[Closed] British Kebab Awards

Let me be first in with a rant about how London-centric it is.
Even the Regional catergory has locations of Chelmsford, Dartford, Amersham and Horsham.

Let me be first in with a rant about how London-centric it is.

The best restaurants are only going to be where there are larger Turkish and Greek communities. Which happens to be London. Ergo, you're far more likely to find a decent Kebab in London, than anywhere else. Stands to reason. Your rant is wasted.

Sorry lunge. Have you a Regional nominee that they have missed? Middlesborough and Liverpool feature along with Scotland, Wales and NI

Now here is a post i can get behind!!! 😀

The Spices of Kashmir in Lower Braughton, Turkish Delight in Chorlton and Hunters in the Northern Quarter would get my vote

I presume that to make things fair and authentic all kebabs are judged having consumed 8 pints of Stella beforehand?

I presume that to make things fair and authentic all kebabs are judged having consumed 8 pints of Stella beforehand?

I am Doner (Leedsx2 and harrogate) are good enough to eat sober…

That’s the true test of a kebab.

Bizarrely one of my mates is a judge, I’ve never ever seen him eat a kebab.

I presume it's like the many Curry Awards, where your chances of winning are directly proportional to the amount you spend on buying tables at the awards ceremony. That's why the list of categories/nominees is so long - it's a money making exercise not a food award.

@bridges - the Greeks and Turks don't have a duopoloy on food cooked à la brochette served in a carbohydrate pocket

Glad to see that Muzzy's is nominated for best kebab van! It's our go-to, and needs to be edible sober as it's too far to walk from the pub. Ideally located for a post ride dinner too for those that drive to Swinley.

Sal's on Walmsersley Road in Bury. "Large Doner, plenty of minty stuff!"

Used to come is a plastic bag as the contents would dissolve the pitta. Woke up one New Years Day with one in my coat pocket. Sadly the coat didn't survive the experience.

how London-centric it is

Greater London (inside the M25) has a population of 9 million potential kebab eaters - so more than Scotland with 5.5 million and Greater Manchester 2.8 million put together.

The best restaurants are only going to be where there are larger Turkish and Greek communities. Which happens to be London.

I discovered the weird cultural imperialism of the German Doner Kebab chain recently. No mention of Turkey or Turkish food anywhere to be seen! Pretty disappointing also.

Best Turkish food I've had was in Dalston which is one of the biggest Turkish communities in London I think.

BAB NQ in Manchester ain't bad though.

Meh, unless RateMyTakeaway on Youtube has been there then this means nothing. Nothing.

Meh, unless RateMyTakeaway on Youtube has been there then this means nothing. Nothing.

+1 Danny should be chairing the event!

I used to live on Green Lanes (aka Greek Lanes) in North London.

There are probably more kebab shops on that road alone (it is 6.3 miles long) than in any other British city in its entirety.

Shame I'm not really into kebabs.

@bridges – the Greeks and Turks don’t have a duopoloy on food cooked à la brochette served in a carbohydrate pocket

Of course not, but if you want traditional Greek and Turkish food, it's probably a good idea to seek it in areas where lots of Greek and Turkish people live. London has such areas, with much bigger communities than anywhere else in the UK. Which is why you get a lot more choice of Kebab in London. Which is why the list of nominees might seem quite 'London-centric'.

I discovered the weird cultural imperialism of the German Doner Kebab chain recently. No mention of Turkey or Turkish food anywhere to be seen!

That's probably something to do with Turkish immigrants in large German cities such as Berlin and Munich, where Doner Kebabs are a very popular and easily found fast food type.

I used to live on Green Lanes (aka Greek Lanes) in North London.

There are probably more kebab shops on that road alone (it is 6.3 miles long) than in any other British city in its entirety.

Probably not far off. The choice along that road is ridiculous. Antepiler is a good one; there's a whole group of restaurants under that brand, selling everything from Doner kebabs to Baclava.

Shame I’m not really into kebabs.

A life not lived. 🙁 Please tell me you went in the Salisbury though?

I used to live on Green Lanes (aka Greek Lanes) in North London.

There are probably more kebab shops on that road alone (it is 6.3 miles long) than in any other British city in its entirety.

Shame I’m not really into kebabs.

I could have written all of that.

I did most of my shopping at the accompanying plethora of Turkish supermarkets, and I think I ate more hummous, pitta, olives and green peppers in the one year I lived there than the rest of my life combined.

I like the German offering in Glasgow

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186534-d13173341-Reviews-Doner_Haus-Glasgow_Scotland.html

Nowhere near a traditional kebab shop, but a stylish interior and 2 pint steins of lovely german beer to wash the kebabs down with.

I did most of my shopping at the accompanying plethora of Turkish supermarkets,

I still miss the Yasir Halim and its amazing flatbreads and huge clumps of parsley for 50p.

