Abduls Kebab, 318 Wilmslow Road, Fallowfield, Manchester, M14 6XQ

You know a kebab place is good when you go there for lunch (as opposed to stumbling there after 10 pints or so, like many people do). But those are inferior kebabs, so that’s understandable.

I guess this explains why the 2 guys at the table beside us kept looking while I was snapping pictures of the kebab, saying, '”Is she taking a picture of the kebab?”. While I don’t appreciate being made to feel uncomfortable just because I was photographing the kebab, I can see where they’re coming from. I’d probably make the same comment if I saw someone taking pictures of paint drying, when it might not seem so strange to a paint drying blogger, say.

Abduls’ is a chain of kebab restaurants (or whatever you want to call it) in Manchester, and their kebabs are unrivalled in London. One theory we have is that up North, kebabs are served with naan bread, which allows the sauce to be soaked up well.

In London, or anywhere not Northern, the kebabs are served in pitta bread, a poor, lack-lustre excuse of a substitute for the naan. Instead of soaking up the sauce and the meat juices from the kebab, pitta bread tends to just go quite soggy, and then chucked with the rest of the paper and polystyrene box.

On the left, is a chunk of donner meat. Made of who knows what, it’s usually served in slices, and is slightly chewy, slightly salty, slightly everything, but mostly nice. I like it, but some people tend to scoff at it, from the higher ground they’re standing on as they eat their Big Mac.

So, for those of you who have never had a kebab – What is the big deal about it anyway?

This, my friends, is a very well-presented kebab. Ignoring the fact that ambience is almost nil in these places (not why you go to a kebab restaurant, after all), Abduls has a very comfortable eating area for us hungry folks.

Once you’ve placed your order, you just sit and wait, tapping your foot impatiently.

Patience is then rewarded with a big, over-flowing, naan-based chicken kebab with donner meat (special request, off the menu), all for £6.20. Who needs utensils at a time like this. It’s everyone hungry person for themselves, as we each dive in, fingers ready to tear at the chicken pieces.

Tender pieces of chicken, bouncey (my favourite term for something that it slightly chewy, the way I like chewy to be) pieces of donner, and warm naan bread impatiently soaking up all the juices from the meat. Not fine-dining, more, mine-dining.

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