Monday, October 06, 2008

Somewhere to Avoid: King Kebabs


A friend at my weekend work gets a lamb kebab every Sunday for lunch and raves about them, so yesterday I gave in and got myself one... Oh. My. God. This thing was fkn (excuse me) AMAZING! Oh wow... succulent meat, garlic sauce, fresh crisp lettuce, juicy tomato: I'll be having another one this weekend just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. If you ever go to the Rubble and Riches Market at Laverton find your way to the outside of Shed 2. Stand facing the shed. You will see a caravan selling sweet corn on the cob to your left (which is also VERY nice), and a hot-food caravan to the right of it, the name of the business escapes me. I often get lunch from this caravan and, even with my wussy stomach, I have never been sick. You can get hot dogs, lamb or chicken kebabs, hamburgers, salad rolls, chips... your typical hot-food-van fare. Give it a go. Or go and say "hi" to Helen and Igor inside Shed 1 between the hot donuts and the ice cream van and grab something from them. Lovely people. And while you're there in Shed 1 turn around and stock up on nuts and nibbly things from John and his family - they really are lovely people. And their honey-roasted almonds are positively sinful... but this is not an advertisement for the market - they don't pay me enough for that. And I've gone WAY off topic. But for those who have heard me tell horror stories of working at the market - it's not ALL bad, see?


So anyway, today I found myself with a craving again. One of the guys from my M-F job (oh wow, I just realised that could be mis-interpretted... I meant "Monday-to-Friday job") recommended a place on Russell Street as having good kebabs. So M and I decided to try it.

The menu listed a chicken kebab and can of coke for $9 between noon and 2.30pm. M grabbed a can, ordered the kebab and also a (big) slice of baklava. After she'd paid her money she realised that things didn't add up... when she queried the guy behind the counter about it he said that deal wasn't "available today". Ahem... WTF? Strike 1.

I gave my order (chicken kebab, 600ml coke), $11.50. I hand over $12.50, telling him it's $12.50. He puts the money in the till and... closes it. I had to ask for my $1 change (and to think what I go through on weekends to get $1 out of people...). Strike 2.

M and I sit down to await our kebabs. Then we realise he didn't give her the baklava. Never mind, we'll get it on the way out, we say (and we did).

Our kebabs arrived, they certainly looked the part. But...

  • But the flavours were barely there.

  • But they were just so damn greasy (you expect a certain amount of grease, sure, but this was ridiculous).

  • But an hour or so later found me becoming quite well acquainted with the loo. I was NOT impressed.
  • Strike 3 (and 4 and 5).

    Now, I KNOW we're not talking about fine dining, but there is a certain standard I don't like to dip below in my food. I did that today.

    King Kebabs (not 100% sure on the name) is on Russell Street, between Bourke and Lonsdale in the CBD, just down from Hungry Jacks. I overcame my initial misgivings because the place had been recommended. I should have listened to myself.

    Or maybe they were just having a bad day. I'm not inclined to find out.

    4 comments:

    Cindy said...

    Ew, I will definitely give them a miss. :-P

    On a more pleasant topic, are the markets at Laverton worth a visit? Michael likes going down there for the bird-watching and I'm now wondering if I should join him.

    Anna said...

    Hi Cindy :)

    Before I started working there I used to go to Lavvo markets once every month or so for a wander around, and I liked them.

    So long as you don't mind paying $1 entry fee, and the weather is lovely, and it's a Saturday (cos there are WAY more stalls on a Saturday) I think it's quite a good market to visit. A lot of 2nd hand stuff, a lot of new stuff... there really is an awful lot there. It's nowhere near as good as it was in its heyday, but it's still good value. Come on down one day, see what you think :)

    ElegantGourmand said...

    I've been to King's Kebabs and didn't particularly think much of their fare. I found the meat to be somewhat bland and lacking the satisfying mouth-feel texture that one gets from the spit roast. at least I didn't get sick. hope you're feeling better!

    the Laverton souvie sounds great! I must say that Orexi in Oakleigh is the benchmark by which all souvlaki's are measured, in my eyes. they are truly the best that I've had so far.

    Anonymous said...

    ive been going kings kebabs for three years and its bloady awesome i think there has been new owners that have taken over and there even better than the old one. they allways ask me how was it did you enjoy it they try to improve and improve but i think theres no room for any improvement there doing great. I drove past on a weekend night it was chocas so they must be doing the right thing. They are open too feedbacks so tell them wat you think and they will always improve and you wont go wrong.