We tried to go to Kishki Halal for shawarmas today, but they were closed.  My coworker knew of another place to get shawarmas.  The place is called La Casbah, and it's over on Scott Street near the Kitchener Market.

It just looks like a house, but inside is a little restaurant, with what would be the living room converted into the main seating area.  If you've ever been to Two Goblets, it's like that.  They do take-out too, so we ordered two spicy shawarmas to go.

Price is not as cheap as Kishki Halal.  Each shawarma was $6.77 after tax, where Kishki's is $5.00 after tax.  But it seems as if Casbah packs more quantity in theirs, so it justifies the extra cost.  Upon our return, a coworker remarked that these shawarmas looked considerably larger than Kishki's.

So lets talk about the taste!  Casbah's spicy is significantly hotter than Kishki.  My mouth was still tingling an hour later.  I like spice, so that's a good thing.  However, I found the texture of Casbah's food to be mushy.  Kishki has more identifiable components, and I enjoyed that.  It's like comparing vegetable stew to steamed vegetables.  Both are enjoyable, but with the steamed vegetables you get to enjoy the individual flavours.  A stew is pretty uniform throughout.

How would I rate Casbah?  Based on Shawarmas, I prefer Kishki Halal and probably wouldn't get another at La Casbah if I could help it.  But their samosas were huge and looked tasty, and considering the flavour of the shawarma, I'd be willing to go back to try their samosas.