Where: Al Buhaira, Near Copthorne Hotel, Al Majaz, Sharjah
How Much: AED 70 for two
Recommended: Batata w Shawarma
After repeatedly being exposed to the vibrant and visually overwhelming dishes on several friends’ Snapchat accounts, hunger and envy carried me to Sol in Al Majaz.
I’m going against the wave of vegetarianism – a recent convert to meat-lover, do I’m quite particular about how well the meat is cooked wherever I go. It’s safe to say I wasn’t disappointed.
If you’re vegetarian, you can indulge in shakes that are meals in themselves and the chunky fries – there are fewer options for you here, but this will keep your sol satisfied.
Service and Ambience
Dimly lit place, with an overtly urban vibe, neon signs on the walls, and bar stools, this place was crafted for the Instagram generation. We were greeted by the friendly staff from the open kitchen on our right.
Sol is a place you go to eat. With loud music and loud flavors, there isn’t much space or time for conversation. It overlooks the corniche, so you can head out for an equally picturesque walk after a giant meal – one that you will definitely need.
Parking is fairly easy to find on the corniche side.
The Food
Appetizers
We got ambitious because we were hungry. We ordered two appetizers, entirely unaware of the portion sizes. The first was the plain fries which were slightly under seasoned and the other was the ‘batata w shawarma’, which was the star of the show.
The batata w shawarma comprises of a bowl of fries over a bed of perfectly cooked and seasoned shawarma chicken. This is topped with the special Sol sauce, cheese and jalapenos. If you manage to fit all of the components into one bite, your taste buds will explode. This dish alone was enough to do justice to my appetite, but we didn’t stop there.
Main Course
The menu is chiefly Arabic street food which limits the menu to shawarmas only. We decided to try the dynamite shawarma roll and the original shawarma. The original shawarma missed the mark as it was plain and could have used a punch of pickles.
The dynamite shawarma roll, which is a soft potato bun with chicken shawarma, dymanite sauce, spring onion, topped with freshly made coleslaw is delicious. The spicy tangy flavour of the shawarma was perfectly balanced out by the fresh crunchy coleslaw.
Drinks
The glorious milkshakes. Their open kitchen lets you see the whole process of your milkshake being assembled [it also stirs your guilt about how much sugar you’ll be consuming.]
Again, out of excitement, we ordered one milkshake for each of us – the lotus, and the Snickers n’ M&M’s milkshake. Each milkshake was an overflow [literally] of every sugary item in existence. The lotus milkshake was delicious and creamy, topped with a lot of whipped cream and lotus biscuits.
The Snickers n’ M&M’s milkshake was a perfect combination of the two and was surprisingly not overwhelmingly sweet given that it was topped with M&M’s, and macaroons. The macaroons, however, were too crumbly.
Keep in mind that the milkshakes can get very filling if you’re brave enough take one on by yourself.
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