Now there are a myriad of clever names for kebab places. Some I have seen/heard of include Abra kebabra, Kebabby Road, Doner Quixote and Jason’s Doner Van (or if you are more a fan of folksy stuff maybe just DonerVan or perhaps Doner Summer for disco lovers). For that “fashionably” late night kebab, I used to wear as much of a kebab as I would eat back in my student days, I thought maybe”Donerce and Shawarma/Doner Karim“

It would seem the owner of Mr. Doner & Shawarma, a new place in Canton/Victoria Park burb of Cardiff, thought very little in terms of naming their premise. I can see the meeting going along the following lines:

“Come on lads let’s gets really creative here. Something orginal, which is a clever play on words”. Four hours later “Oh fxck, it all the good names are taken and I need to go home. Anyone got anything? Nope, OK let’s just admit defeat and go with  Mr. Doner & Shawarma.“

My thoughts on seeing the name were “Well let’s just hope all their creative efforts have gone into the food!”

The place is located in the rather dead zone between the Clive Road junction and Victoria Park and the unit in question (by the Clive Pub) seems to be one of those ones that nothing ever seems to get much traction in. It use to be a Sri Lankan place I rather liked, but seems not enough other did.

The look of the place is pretty much what you expect of a kebab, burger, pizza, kitchen sink joint and if I am honest doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. If the kebabs are good, however, I’m in as a kebab might not be haute cuisine but a good one is a rare thing to be treasured.

Marinated, chargrilled, meat with a lick of smoke and spice, warm pillowy flat bread and some heat from a pickled chilli or two and/ or chilli sauce is something to savour when done right.

The menu here may be massive with a be all things to all people approach, but I was only interested in the kebab offering.

Menus of this sort of breadth tend to set off alarm bells in my head, jack of all trades master of none vibe, but reliable sources had assured me that the kebab game here was strong. As a result, I decided to ignore the myriad of vanilla menu options and concentrate on the kebab element.

The rotating elephant feet in kebab shops are all too often off putting,

but here the rotating shawarmas looked and smelt pretty good (only the doner one, being rather anemic, didn’t really appeal).

It is clearly set up predominantly for take away, but there are a few tables to accommodate those wanting to eat in like me.

I decided on a lamb shish (£8.99 for a medium), with the level of char and tenderness of a lamb shish a fine test in terms of kebabby competence.

What arrived (after I had added my salad – toms, lettuce, cucumber and pickled chillies – and sauce – garlic and green – selections)

was rather fine, with the flat bread being as far away as is possible from your common or garden shop bought cardboard pittas.

The lamb was plentiful and nicely cooked,

with a pleasing char to the exterior, which added that sought after lick of smoke, and a good level of tenderness as I bit into the interior.

The plentiful proportions of the garlic and green (herb –  coriander and mint I would say) sauces mixed in nicely with the lamb juices and complimented the meat very well.

The bread was lovely, with that sort after blistering to the exterior crust and a soft pillowey interior. Perfect as a vehicle for transporting the shish to the gob and for mopping up the meat juice infused sauces.

I polished it all of with more than a little relish.

The verdict

All too often kebabs in the UK are seen as being only of use as post booze, late night, protein and carb fuel to address the midnight munchies. The kebabs here are, however, very much of the eat at any time quality level (with my foray a lunch time one).

Despite the breadth of the menu initially being a worry, I really enjoyed my lamb shish kebab here.

I really hope they succeed in this spot, as the quality (and price) is very much there.

One may be tempted (at first blush) to walk past this place, with the rather lurid shop front picturing all things to all men and the massive menu, but my advice is go in and go for one of their kebabs.

They may lack creativity in terms of names and the exterior and menu may scream generic, but they more than make up for it with a quality, far from generic, product if my lamb shish kebab is anything to go by.

The details

Address: 358 Cowbridge Road East, Canton, Cardiff CF5 1HE, (next to Clive Pub)

Website: https://mrdonerandshawarma.co.uk/

Opening hours: