” last year.
