Today we were at the new North Vancouver location of Tahini, a fast food franchise originating from London, Ontario. Their first BC locations were in Surrey and Kelowna, making this their third. In total they have over 50 restaurants offering familiar Mediterranean favourites like shawarma, bowls, and falafel. Plus international fusion items like Korean BBQ Shawarma, Tandoori Chicken Shawarma, and fresh salads or french fry bowls.
Their branding is eye catching in a bold red and blue. The restaurant is set up for person-less ordering at their kiosks, but it is just as easy to look up at the menu screens and order at the cash register.
What sets them apart is their fresh made breads. Their wraps are pressed to order and are definitely the ones to get. So good that I went out of my way to ask if it possible to order it on the side, and for how much. ($1.50 a sheet) If taking your meal to go or planning on having it later, I suggest ordering it as a bowl and then having the bread on the side to ensure its optimal texture, and that it serves as a nice palate refresher. All the flavours are so bold that having it as a break is helpful and almost necessary. That or ordering extra fresh sliced veggies on the side, like the cucumber, tomato, and onion.
We would try a handful of their most popular items signified by their wrap logo on the menu. The overhead menu doesn’t give you much information on what is in each option; but their counter top one does spell out what goes into the bestsellers, like a rebus puzzle.
Each bowl starts with yellow rice as its base, followed by lettuce and tomatoes. Where each differ is in the sauces. You also have the ability to choose your level of spice with each, and here the hot sauce is actually spicy with habanero.
The Gyro was my favourite, but could have used a lot more refreshing vegetables for my tastes. Each bite needed a balance of meat, rice, and vegetable for optimal eating. Although the meats are carved ahead of time and left chopped and sitting, they do get a quick heat up from their flat top stove. The gyro is beef with tzatziki and a spicy garlic.
There was nothing bland or boring about this or the other bowls and wraps we tried, if anything they needed to be toned down.
The Habibi Bowl has chicken and doubles down on the tzatziki. The crispy chips are what sets it apart, but be warned it does grow soggy quick with any contact from the sauces.
The Jamaican Jerk Bowl was spicy with a slow build up to the burn. Spiced chicken, peppery onions, and pineapple chunks that was the wild card. They were especially helpful in tempering some of the chilli heat. I also appreciated the finisher of crispy onion for crunch.
We got their Tandoori Bowl as a wrap, as I felt the bread most closely resembled roti and the pairing felt familiar. Here, I was able to watch the bread bake from a raw ball of dough that gets pressed flat and then cooked over a hot rounded mental dome. The process is under 30 seconds to keep up with a fast food rush. And at this price cheaper than any basket of naan or roti elsewhere.
There was plenty of tandoori filling that I could have unwrapped it and made it into two with plenty to go around. All their portions are generous. The tandoori wrap had a garlic spread, chicken, tomato, and pickled onion for even more acidity. The wrap makes all the difference, I actually wanted less flavour from the chicken to be able to taste it more. I would have also liked a dip of some sort to temper this one, but ended up reaching for the below as a break.
If taking the wrap to go they come in a specialty tear away box. This acts as an anti-mess guard where the box catches any loose filling or sauce and you also have something to hold to keep your hands clean.
The Messy Fries feature double fried fries with a thicker coating and extra texture for a longer lasting crunch. This is necessary as the fries get buried by chicken, a chicken bbq sauce, their house messy sauce, Parmesan cheese, and parsley. For once I was happy that there wasn’t enough sauce to reach the bottom, so that I could get plain fries.
In short, this is a great lunch option serving the area, and if they were closer to me I would be compelled to stop in to buy their bread instead of purchasing tortillas from a grocery store.
Tahini’s
204 Esplanade W, North Vancouver, BC V7M 0H2
(778) 729-1776
tahinis.com
