Rawsha Mediterranean Cuisine beckons meat lovers

It’s been a year of firsts for restaurants in this city — our first Kyrgyz restaurant (Chayhana), our first wagyu shabu-shabu restaurant (Nabe), our first two-Michelin star restaurant (Sorekara) and, now, our first Iraqi restaurant. Yes, one of these may not seem like the others, but, unlike the tire manufacturer, I can wholly endorse them all.

Rawsha Mediterranean Cuisine
8956 Turkey Lake Road, Orlando
“In the case of Rawsha, touting ‘Mediterranean’ fare, it was the beef shawarma that initially caught my attention. More so when I noticed the revolving cone of meat was tended to by a familiar face — Nadir, the spit maestro from Toshka Syrian Street Food. No surprise: The shawarma was great, particularly when plated in the ‘Arabi’ style ($20), with the shawarma roll cut into bite-sized pieces, stacked on a plate, dressed with more shawarma shavings and served with a host of sides — fries, pickled veg, cabbage, and both a garlic and a spicy garlic sauce.” Read the full review. Credit: Photo by Matt Keller Lehman

In the case of Rawsha, touting “Mediterranean” fare, it was the beef shawarma that initially caught my attention. More so when I noticed the revolving cone of meat was tended to by a familiar face — Nadir, the spit maestro from Toshka Syrian Street Food. No surprise: The shawarma was great, particularly when plated in the “Arabi” style ($20), with the shawarma roll cut into bite-sized pieces, stacked on a plate, dressed with more shawarma shavings and served with a host of sides — fries, pickled veg, cabbage, and both a garlic and a spicy garlic sauce. But that shawarma wasn’t what had us purring like jungle cats when all was said and done. In fact, that shawarma was the only item not done in an Iraqi style, something we learned after owner Abdullah Rabeeah happened to check in on us.

To the layperson, the menu will look remarkably similar to the options you’d find at, say, a Lebanese restaurant — kebabs, hummus, baba ghanouj and the like. The difference, often subtle, lies in the spice blend, or baharat.

“What flavor is that?” said one of my pals after biting into the chicken kofta. “Clove?”

Indeed, an Iraqi-style seasoning that Rabeeah guards closely is used in Rawsha’s ground chicken kebab, but so is citrus — lemon and orange juice, in this case — as well as cardamom, turmeric, white pepper and a pepper paste. It all contributes to one of the most flavor-packed flame-grilled wonders this side of Basra. The chicken kofta made up a portion of a magnificent mixed grill ($35) that included a skewer each of ground beef kofta, pliant beef filet and tender chicken kebab. Juices from all four soaked into a lavash holding a grilled jalapeño, onion and tomato. Tearing off a shred of that painted bread with your fingers and wrapping it around a morsel of meat is digital dining at its finest.

But as good as that platter of protein was, it was the Iraqi kebab ($22) that took succulence to a whole new level. The secret to the lamb’s ridiculous luxuriance? Why, its own fat, of course. Honestly, you’d be hard-pressed to find a juicier kebab in the city than this. Rabeeah may have divulged the ingredient responsible for its lush texture, but he was a lot more coy about the Iraqi kebab’s seasonings, saying only raw onions, onion powder and black pepper go in before the house-ground mix is wrapped around a lance and fired over open coals.

Credit: photo by Matt Keller Lehman

Like every country in the Middle East, Iraq claims its hummus and baba ghanouj are superior to all others’, and you won’t get any argument from me. I quite enjoyed the creamy hummus and not-so-smoky baba, as well as the lemony fattoush salad. And do as the Iraqis do and enjoy your meal with a pot of Iraqi cardamom tea ($10, or $20 for a large pot).

Many of the eclectic bunch of patrons gathered here, including a Desert Storm vet, sipped on that heady potion in quiet repose. Its calming effects and ability to induce relaxation are proven. So make tea, my friends, not war.

Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.

This article appears in Jun 4-10, 2025.