kebabs – Endless British Pub Crawl (Part 3)

Sphinx Kitchen, Selly Oak

The signage for Sphinx went up about a year and a half ago and it appeared to be open, briefly, last spring then closed for the Summer break (and, as it turned out, all fall and the Christmas break). But, scanning the storefronts for a quick tasty bite for lunch I noticed it was open and dashed in to get a quick meal.

Okay, there was nothing quick about it (these guys don’t seem to be in a hurry about anything) but I got a skewer each of lamb cubes and lamb kofta on some spiced rice with a bit of salad and freshly made Egyptian flat bread and all of it was outstanding. If I get lucky and they are open when I pass by again, I will have the much more reasonably priced shawarma which, hopefully, sits as lightly as this feast did.

Andy’s Fish Bar & Restaurant (kebab), Tipton

Andy’s was an excellent side street find the afternoon after my last day of work for the year. Kebab meat on a bap with chips (battered or — as I chose — plain) at a discount price prompted me to opt to dine in for an additional 50p. The weather was shit as well which may have also played into the calculus.

But, the proprietors couldn’t have been warmer (and the kebab lovely). ”Where’s that accent from?” followed by the Midnight Train To Georgia after my answer … I think I’m the first stranger to wander in here in years.

Pitalicious, Sutton Coldfield

Left the Duke with about 15 minutes to make the 10 minute walk to catch my train and decided to take a chance on fast service at Pitalicious.

Choice of four portions from the salad hoppers, a condiment (some sublime chilli sauce), and some shawarma made up of real slices of lamb (not the reconstituted minced mystery mutton at most places).

Sublime, and I was wiping up the residual of my last bite just as I stepped on the platform with my train coming to a stop seconds later. Perfect. I could, nay, would eat these every day of the year if I lived in Sutton Coldfield.

The Pizza Quarter (kebab), Jewellery Quarter, Brum

It was probably not so much the language barrier as the vast differences in our accents but my heart sank as I watched the proprietor of The Pizza Quarter squeeze a line of mayo (which I specifically asked him to substitute for chilli sauce not two minutes earlier) onto my kebab. At least he managed to also put chilli sauce on top of that abomination (I’ve mentioned my aversion to mayonnaise before) and the overall effect was pretty pleasant despite the insult to fine dining.

Al Arabi Grill House, Birmingham

Stingy at a little over 15 quid. Tasty, sure, but you can get two of these for the Al Arabi price just about anywhere else in town. All Robbery, more like.

Afghan Grill, Walsall

The Afghan Grill has been renamed since I last stood at the adjacent bus shelter. The donner sandwich is a little greasy but big on flavour even if it shortens your life a year or two. I was mostly using it for drinking ballast, anyway.

Shaho’s Kebab, Wolverhampton

Truly outstanding. No elephant leg, no chips…just meat on skewers and a charcoal pit with pita and piles of fresh tomato, parsley, and sweet onions. Mine was lamb chunks and I could easily have stood there eating these one after another until hospitalised for overdoing the meal.