Pita Bell Kabab is all about the grill

Pita Bell Kabab opened their second location recently in the spot once occupied by Azra Turkish Cuisine. 

I’d favourably reviewed Azra little more than a year ago but it was never able to recover after its owner Canpolat Sahin was charged with sexual assault in October of 2024.

I’m happy to report that Pita Bell Kabab has quickly won a large audience, as on each occasion the place was packed. Certainly, the food is very good but it may just be hostess Fatima’s generous and welcoming smile that has people streaming through the doors.

Falafel at Pita Bell is a little different than the usual, coming instead in the form of oblong bars rather than balls. I ordered six for $10, but you can have these as part of a platter or in a sandwich. They were a little more dense than others around town but the seasoning was very nice and they were moist enough.

Kubbat Halab are a shape you might recognize resembling kibbeh. Kibbeh are egg-shaped croquettes of cinnamon-scented minced beef surrounded by deep-fried bulgur wheat.

Kubbat Halab croquettes by contrast, have a similar beef filling but are surrounded by rice flour and then fried. Perfect for the gluten-free folks in your life.

They do a broad range of platters that are combinations of various grilled kebabs, pita bread, rice, hummus, toum (whipped garlic sauce) and salad. It’s a substantial portion with prices hovering at around $22. For those a little older with smaller appetites, I would suggest this is enough to feed two people.

I was interested in trying both the beef and chicken kabab platters and Fatima suggested that I could have the beef with both a minced and beef tenderloin kabab with the same arrangement for the chicken. 

The minced beef was mildly seasoned with a lovely grilled beef taste and while the tenderloin was equally delicious and marinated through, some cubes of beef were a wee bit firm while others melted on the tongue.

The chicken skewers were not seasoned with the same recipe as the beef and the minced chicken was bright and fresh with a hint of citrus. Perhaps courtesy of sumac?Fatima was right however and it was the Shish Taouk (marinated chicken breast) that took the taste prize in the chicken run-off.

Contrary to expectations, the breast meat was moist and flavoured through with garlic, herbs and the tang of yogurt.

I need to make a special mention here of the salad dressing. Fatima mentioned that “We’re very famous for it”, and you’ll get no argument from me. It’s one of the most memorable things I’ve eaten in a year.

There’s no getting the recipe of course, but I think I detected parsley, coriander, lemon juice, garlic, onion, ground cashews (?) all blended into an emulsified paste. It was wondrous and on my next visit I ordered a tub of it to take home.

You’ll want to eat it with a spoon but it does work well in salads.

Next was a more innovative take on kabab named Beyti Sarma. It’s named after a restaurateur in Istanbul,  Beyti Güler, who created this dish in 1961.

Here, coarsely ground lamb is grilled kabab style and then rolled in a lavash or saj flatbread, cut into slices and then topped with deeply flavoured tomato sauce and yogurt. 

Pita Bell also does us a favour by adding grilled tomatoes and one long green pepper. A simple but deliciously sweet addition.

It was very nice and worth ordering if you’re considering a visit. What made it stand out however was both the coarser grind of the meat and that all-encompassing grill flavour. That’s a grill that’s seen plenty of activity and with how pronounced the flavour was, that became a seasoning in and of itself.

Apart from the food and lovely hospitality, tradition is also respected here as Pita Bell provides a prayer room for the observant.

As mentioned, Pita Bell Kabab appears to be always busy at lunch and dinner but Fatima did tell me they have a lull between 2 and 5 pm. If you’d like to try them for dinner, making a reservation seems advisable and just note that it’s a lively room with both plenty of positive energy and conversation.