In the last 30 years, East York has become home to various groups of migrants. In the last 15 years, there's been a lot of growth specifically in the Middle Eastern population from Thorncliffe down to the Danforth.

On either side of the Don River, from Overlea Boulevard to Pape Avenue, there remains a handful of restaurants where you can find traditional regional dishes from East Africa to the Middle East to India.

I started to frequent the neighbourhoods of East York after I moved into the city. The borough stood as the halfway point between downtown Toronto to Scarborough. When I was too lazy to commute uptown, I found solace in small shops serving hot sauce slathered jerk chicken sandwiches, Sri-Lankan takeaway, spicy samosas, and Indian dishes like halwa poori and goat biryani.

It was all there — and I didn't have to drive too far to get it. Visits to Iqbal Halal Foods located in Leaside were a weekly occurrence.

Suresh Doss: Shawarma Frenzy 0:47

At first, it pulled in me in for its vast selection of imported fresh and shelf ingredients. Then it was the rice selection. When I discovered half a dozen aisles dedicated to seeds, it felt like I was somewhere else.

"This must be the largest selection of rice in Canada!" I used to say to myself.

One year, I was in the rice aisles before the holidays when I struck up a conversation with a newcomer from Syria. Struggling to carry a few large bags of rice, I offered a hand and helped her to the checkout counter.

The falafel is dressed generously with tahini, garlic sauce and hot sauce. (Suresh Doss)

She was grateful, saying she was overwhelmed with the prep she had to do for a holiday gathering. We then started talking about food, and I asked her if she had a favourite restaurant in the area.

She pointed me to a place on Pape Avenue.

"They have the best shawarma," she said of the spot, owned by a couple from Damascus. "You must go eat here."

I headed directly to the restaurant right after our conversation.

Shawarma Frenzy is in Pape Village, a stretch near Pape and Mortimer avenues. I remembered this strip for having some of the best East African shops in the city.

A look inside Shawarma Frenzy. (Suresh Doss)

The restaurant is nondescript; it's your average-looking shawarma joint with nothing magnetic about the interior decor or the comical sign that hangs outside (which shows a cartoon shawarma spit on fire). I followed the woman's suggestion and ordered exactly how she told me to: chicken shawarma on rice with hot sauce and tahini, plus a side order of falafel with hummus and hot sauce.

While Toronto is blessed with a large crop of shawarma restaurants, not all are equal. You can spot the bad ones pretty easily — either the meat is overcooked, or the marinade hasn't had enough time to break down the proteins.

Or, worse of all, the marinade itself is unbalanced. Too much garlic, onion powder or spice leaves you with embarrassing shawarma burps for hours later.

Business partner Mervat Aboumatar, left, with husband and wife co-owners Bakr Ghabra and Sara Zeineddin. (Suresh Doss)

The meat at Shawarma Frenzy has a lighter, more balanced flavour. You can still taste spice, coriander, and maybe hints of creaminess from yogurt without any coarseness.

"It's all about the secret marinade," Bakr Ghabra said with a sly smile.

Ghabra is one of the owners of Shawarma Frenzy. He runs the operation alongside his wife, Sara Zeineddin, and partner Mervat Aboumatar.

The marinade is Ghabra's legacy.

When the meat is shaved off the spit and loaded onto a plate, you get complementing pieces of tender meat and crunchy ends, Suresh Doss writes. (Suresh Doss)

"I realized I wanted to cook when I first worked at a restaurant making falafel," he said.

He recalls learning how to make a family recipe of chickpea fritters convinced him he should go to culinary school. He went to Greece to set his education in motion.

While there, he befriended a colleague in culinary school who would go on to become his best friend. One night, as the duo gorged themselves on late night gyros, they realized there was a lack of good shawarma places in the area.

'It's all about the secret marinade,' Bakr Ghabra says. (Suresh Doss)

They set out to make their own marinade, using equal parts childhood memories and culinary education.

Ghabra uses that same recipe at Shawarma Frenzy.

When he first showed me the marinade, I tried to use every sense to determine what was in it.

"It's a secret," he repeated. "I can't even tell you one ingredient."

It had the appearance of grainy mustard with flecks of herbs and red chili flakes dotted throughout. There was a faint scent of yogurt, and likely paprika.

Ghabra serves the shawarma on a mound of rice along with pickled turnips and cucumbers, onions laced in sumac, and salad. (Suresh Doss)

It lacked any of the sharp aromas I have encountered before.

Ghabra makes the marinade each day before service, then rubs it on thick pieces of chicken breast and lets the sauce soak in.

The spit and fire do the rest of the work. The chicken cooks and caramelizes over the heat. When it's shaved off the spit and loaded onto a plate, you get complementing pieces of tender meat and crunchy ends.

Ghabra prefers to serve the shawarma on a mound of rice along with pickled turnips and cucumbers, onions laced in sumac, and salad.

Ghabra was taught how to make falafel in Damascus. (Suresh Doss)

And, of course, there's the falafel. Ghabra still makes falafel the exact same way he was taught in Damascus.

It's a batter made of chickpeas dressed with an assortment of spices, formed into small patties and fried to order. Ghabra serves his falafel with either rice or salad if you want it as a meal, dressed generously with tahini, garlic sauce and hot sauce.