It has been a while since Anh and I had gone to get the type of food served at the kebab shop. I’m actually not sure if we’ve ever gone to a kebab place together. So it was an adventure to be had! The front of the restaurant gives customers an idea of what to expect inside and the logo against the brick wall is a nice touch.
You can see the various meats from the window outside, calling your name and enticing you to come in. Once you get that close the aroma takes over and you may just find yourself ordering something!
The menu at first looked a bit daunting, with so many choices to choose from…what were we to do! Surely the shish kebab’s were the way to go but then again, the doner kebob’s looked great too! Luckily for us, the man with the master plan was standing right in front of us at the register…
I don’t remember the name of the person who took our order, but he was really nice and gave us descriptions and recommendations of many items on the menu. We took his advice and ordered a bunch of different things to try. It was looking like a start to a good night and we peeked around the place to get our bearings.
They serve various cold salads or side dishes that appeared freshly made and awaiting an eager mouth to feed. I’m a huge fan of hummus and at times have a constant supply in my refrigerator. I almost got a side of it, but I managed to convince myself that we had enough coming our way soon enough and to calm myself down.
As you can see there is ample seating and there were actually people eating there when we arrived but we managed to snap a picture when there was a lull in the action before the next crowd came in. The setup was pretty standard and we were ready to chow down.
Our food arrives and boy are we excited. This was a feast fit for kings and queens and we were ready to go. First off was the chicken kebab plate with macaroni salad and fries. The chicken itself was moist and tender, and had enough char on the outside to make us smile. I was expecting more bold flavor to it, so the subtlety threw me off. It still pleased our bellies and reminded me of the kebab experiences I had in London in the past. The fries were standard and cooked a little more than I prefer, but it was not too bad. The mac salad had what it appeared to be bacon bits in it. But they were soggy and threw off the texture. The taste was there, but I wish either the bacon was not added or had a little crisp to it.
Next up were the doner kebab’s. They gave us one lamb and one chicken. I was expecting the lamb to be spot on and scrumptious and I wasn’t really expecting my chicken goodness meter to go bonkers. But I was pleasantly surprised. The lamb was good, but the chicken was great. It had more flavor to it and seemed like it had 100% more seasoning than the chicken on the kebab plate. Anh and I usually are good sharers but we were finding ourselves having to pry this away from each others grip more often than not.
It’s hard to tell but the seasoning on the chicken is something I’d go back for again and again. I’m very happy we got to try it! The tomato, lettuce, chicken, tahini sauce, and onions all played their part in each bite. Things taste better when they come out of left field and surprise you but I’m sure the next time I come back will bring back this good memory.
However, the falafel was a a little bit overcooked. The outside was very hard to break into and the inside was a little dry as well. I’m not sure if they were sitting there too long or what, but this wasn’t a highlight of the night for us. I’ve had falafel’s elsewhere and it is something I typically enjoy to eat so it was a little disappointing. But we were able to try so many other things and really didn’t go away with a bad taste in our mouths.
I’d definitely come back to try other things and get the chicken doner again. It’s always great to be able to try so many different dishes so you get a better idea of what a restaurant has to offer. I try to get a few things at new restaurants because you never know if you are ordering the wrong things and the next best find is right there in front of you waiting to get ordered. Next time Anh and I are in the kebab mood we’ll swing by The Kebab Shop to satisfy our desire. A special thanks to Jen from Bam and The Kebab Shop for having us. We had a great time and enjoyed the experience!
the kebab shop
630 9th Ave,
San Diego, CA 92101
(619)525 0055
http://www.thekebabshop.com/
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