I used to live on Green Lanes (aka Greek Lanes) in North London.

There are probably more kebab shops on that road alone (it is 6.3 miles long) than in any other British city in its entirety.

I used to work on there a lot as it was the epi-centre of wholesale heroin smuggling in the UK, great food ended up a real fan of lamachun and also sucuk, happy, unhealthy days!

More a Shish fan than a Doner fan, and I did a short stint for a company making kebab meat for wholesale.
Best stuff is all made from shoulders of lamp, heavily trimmed. I don't know anything about the spices they use, I think thats all family recipes, I really only did the boning and trimming of the lamb.

With Shish, if you ask for it to be cooked 'Juicy' thats the term for it to be slightly underdone and pink in the middle.
That's my idea of heaven, I'd order an xL 3 skewer of Shish. Want salad ?,no thanks. Pitta ?, no thanks 😆 , just a big box of juicy lamb and the sauce poured over the top 😀

I used to work on there a lot as it was the epi-centre of wholesale heroin smuggling in the UK,

I'm just hoping you're employed by the UK taxpayer rather than a scary Columbian....

Shawarma King FTW.

I used to work on there a lot as it was the epi-centre of wholesale heroin smuggling in the UK

I remember when there were a load of heroin raids on the shops one morning, including our local little 24hr place.

Were the little social clubs connected to the drug trade? There was one under my flat that I always thought seemed a bit dodgy. Had a kind of Sopranos vibe.

I used to work on there a lot as it was the epi-centre of wholesale heroin smuggling in the UK

So many questions.....

Koboeda kebab from rusholme chippy cannot be beaten

Used to love Abduls and Sajaan in Manchester. Thanks for the updated recommendations!

I presume that to make things fair and authentic all kebabs are judged having consumed 8 pints of Stella beforehand?

Yes, does anyone actually know what a kebab tastes like?

Abduls chicken kebab in naan bread, chillies and sauce amazing 30 years ago at Uni. Still amazing if I happen to visit Manchester for the BMX centre.

Further to Bonners post.

Surely the best kebab shop is THE kebab shop betwixt a drinking location and a sleeping location.

Or it's Best kebab* in Glasgow... Clues in the name.

*It's definitely not.

Were the little social clubs connected to the drug trade? There was one under my flat that I always thought seemed a bit dodgy. Had a kind of Sopranos vibe

Mctd: HMC&E ID, Target team, branch 1

Spielers as they were known varied, some were just social clubs some a lot more complicit but the bottom line was always you weren’t getting in them if you weren’t known in the community and yes they had that seedy vibe. (Google the Dostlar battle). Always a pain to surveille with their crappy net curtains or tinted windows 🙂

Turks were a nightmare to work: largely nocturnal, completely unreliable - any meet they tee’ed up would always be hours late and they never had the cash to pay for their gear or the transport having spunked it all away at cards. But some of them were proper mafiosa types, (the pkk associates in particular) along with the d’s was extortion, loan sharing, murders, and with good tradecraft, but proper leeches on their community.

Also having to go to north London from genteel south west London all the time was a right pain.

Another vote for Abduls in Rusholme. Used to love the large doner on naan with the Indian trimmings. And yes, I have had one (many!) sober and they are just as scrummy!!!

Mill Hill Kebab in Leeds center is outstanding.
i have em on a regular basis whilst sober.

Turks were a nightmare to work: largely nocturnal, completely unreliable

What, all of them?

I'd just like to offer some balance here, as I probably have a little more insight into the area than most people on here. It's common knowledge that one of the main reasons the situation continued for so long, was because of massive police corruption throughout the 80s and 90s. There's no way that such a blatant industry could have existed otherwise; police turned a blind eye to the main gangs, and exerted pressure on 'rival' groups. Many of the raids had nothing to do with actual crime; they were designed purely to intimidate and harass local people. A climate of fear was engineered, which sadly exists to this day, although things are nowhere near as bad now. It was only when killings got too public and out of hand, and fears of house prices being affected, that something was actually done to solve the problem.

Regarding the social clubs; these places are for meetings, and politics is a significant reason many exist. Turks, being mostly 'Muslim', don't officially drink, so quiet closed spaces for discrete consumption of alcohol are popular amongst the men. 'Outsiders' aren't exactly forbidden from entering, but strongly discouraged. This is to protect those spaces and keep them for their intended purpose. The Turkish/Kurdish issue is very complex, and various groups want to retain a degree of privacy.

The Green Lanes area has thankfully changed loads; it's a lot nicer and safer these days (and house prices have rocketed). The heroin industry changed significantly, as massive quantities were being airlifted in direct from Afghanistan via the British military (will be interesting to see how things are affected now that the UK has withdrawn troops from that region), and Heroin use in the UK is declining, due probably to the increased availability of other drugs, so the market is now significantly 'depressed'. There's just not the money there once was. Which is all good news for many minority communities in London and elsewhere.

