Raya Middle East Food

Which one to choose when it is midnight, 25 degrees and there are 4 gyro trucks in a row?
Corner truck blaring obnoxious music. Nah
On the other end the cook smoking outside asked if I want anything? Nah
Next truck dude was reading a newspaper. I had to get his attention first; without looking over and unaroused hey? Nah
By fate I order at the last truck that boast to roast over charcoal. 2 guys to make 1 falafel wrap took 20 minutes. No other customers, and watching them debate how to wrap the foil intensified the cold. Blah falafel over fried.
So much for the late night binge.

Had sample last week while walking by, best shawarma I’ve had in a while, spit roasted over charcoal and sliced off to serve.
Went back today and ordered chicken plate, everything tasted like it was reheated from a previous day, including the rice. There wasn’t anything on the charcoal spit and no smoke from the grill so I should have known.
While it was my fault I didn’t ask what was up, if he doesn’t have the desire to serve fresh food each time (who serves reheated rice and is successful??) I’m not going to go back even if it has the potential to be one of the best.
Price point at $ 10 for chicken plate is high, other Egyptian cart in this pod has lunch chicken plate for $ 8 including hummus, pita, yogurt/​cucumber mix, and dolmas. His $ 10 plate was chicken, rice, and iceberg lettuce shreds with a couple of tomato pieces.

Fed a family of four for less than $ 25! The chicken shawarmas and falafel were great. The family enjoyed the experience of walking around downtown, people watching and eating food from a food truck. So many styles of food to choose from in the area. We had intended to stop by a well known donut place afterwords… the line was out the door with a 20 or so minute wait. Maybe next time!

I love their charcoal grilled chicken! It tastes like nothing else in town. They spin this chicken over charcoal as it cooks on Friday and Saturday nights. A must try! I’m not sure why the low reviews because the service is always great, food fresh, and delicious.

There are a lot of Middle Eastern food carts in Portland. Heck, there are a lot of Middle Eastern food carts on SW 3^rd, where this one is also located. Here’s why you should eat at this one: the chicken saj.
My goodness, that is one delicious sandwich! Char-​grilled chicken, french fries, whatever is referred to by the word «pickls» on the menu (doesn’t taste like dill pickles), some other veggies (or are those the «pickls»? who cares?), garlic sauce, and hot sauce if you say yes. All wrapped up in a long, thin, saj (I think that’s what it’s called).
I’ll admit, that description doesn’t really do it justice. Heck, if someone told me a dish had «tasty chicken» in it, I’d usually shrug. Because chicken. But the guy here actually cooks his meats on a charcoal spit, the way it’s supposed to be done. You can watch him adjust the height of it while he makes your food. Or you can just stand near it and sniff the deliciousness. It’s the char that makes it so good. The same goes for the flatbread it’s wrapped in. They press the whole sandwich on the griddle after assembling it to make it nice and toasty.
Plus, it’s really easy to eat, since it’s a rather narrow sandwich. None of the food falls out. You can – and I usually do – eat it while you’re walking back to your office or whatever. It’s actual street food, cooked the way it’s actually supposed to be.
Anyhow, nice guy, often has his parents in the cart. He usually gives out free samples of whatever he’s grilling. Always take the free sample. It’s what sold me – don’t believe my words, believe the free sample.

I got the chicken shawarma plate here which came with salad. It was decent, there was an ok amount of chicken and rice but it kind of lacked in sauce (for my tastes). The salad was only so-​so as well. I think it has potential but for the $ 10 price point I don’t feel like I quite got my money’s worth. Not sure how old the cart is but seems to only have a couple of reviews so maybe give it some time for improvement and try it again at another time.

Great flavors! The chicken schwarma wrap is a skinny long wrap, with tomatoes and garlic sauce. Loved that the wrap was toasted. Open late — we were here at 9pm on Fri and they looked to be going strong.

Raya’s shawarma wrap is a long, skinny tube made from an oversized burrito wrapper, nicely toasted. The beef was nicely spiced with cinnamon but contained more than a few gristly chunks. The produce is uninspired and there was no spice to the sauce. Mediocre at best.