Timmy’s Tanür

Welcome back, dear readers, to season 2 of hamiltonshawarma.com. Today we will be visiting Timmy’s Tanür, which a friend of mine has been boldly describing as the best shawarma in town. Such a claim warrants further investigation!

Timmy’s Tanür opened up two years ago, located in the long standing Eastern Food Market on Upper Wellington, a fine halal grocery that has been serving Hamilton for a generation. Timmy is described as a well travelled man with great taste in food, and a tanür appears to be a tabun, an ancient style of oven.

Timmy’s features a nice open kitchen, some tanür baked goods on display (manakish, maarouk, naan, etc.), and a nice clear menu. The menu indicates something interesting:

It seems there’s two styles of shawarma: Traditional with garlic and pickles, and a Canadian style “saucy” shawarma that looks much more familiar. Very interesting, that might explain some of the shawarmas I’ve been disappointed with in the past for not having choice or toppings. Well, I only eat Hamilton Shawarma, so I’m going with the saucy.

The gentlewoman behind the counter (not Timmy) was occupied with two customers who had many questions. I respect her patience, but it would be nice to place my order sooner. She got to work right away, in the plain view of the open kitchen, and before long I had a shawarma to review.

Well now, this certainly is a tasty shawarma. The meat is fantastic, well seasoned and juicy. The pita is tasty, texturally perfect, and baked in house I believe. The vegetables play a great supporting role of varied flavours and textures, customized perfectly to my preference of no pickles. The sauces are great, the garlic is rich, the hot is flavourful with a good mouthfeel. And there was quite a bit of sauce, suitable for a “saucy” shawarma.

Unfortunately, the sauciness becomes problematic as time goes on. The tender pita becomes soaked and starts to tear and get sauce on your hands. Not a dealbreaker, but it is a strike. And the only strike I can give it; this is a fantastic shawarma! It’s not going to dethrone Phoenicia Food Express, but it’s easily top 3 we’ve had on the site. Head on up to Timmy’s next time you have business at the mall and try it yourself. (Maybe wait til after Christmas if you’re not a masochist.) Thank you Timmy. Thank you tanür. 9/10.