Chef Talks: From Iraq to Nabil's Grill to Hamilton 'with love (and)... service for the people'

After 22 years at the same spot, chef Widad Mikho's middle eastern dishes at Nabil's Grill, still come "with love (and) ... service for the people."

Aicha Smith-Belghaba, Indigenous story teller, journalist, chef and owner of Esha's Eats visited Mikho and her husband Nabil at Nabil's Grill on Wilson Street in Hamilton. It's the second part of a spring series featuring chef Smith-Belghaba as she talks, chef to chef, about great food in Hamilton.

It started in 2001, when they found an empty space in a strip mall, steps away from James Street North and the Hamilton Farmers' Market.

Back in 2017, Suresh Doss, a Toronto-based food writer for CBC Radio, visited Nabil's. He said "Nabil's falafel is essential. They're crunchy on the outside and pillowy in the centre. The plate is finished off with a large dollop of housemade hummus, tabbouleh salad and drizzled with hot sauce and garlic sauce."

Doss said "I also recommend that you ask for some "meat pita bread" — pita that Widad uses to release the meat from the steel skewers, which catches the meat grease and gristle. Most diners are familiar with shawarma, the combination of meat on rice with some sort of binding sauce. But at Nabil's, what really works for me is the deftness the couple show in cooking their specialty dishes. The rice is tender, the falafel is fluffy and flavourful. The meats are juicy on the inside with a pop of spice. Everything is cooked with a sense of care as if you were dining in their home."

Have you been to Nabil's? What did you think? Let us know in the comment section below.