Shawarma Kebab House - A Tasteem Review
It seems weeks since I did a @tasteem review and when I saw the Cheap and Fabulous contest announcement up I knew I had the right candidate.
For the past few months, I have been working in the decrepit industrial town of Rochdale in Greater Manchester.
The place has more than its fair share of pissheads and homeless people with their gnarled rugged worn looks shuffling around the streets.
Beggars frequent the shopping areas and are often chased by police officers for vagrancy.
A lack of money and wealth should make for some bargain eating places and @goblinknackers found a good one in the form of the Shawarma Kebab House that sits on the outskirts of the main shopping area.
I confess I don’t usually eat in such places, and still refer to it as ‘that dodgy place’ but the quality of food I found within surprised me.
Over the last few visits, I have had to take my photographs secretly as the owners look a little like the Algerian Mafia, and may well take no prisoners if I was caught photographing their restaurant and food.
As we can both walk to this sit-down kebab house and the food is delivered quickly, it ticks the boxes for a lunchtime walk, eat and return to work in 30 minutes.
This is Chicken Shawarma Tray with Chips and a Can for £3.50. For one, it’s huge, fills me and is incredibly tasty. Add some Garlic or Chilli Sauce (as much as you like) and you are full and sustained for the rest of the afternoon.
@goblinbknackers occasionally orders the post night-out pisshead food, Donner meat in a freshly made Nan bread for £3 (above), or my most recent dish, the Chicken Tikka (below) for again just £3.
The latter dish takes a little longer to prepare but it’s worth the wait.
You also get a fresh large Nan with the Tikka dish of which I had taken a large bite before the photograph.
Call it being out of practice and/or nervous photography.
This is obviously Asian food and my references to ‘Mafia' are in no way racial, in fact, it was @goblinknackers (who is of Asian origins) who made this assessment.
I hadn’t noticed but one of the owners has a Kalashnikov tattooed to his forearm.
While he may just have a fetish with guns, I can’t say Kalashnikov’s are a common choice of body artwork.
One time when we were leaving, one of the owners shouted ‘Oy’ after us after he suspected I was taking photographs. I pretended not to hear and did not turn around.
Receipts are not given out at the Shawarma Kebab House. I did ask once and was told, ‘no receipts’.
I’m not going to argue about my rights with these guys. Sometimes it’s just better to nod and agree.
You may think a visit to Shawarma Kebab House is a terrifying dangerous ordeal.
Well, it was not a good start but it is getting better and what makes me come back is the food.
Freshly cooked meat and Nan’s that I can visibly see them making as well as the mouth-watering taste plus convenience will ensure many repeat visits while I am working in Rochdale.
Mafia or not, they are starting to get just a little more friendly as we are now deemed to be ‘repeat customers.
Instead of receiving growls for responses, we now get a short nod of respect.
Some things are harder to attain than others in life. Perhaps after a year, we may even get the remnants of a smile.
Restaurant Information
Shawarma Kebab House
Rochdale, UK
This post participated in the Tasteem contest Cheap and Fabulous? Totally possible!
Wow, the food looks pretty amazing. I wish I had a place like this close to me. Mostly all we have around here is chains or good old American food joints. Which is awesome, but it can get old after a while. I am sure if I lived in a bigger city stuff like this would be more common.
Do you get this kind of food there? I never saw any while living there.
I do love this style of food I used to have it often in Lebanon, often the places with the best Schwarma and kebabs as have found do look shady but the food is the most authentic and testy
a great and fun review to read ;)
Shady places.. yes, I wouldn't have gone in without @goblinknackers. You never can tell.
From my travels I judge a place often now by how many people are in there and not so much how it looks and its worked well for me ;)
Shwarma!!!! Oh, that looks absolutely divine! I won't ask about the veggies. He has shifty eyes and I cannot believe you didn't just ask him to photograph. I do. They almost always say yes.
Although, I never ask anyone that has a Kalashnikov tattooed to his forearm. Yikes.
Love your reviews. Stay out of those dodgy places!
Upped and Steemed
@tip
It's best not to talk in there and simply point to the dish on the banner. Keep it simple and enjoy the food I say. I could use those receipts but daren't push it.
:) You give the best reviews! Sorry, I don't around as much as I should. It takes me forever to get through some of the comments. No complaints, just wish I had more time on my hands.
I hope to find a better balance so I can curate more.
I as Vegetarian Upvoted Your down comment, but not Your post about kebAP. So, I hope for Your understanding...Thanks
Sure thanks... the closest you may get to veggie stuff in there is the side salad!
Thanks
That's innovation. I've no idea what any sort of kebab tastes like without 8 pints of beer.
£3 - that's damn cheap!
My kind of review this - enough with this posh formal restaurant already!
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I can handle it once a week, but not the Donner stuff, that's just for @goblinknackers. The Tikka is my dish now... very nice.
hi @slobberchops, @revisesociology - for clarification
this Donner is not to be confused with the traditional 'Istanbul' donner which looks like an upright gigantic skewered sausage, .. this is actually lean chicken breasts mixed with spices and only cut in the donner style, …. better known as a Shawarma.
Ah, and I thought it was that upright sausage.. they do have that stuff you can only eat after 8 pints of beer right? I know there's 2 of those skewered things in there.
Ah hence the name of the place - does sound more appropriate for lunch!
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LOL! That was a pretty entertaining review! I love doner, but I have had to cut back a bit on it... as my tummy starts to disagree with fatty and oily foods... stupid aging body!
Dangerous restaurant to review, lucky you've gotten away with the photographs and haven't published them in a public place that would be recorded for all time... oh.... wait...
They will be looking for this guy coming through the door...
It could get entertaining :)
Haha... is this what you look like when you are dragged from your bed in the middle of the night? Seriously, how did those eyes stay in...
You could have bold enough to say you are marketing for them should they catch you.
Because who wouldn't want free advertising to a food joint?
(unless this is just a cover up place for something much more...? Based on the notion of tattoo you spotted 😆)
I never really tried Swarma before but kebab is very common in Malaysia. And in Malaysia everyone let the camera eat first before they dine in. Haha.
upvoted
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LOL, I think they are OK but it doesn't look that way if your a new customer. Hopefully they will never see what I write here, but even if they did.. I'm congratulating them on their cuisine. It really is good.
The meats looks delicious indeed @slobberchops but I liked more with the smoke that flavors the meat with a typical over the coal barbecuing :D
Are you able to eat this kind of food? How about Jollibee, I have a story about that soon!
It looks so bad, but so good. Been quite some time since I ate out like this...
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It's cheap, but it looks tasty.