With Smarts joining Mings in the winners section of Thame's best takeaway. It was up to our foodie to see if they could find the best kebab in Thame.
The kebab, and Thame in particular had been in the press recently as Atalay's kebab van was crowned the best kebab van in Britain. But in order to keep the review fair our foodie wouldn't be taking this into account and would be conducting an unbiased review.
To keep the review fair we decided that a large doner kebab would be ordered with all the trimmings, salads and sauce!
The review will be based upon not only what's the best quality, taste and portion size, but also what is best value for money.
In the kebab section we have tried to keep it as fair as possible, so we will only be reviewing Atalay's Kebab Van and Patrons Pizza, as they are the only "traditional" kebab van/shop, and the chip shops had been reviewed in the chippy section.
So first up for our foodie in the kebab review is Atalay's Kebab Van.
"When you talk about food, and takeaways in Thame, maybe Atalay's Kebab Van now has the biggest reputation of the lot. So to say I was quite looking forward to my first kebab since being crowned 'Britain's Best Kebab' is an understatement.
Although well known for the fantastic shish and mixed kebabs, it was the classic Doner Kebab, with all 'the trimmings' - salad and sauce that I would be reviewing! The difference with this takeaway (as with the chip shops) is that I couldn't preorder, therefore anticipating a queue I went at around 6:30pm in the hope of being home for 7ish.
It was to be expected, I guess, that with the recent fantastic publicity, award, charity event and new van, that I would be joining the back of what was already a very long queue! So after a 35 minute wait (wow this better be good!) I made it to the front and was greeted by the friendly and bubbly team that really adds to The Atalay's family brand.
Ten minutes later, again addressed professionally and by a beaming smile - I took the trip home ready for my Friday feast!
I'm not sure what was quicker - the speed at which I tore open the packaging or how quickly the kebab found its way to my stomach! The meat tasted lovely, still warm when I got it home, juicy and considering this wasn't on the back of a trip to the pub, I thoroughly enjoyed the doner meat.
A decent portion, with lots of meat and lots of salad, in a nice warm, grilled pitta. The salad was lovely and fresh and made it feel like I was eating something healthy rather than your usual takeaway! At £6.30 this is obviously a much cheaper takeaway for one than if you go to the Chinese or for an Indian, but whether this is expensive for a kebab I'm not quite sure...The small (if you felt that was too much) is £5.30 - and in fairness still looked a fairly good portion.
A great start to the kebab section, obviously this is going to be a tough one to beat!! The queue being the only thing that may put me off, but then if you want quality it's worth the wait! How long until the Atalays have a delivery driver I wonder??"
Stay tuned for round 8 of Thame's Best Takeaway Review, where we will be taking a trip to Patrons Pizza.
Check out our previous reviews of Thame's Best Takeaway below:
Thame's Best Takeaway - Chinese - Round 1 - Sun, Chinese Food - www.thamehub.co.uk/thames-best-takeaway-chinese-round-1-sun-chinese-food/
Thame's Best Takeaway - Chinese - Round 2 - Famous House - www.thamehub.co.uk/thames-best-takeaway-chinese-round-2-famous-house/
Thame's Best Takeaway - Chinese - Round 3 - Harvest Moon - www.thamehub.co.uk/thames-best-takeaway-chinese-round-3-harvest-moon/
Thame's Best Takeaway - Chinese - Round 4 - Ming's Chinese Takeaway - www.thamehub.co.uk/thames-best-takeaway-chinese-round-4-mings-chinese-takeaway/
Thame's Best Takeaway - Chippy - Round 5 - Smarts Fish & Chips - www.thamehub.co.uk/thames-best-takeaway-chippy-round-5-smarts-fish-chips/
Thame's Best Takeaway - Chippy - Round 6 -The Chippy - www.thamehub.co.uk/thames-best-takeaway-chippy-round-6-chippy/
