Everybody has their favourite shawarma place in Ottawa-Gatineau.

Mine recently was the cause of a row within our friend circle. I made the innocuous declaration to some friends the other day that Super Bite Shawarma, located in Alta Vista, serves the best shawarma in the city. Big mistake. Our friend Angad Dhillon has since then made it his mission to prove to us that it is in fact Shawarma Palace that serves the best shawarma in the capital region.

We decided to give Dhillon the opportunity to choose another shawarma restaurant that would meet our site's requirements for review. He chose Palais Libanais in Gatineau. Our buddy Sergio Gonzalez would join us for the adventure.

Right off the hop, we were greeted with the smell of roasting meat in the parking lot. We followed the scent into the establishment, located off Maloney Boulevard, next to a gas station. This seemed promising.

We ordered three chicken shawarmas and a large side of garlic potatoes served with the ubiquitous garlic sauce. (Life hack: ditch the regular garlic sauce for the spicy variety.)

Despite us being there well after peak lunch hour, there was a steady stream of people grabbing a bite to eat. We got a seat by the window and started feasting on the shawarmas.

The meat was tender, the vegetables crunchy and the spicy garlic sauce rounded out the flavour perfectly. We all agreed the shawarma could have used a little more time on the grill. The real showstoppers, however, were the garlic potatoes. They were perfectly roasted, doused in generous flakes of garlic and smothered with the spicy garlic sauce. Delicious.

After taxes, the total came to $36. We left satisfied with both the food and the affordable prices. There was just one last thing I needed to tell Dhillon: Super Bite Shawarma still serves the best shawarma in the city.