Shawarma, and what it is not

If you searched for doner and landed here, the short answer is that we do not make doner, we make shawarma, and it is probably what you were looking for anyway. They are the same idea: seasoned meat stacked on a vertical spit, turned against the heat, and shaved off in strips as the outside cooks. The word changes with the country. Doner is the Turkish name and it means turning. Shawarma is the Levantine one, from Syria and Lebanon, and it means the same thing. Gyro is the Greek. All three come from the same Ottoman-era kitchen, and an argument about which is the original will outlast your lunch.

What differs is the seasoning and what goes in the bread with it. Turkish doner leans on the meat and the bread. Greek gyro brings tzatziki and tomato. Shawarma is the one with the warm spice and the garlic sauce, and that is the tradition this kitchen cooks in, because this is a Syrian cafe. The same kitchen makes the za'atar and muhammara pies and the Eastern sweets.

Sandwich or plate

Both come in chicken and beef. The sandwich is the one to order if you are eating with one hand or taking it back to work. The plate is the larger order: the same shawarma opened out, with fries, pickles, garlic sauce and coleslaw alongside it. If you have not eaten here before and you are hungry, order the plate.

There is also crispy chicken, as a sandwich or a plate, for anyone who would rather have it fried than off the spit. Children usually end up here. And the Syrian fries sandwich, which is fries in bread with the sauces, and is exactly as good as that sounds.

Halal, and no alcohol anywhere

Every item is halal. There is no pork in the kitchen and no alcohol on the menu or behind any counter, because the cafe does not hold a licence and does not want one. That is the whole building, not a separate section of the menu, so nobody at the table has to check twice or ask what the sauce was made with.

It is a dessert cafe that also does this

Worth setting expectations. Layali is a dessert cafe first: crepes, waffles, milkshakes, fresh juice and a counter of Eastern sweets. The shawarma is real food cooked properly, but it sits on a menu that is mostly sweet, and the room is set up for long evenings rather than a quick lunch rush. Most tables order shawarma and then keep going into dessert, which is the correct way to do it. For a full spread of savoury before that, the pies and mezze are on the savoury menu.

Late, and in Lincoln

The cafe is on Front Street in Lincoln, a short drive from Providence and from Pawtucket, and it stays open into the evening when most kitchens nearby have stopped. That is usually why people end up here for shawarma specifically: it is late, everything else is closed, and this is hot food rather than another slice.