Let’s get this straight, provincials and tutting snobs – I’m not talking about doner kebabs here. Their inherent evils are well known and I’m not making a case for them, at least not now that Turkish Delight in Chorlton have stopped making their own doner from finest lamb shoulder.
No, what I’m largely concerned with during this mini-series of blogs is documenting the Middle Eastern phenomenon known as kobedeh kebabs – a wondrous concoction of minced lamb, turmeric and spices served on a near-2 ft naan with sauces and salad. I shall highlight noteworthy Mancunian vendors of said slabs of lamby meat, in no particular order – the numbering system is merely chronological, as opposed to a TOTP-style chart placing.
Special dispensation will be given to fine purveyors of seekh kebabs (the minced lamb equivalent from the Indian subcontinent) and, grudgingly, to decent chicken kebabs if you’re that boring.
#3 – Al Safa, 40 Wilmslow Road, Manchester, M14 5TQ
Once upon a time children, there was a magical place in Rusholme called West Bank, which offered meat as good as Al-Quds with salad and sauces to the standard of Al Safa, featured here. Plus, they sold baklava! Grizzled elders such as myself still speak of it in hushed tones, and there is talk that such a place will come again. Until then my friends, you must decide upon the combination of factors that constitutes the ultimate kobedeh experience and choose your venue accordingly. I'll be using Al Quds as a direct comparison here, as they've set the standard for newer places like Al Safa to follow.
Meat: Rather good clay-oven kobedeh, though if you held a gun to my head I would say that Al-Quds' is better still. If chicken shawarma is your thing, Al Safa's offering is one of the finest examples in Rusholme.
Bread: Sizeable naan, wrapping said kobedeh like a leavened duvet. Handmade and clay-oven baked, like all the best naan. Possibly better than Al Quds, not as crisp or burnt, though some do prefer this.
Salad: The holy grail of kebab accompaniments can be found here – red cabbage! That alone beats Al Quds into an earthenware salad receptable. Fresh lettuce, onions and tomato too, in quantities generous enough to beguile oneself into forgetting the less healthy aspects of this dish. Pickled chilli was superb.
Sauce: I recommend you point at the special chilli sauce that is obviously made with fresh tomatoes, otherwise the chap serving will default to the standard stuff. Fantastic with yoghurt, one of THE best sauces around, heightening the already-splendid meat, salad and bread to dizzying levels.
Ambience: Something of the new kid on the block, Al Safa sprung from nowhere relatively recently and has a modern feel, with faux-leather booths and what appears to be an Eastern European satellite channel on the telebox. It seemed to be showing some Baltic version of Family Fortunes last time I was in, though usually it’s a Europop 'music' channel with predictably frightful results. As such, I am sometimes forced to put headphones on and almost miss my order, which would be tragic with kebabs of this standard.
Join me next time for more exciting adventures in spicy minced lamb, dear friends.
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