The police are still carrying out intimidatory raids along Green Lanes, Blackhorse road, Dalston and other areas, now aided and abetted by the Border Force doing Priti Patel's dirty work.Awareness is increasing though, and there is more kickback from nice white middle class types these days.

Anyway. This thread should be about kebabs.

I had a kebab, doner, last night - half-way through my night ride. First kebab while sober that I can really remember.

Got a medium (the smallest size), with all the salad/sauce and it was at the limit of what I'd want to eat in a sitting.

I now know why so many people are overweight in the UK.

What, all of them?

Yep, every single man, woman, child and pet.
Obviously as I was discussing drugs trafficking I meant Turkish drugs traffickers.

I was with customs we had / have / no longer have (delete depending on who’s asking) an innate distrust of 5-0 (especially SERCS) 😉 Tbf they didn’t like us either.

The heroin industry changed significantly, as massive quantities were being airlifted in direct from Afghanistan via the British military

Do you have a citation for that as bar unsubstantiated allegations I’m not aware of any reliable intelligence or arrests (I have been out of that side for a while)

I always thought the Turkish restaurants on green lanes were far removed from a kebab shops and unfairly roped in with the genre, a lot were very good restaurants and not somewhere to go after eight pints of Stella.
Since giving up meat the kebab shop by Colliers Wood bus garage , Gourmet Express, is the only place that might tempt me back.

I had a kebab, doner, last night – half-way through my night ride

Oof.

I usually make do with a gel or a bit of malt loaf.

Yep, every single man, woman, child and pet.
Obviously as I was discussing drugs trafficking I meant Turkish drugs traffickers.

You said 'Turks', you didn't clarify exactly who you meant.

I'm actually wondering why you've even mentioned all this, on a thread about food. You could have simply said how much you'd enjoyed Turkish food when working in that area, you didn't need to go into details.

Because it’s a chat forum, chat involves details, background, context, anecdotes etc.

And ignorance, obviously.

And ignorance, obviously

Indeed, we’re still waiting for your citation of the British army smuggling so much heroin out of Afghanistan it impacted the UK domestic market.

Context is everything. I read kilo's post as referring to drug dealers not the whole community. But then, even in that context I imagined it was hyperbole and not intended to apply to every drug dealer.

Does anyone know any non-Turkish drug dealers so we can make a direct comparison on their all round behaviour?

And is there a direct correlation between the ability to sell heroin and a penchant for creating delicious spiced meat pockets?

I know the Albanians have been quite successful at the former in Manchester but Albanian kebab houses have been notable by their absence

Makes you think..,

Best kebabs - other than Turkey, are in Germany.
None of this pita bread nonsense - just great tasting and spiced meat and salad stuff tightly rolled into a lamachun with sesame and chilli sauce !

I think that it would be wrong to pass judgement on the worlds best kebabs until I’ve tried them all

And it is that statement that has truly given my life purpose

We all need goals

I once went to a Kebab "trailer" in Cranleigh Surrey(Not sure whether the local snobs wanted a permanent kebab shop there at the time), just as I was about to order, some dude crashed his car into the end of the trailer setting it loose to roll across the road.

Not sure whether he was trying to tell us something.

There was a brilliant kebab van in Fleet, Hampshire I used to frequent when I was younger. On a patch of waste ground round the back of the carpet shop. Not sure food hygiene was way up Stav's list of priorities and his van had no engine.

Awesome kebabs. Chilli sauce could blow your head off.

Binners why don't you offer your wealth of experience and sign up as a next years judge? Let the mountains (of spicy meat) come to Mohamed.

The current light weight panel are obviously struggling to make head way through all the contestants offerings - the results still haven't been published. They need a true leader from the front

You said ‘Turks’, you didn’t clarify exactly who you meant.

Seriously?

kilo, in view of your experience of the heroin trade etc, your username?

your username

One of my old call signs on the radio.

I had a kebab, doner, last night – half-way through my night ride

Oof.

I usually make do with a gel or a bit of malt loaf.

Well, I know who I'd sooner ride with....

Well, I know who I’d sooner ride with….

Post ride kebab and pint? - Hell yeah!

Mid ride doner? - After you mate.

Mid ride doner? – After you mate.

Probably better letting me ride at the back, to be honest 🚴‍♀️💨

I make my own

Mid ride doner? – After you mate.

And from the stop, it's straight into a climb, gaining 450ft in 1.5 miles...

First time I've ever had a mid-stop on a night ride - but did actually mean I wasn't starving at the end nor did I have to bother with tea when I got back.

Try it.

Mid ride doner? – After you mate.

You know when you’re skim / half reading something? Clicked on this thread just saw Mid ride boner? and thought this thread had evolved over night!