Nablus is a city in Palestine's West Bank, but the name now also appears at Library Square.
Earlier this spring, Nablus Shawarma and Grill opened up at 202-345 Robson St., one of the storefronts leading to the entrance of the downtown Vancouver library, tucked in between a pair of bike rental shops.
The new restaurant brings a variety of dishes from the region. There are versions of some already in Vancouver, like shawarma, falafel, and hummus, along with some that staff say are unique in Vancouver.
These include the desserts Nabulsi knafeh and Nabulsi qatayef. Nablus, the town, is the original home of knafeh (also known as kunafa) and the new Vancouver restaurant is offering a version authentic to the city with sweet phyllo pastry, cheese, and syrup.
Qatayef is another dessert with a Nabulsi twist of mini-pancakes with cheese.
Nablus Shawarma and Grill took up the space left empty by Sonoya Sushi at the library that closed last year. Prior to that, several other sushi spots occupied the storefront, including Sushi Library, Wasabi Sushi, and Kamiya Sushi (which was there for more than a decade).
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