1barA4
07-19-2010, 02:58 PM
Since my friends went to Europe and Oz all they rave about is "real Turkish Doner Kebap" (apparently the 'p' makes it good...and one of them is German so the jokes write themselves lol) and we've been on the hunt all over town. Sadly most results are, what they consider "sickly sweet Lebanese-Canadian donairs with underseasoned meat".
A place like Royal Kebab, run by an awesome Iranian, still falls short of the mark, though they consider it the best non-Turkish (though Persian) kebab place.
The way they describe the kebabs they like is this:
- thin wrap (Lavash bread but pita is suitable replacement)
- garlic sauce without a hint of sweetness
- minimal vegetables (limited to onions, tomatoes, tiny bit of lettuce or none at all)
- well-seasoned meat that is gas-fired on a vertical spit, sliced off, dipped in the drippings and re-fried on a flat top. Doner kebaps that are "beef" are actually mostly lamb and the "lamb" ones are mostly beef. Go figure.
At Royal Kebab, if you order a kebab wrap (not a shawarma), the kebabs are taken from the fridge and regrilled on the flattop but the kubideh (ground meat) doesn't taste the same. The barg (steak) kebab's meat is pure beef and doesn't match the taste they're looking for (though its damn tasty).
A place like Pharoah's on 17th re-grills the sliced meat but the taste is definitely typical Canadian shawarma/donair style.
We did go to Istanbul Restaurant on Saturday (right beside Leather Pocket by Fowler) and it's the closest to what they've had (based on meat flavor; it's well seasoned and tastes of mutton) but the sauce he used on ours was the sweet Canadian lebanese donair sauce. He was too busy for us to ask if there was an alternate sauce but this was our last best hope considering Turk Fest had terrible wraps and this is pretty much the only Turkish restaurant in town that does wraps. (Personal note: to date, this was the tastiest kebab wrap I've had in my life).
Has anyone been to Istanbul and knows if there is an alternate (non-sweet) sauce?
Any other suggestions for non-Lebanese doner kebab/p wraps??
A place like Royal Kebab, run by an awesome Iranian, still falls short of the mark, though they consider it the best non-Turkish (though Persian) kebab place.
The way they describe the kebabs they like is this:
- thin wrap (Lavash bread but pita is suitable replacement)
- garlic sauce without a hint of sweetness
- minimal vegetables (limited to onions, tomatoes, tiny bit of lettuce or none at all)
- well-seasoned meat that is gas-fired on a vertical spit, sliced off, dipped in the drippings and re-fried on a flat top. Doner kebaps that are "beef" are actually mostly lamb and the "lamb" ones are mostly beef. Go figure.
At Royal Kebab, if you order a kebab wrap (not a shawarma), the kebabs are taken from the fridge and regrilled on the flattop but the kubideh (ground meat) doesn't taste the same. The barg (steak) kebab's meat is pure beef and doesn't match the taste they're looking for (though its damn tasty).
A place like Pharoah's on 17th re-grills the sliced meat but the taste is definitely typical Canadian shawarma/donair style.
We did go to Istanbul Restaurant on Saturday (right beside Leather Pocket by Fowler) and it's the closest to what they've had (based on meat flavor; it's well seasoned and tastes of mutton) but the sauce he used on ours was the sweet Canadian lebanese donair sauce. He was too busy for us to ask if there was an alternate sauce but this was our last best hope considering Turk Fest had terrible wraps and this is pretty much the only Turkish restaurant in town that does wraps. (Personal note: to date, this was the tastiest kebab wrap I've had in my life).
Has anyone been to Istanbul and knows if there is an alternate (non-sweet) sauce?
Any other suggestions for non-Lebanese doner kebab/p wraps??