Shawarma's Found a Home in Broumana's Spiced & Sliced

Lebanon may have its fair share of shawarma joints, but suffice it to say real controversy exists as to whose is the best. 

A while ago, Sin el Fil’s Abou Joseph was recognized internationally for its longstanding snack joint borderline sandwich factory specializing in shawarma. Shawarmanji was the first to introduce a chain brand with presence throughout greater Beirut. Boubouffe is notorious for its lamb shawarma marinated in red wine, but the slight sandwiches command a hefty price tag of 10,000 LL, which is hardly street-food status.

It seems like Lebanon can’t pack in enough decent shawarma stands, and we’re always more than thrilled to welcome a new brand. At least I was, when I heard about Spiced and Sliced in Broumana, tucked beneath this summer’s "it" scene at Printania Villa.

The concept, birthed by one of Kababji’s partners, boils down to three shawarma skewers and four bread types. There’s the quintessential beef, which is conspicuously lean and nearly fat-free. Chicken forms another pillar, for all you garlic paste addicts. But the new kid on the block is “deli,” or soujouk stripped of any fatty material.

Meat, chicken, and deli (lean soujouk) round out the shawarma offerings at Spiced & Sliced

The carb envelope for the meaty contents can be had in Arabic pita bread – white or whole-wheat – as well as tortilla rounds and French bread.

We navigated through the menu beginning at the classic beef shawarma wrap to the more daring deli on (pseudo-) baguette, savoring the unique flavor profiles of each.

The Original (5,000 LL) is everything you’ve come to expect from shawarma: succulent beef, a lick of hummus, pickles, tomato, and shredded parsley with onions dusted in sumac. Where Spiced and Sliced diverges from the competition is its decision to nix tahini altogether, as it generally masks the flavors of the meat. What you get is a decidedly lean beef shawarma accentuated by a creamy chickpea spread.

The Original Shawarma

Next up, the Juicy Wrap (5,500 LL), stuffed with chicken and coleslaw inside delicate tortilla bread. It’s good, but there’s not even a hint of garlic, which depending on your evening agenda can bode either very well or very ill.

Juicy Chicken Wrap

The restaurant’s namesake beef sandwich (5,500 LL) borrows heavily from the aromas of a fajita sandwich. Lean shreds of beef, guacamole, sour cream, and lettuce flesh out this tortilla wrap, and while delicious, it doesn’t even skirt shawarma territory.

Sliced and Spiced Beef Sandwich

My favorite is the Deli Delux (5,500 LL), whose star ingredient is the lean shavings of soujouk. As someone who consistently avoids soujouk, makanek and all kinds of sausages for their high fat content, I was more than happy to wrap my lips around Spiced and Sliced’s guilt-free deli decker. It’s actually quite reminiscent of Mano’s basterma sandwich, stuffed with pickles and tomatoes and little else.

Deli Delux Sandwich

One caveat: a solitary sandwich here will not sate your gut. You’ll need a minimum of two or three, possibly four, which is fine, because you’ve got a handful of combinations to work with (I’ll let you do the math).

Two of us split four sandwiches and a box of seasoned fries,
but we could have easily gone for more!

In line with the health-conscious sandwiches here, end your visit on a sweet note with Mira’s quinoa chocolate chip cookies (2,000 LL). Textured and grainy, they do more justice to quinoa than quinoa tabbouleh ever did.

Spiced and Sliced

Broumana

04-863 963