Pham Trung Hieu was born and raised in Ukraine. In 2022, Hieu returned to Vietnam, cherishing the idea of ​​selling Shawarma - a popular dish originating from the Middle East to remember the familiar flavors of his childhood. After receiving positive feedback from online sales, he and his friends decided to open a restaurant.

Shawarma with crust imported from Poland. Photo: Nhat Minh

The Shawarma’s crust is imported from Poland to have the same flavor as the one he ate in Ukraine. Traditional Shawarma is mainly filled with chicken, sauce, and accompanying toppings. However, after returning to Vietnam, Hieu varied 4 other types of Shawarma including BBQ, pizza, seafood, and cheeseburger so diners could change their taste.

Hieu said that he used to fail when making Shawarma with other crusts from Vietnam because it was under standard and soft compared to crusts from Poland.

Shawarma in the restaurant has 5 crust colors corresponding to 5 different fillings including traditional (white), BBQ (pink), cheeseburger (black), seafood (orange), and pizza (green). The crusts’ colors are different but the flavor is the same making it easier for chefs and waiters to serve. Therefore, diners cannot customize the crust color.

BBQ fillings in pink crust. Photo: Nhat Minh

Each type of Shawarma also corresponds to a different sauce. For instance, traditional flavor cake uses garlic sauce, pizza flavor uses spaghetti sauce, seafood flavor uses tom yum sauce, BBQ flavor uses BBQ sauce and cheeseburger flavor is eaten with paprika sauce. These sauces are varied to be suitable for Vietnamese taste.

"When I brought it back to Vietnam, I tried to reduce the mayonnaise in the sauce so that it wouldn't spoil so quickly," Hieu said.

The main ingredients include cucumbers, tomatoes, purple cabbage, potatoes, and cheese. Every kind of flavor will use a corresponding type of meat in filling such as beef, chicken, pork, or seafood. These meat fillings are prepared daily and preserved privately.

Shawarma with BBQ filling includes purple cabbage, cucumber, corn, cheese, and stewed BBQ meat. Photo: Nhat Minh

To make Shawarma, the baker will first test the crust and spread the toppings evenly. Next, the roll is sprinkled with a suitable sauce and carefully rolled up. Finally, it is pressed-baked for about 4-5 minutes so that the outer crust is crispy with heated filling.

Shawarma is priced from 70,000 to 120,000 VND/piece (about $2.84 to $4.86) depending on size and type. In addition, the restaurant also sells Ukrainian chicken Kyiv for diners to enjoy.

A small-sized BBQ Shawarma and a portion of Kyiv chicken cake at the restaurant. Photo: Nhat Minh

"The cake has a hot sauce blends with strange filling and has a moderately rich flavor," said Phuong Anh (20 years old, Hai Ba Trung) shared on her first time enjoying the traditional Shawarma cake.

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