mediterranean – Jellybeans in the City

So I’ve got a meeting over lunch with no time for a leisurely meal. Oh, what to do?

Well, on that day, the choice was clear: I just need to grab myself a couple of Beef Pita Doners from the Turks branch across the street.

Turks’ Beef Pita Doner (Php60) is made with 100% pure beef, flavored with Turks’ own recipe marinade and served together with freshly cut cucumber, tomatoes, onions and a slice of cheddar, all doused in cheese, garlic and hot sauces, and all wrapped in a warm, freshly baked pita bread.

I had a feeling a single doner would be enough for me so I got myself two and a Nestea Iced Tea (Php30) to go with it.

I ended up wolfing these down quick with time to spare to head towards my lunch meeting.

Just because lunch has to be quick doesn’t mean it can’t be tasty!

This Turks outlet is located at Mother Ignacia Avenue, South Triangle, Quezon City.

Craving for a Turks Pita Doner during the enhanced community quarantine? Here’s a bit of good news: Turks SM Cherry Congressional branch is open from 9am to 5pm for takeout (pre-order via +63 938 8620714) or have it delivered via GrabFood.

Download the Grab App on the App Store or Google Play. Get a discount on your first food order when you use my code: GRABJELLYBEANS.

Other branches are located at:

Quezon City: SM City North EDSA, SM City Santa Mesa, SM City Fairview, SKY Garden SM North EDSA, Ayala Malls Vertis North, Ayala Malls Cloverleaf, Eastwood Citywalk 2, Ayala Fairview Terraces, Farmers Plaza, Novaliches, Robinsons Galleria, Gateway Mall, UP Town Center, Fisher Mall, Victoria Tower Timog, Trinoma Mall, Ever Gotesco Commonwealth, Eton Centris, Crossroad Tandang Sora Sangandaan
Pasig: SM City East Ortigas, Ayala Malls The 30th, Grand Emerald Tower, Puregold Jr. De Castro Avenue, RNC Building, Medical City, Robinsons Metro East
San Juan: Theatre Mall Greenhills, Lifestyle Arcade Greenhills
Mandaluyong: Shangri-La Plaza, Forum Robinsons, Starmall, The Podium
Manila: SM City San Lazaro, 168 Shopping Mall, Tutuban Center Mall, SM City Manila, Robinsons Place Manila, UST Campus, Lucky Chinatown Mall
Marikina: SM City Marikina
Makati: Century City Mall, SM Jazz Mall, Ayala Malls Circuit, The Landmark, Paseo Center, GT Tower, SM Makati, Pacific Star Building, Greenbelt 1, Shell Select Magallanes, Lepanto Building, Cash & Carry Mall
Taguig: Uptown Place Mall BGC, Venice Grand Canal Mall, Market! Market!, West City Center, SM Aura Premier
Pasay: MOA Arena Parking Building, North Terminal Area MOA
Las Pinas: SM Southmall
Paranaque: SM City Bicutan, BF Homes, The Pergola Mall, SM City Sucat, Doña Soledad Avenue, Amaia STEPS Bicutan
Muntinlupa: Festival Mall, Alabang Town Center
Caloocan: SM Center Sangandaan
Valenzuela: SM City Valenzuela, MacArthur Highway

Check out my posts on other restaurants serving Mediterranean cuisine:

Remember that scene at the end of the Avengers movie when Tony Stark suddenly had a craving for shawarma? One of the most iconic moments from the movie is the after-credits scene which shows the superheroes munching on some shawarma in a store which miraculously stayed open despite the chaos of Battle of New York.

After biting into the juicy and smokey meat wraps at Holy Shawarma, you would understand why.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Shawarmas were derived from the Turkish doner kabap, a way of roasting stacked slices of marinated meat and cutting off pieces as they cook. It is served sandwiched inside a piece of flatbread along with hummus, tahini and sometimes fried potato strips, or piled high on a plate accompanied by tabbouleh and slices of tomatoes and cucumber topped with yogurt.

The name shawarma is the Arabic version of the Turkish word cervirme which means “turning.” This refers to the meat turning on a rotisserie; today, shawarma stores in the country use a motorized spit to slowly turn the stack of beef or chicken pieces against a heat source, evenly roasting the outer layer which are then sliced off.

Normally, you can enjoy this savory delicacy in food courts and tiangges but now, denizens of the beautiful city of Marikina can enjoy their meat wraps in relative comfort in the newly opened restaurant Holy Shawarma.

Owner Mon Tolentino shares that the store’s name is akin to an expression of joy or surprise which he hopes to elicit from his patrons with his food; something like “Holy Shawarma, that’s so good!”

Together with fellow foodies and bloggers, I was invited to visit this store and sample its offerings. Our group of nine bloggers settled ourselves in the store’s seating area and got ready to get our fill of the shawarma and other Middle Eastern delicacies.

We were welcomed by the glorious aroma of roasting meat as the store’s crew bustled about to prepare our food.

For starters, we snacked on some French Fries (Php25/plate) and Dynamite Wraps (Php65/plate). The fries are crisp and not-too-salty; I may have single-handedly polished off a plate of these. I had a bout of anxiety prior to biting into the Dynamite Wraps – large green chili peppers stuffed with ground beef and cheese – but it turned out to be quite tasty; the spiciness of the chili peppers framed the flavors of the cheese and meat quite well.

Afterwards, we feasted Beef Kebabs (Php200/plate) and Chicken Kebabs (Php180/plate) which were well-complemented by the buttery Shawarma Rice (Php120/plate).

The real stars of the show, of course, are the meat wraps: Beef Shawarma (Php80/piece) and Chicken Shawarma (Php80/piece). Those savory slivers of meat are wrapped in warm pita bread together with sliced tomatoes, onions and cucumbers, a strip of cheese and drizzled with garlic sauce and hot sauce. Each bite into these wraps was like going on a magic carpet ride: the warm flavors trigger feelings of comfort to the soul.

We washed down these strong-flavored food with refreshing Mango Shake (Php80/glass).

So, if you’re a superhero done vanquishing a frightful foe, or just a regular Joe looking for a filling snack, drop by Holy Shawarma for some holy-shawarma-that’s-so-good and affordable food.

Thanks to Holy Shawarma for having us and to Marikina Foodies for extending the invite!

Want to bring a friend over? Enjoy beef or chicken shawarma food for two along with iced tea for only Php165!

Going solo? Why not go for a Shawarma Meal of composed of Shawarma on a plate with buttered rice together with iced tea for only Php110.

Holy Shawarma is located at 113 Gil Fernando Street corner Mayor Chanyungco Avenue, Santa Elena, Marikina City, open Tuesdays to Thursdays from 2pm to 10pm and Fridays to Sundays from 3pm to 12 midnight.

Disclosure: Together with other food bloggers, I was invited to attend a foodie meetup held at this restaurant. Food items mentioned here were served to allow us to sample the fare and were not paid for by the attendees, including myself.