A kebab is notorious for being the go-to at the end of a night out, so it often doesn’t really matter how good it is because the saltiness is probably going to sober you up regardless.
What you don’t want however is for that kebab to make you feel even worse than you were already going to, the following day.
With a hygiene rating of 0, the Shaw Kebab House doesn’t sound like the most appealing establishment to prevent that hangover.
But keen to give it a go, I ventured out to see whether the restaurant was befitting of that rating.
Because I have eaten some questionable takeaways in the past paired with what seems to be a pretty incredible immune system, I wasn’t too worried.
On the government website which outlines the hygiene rating of different establishments around the UK, it detailed that both the hygienic food handling and management of food required major improvement. The cleanliness and condition of facilities and buildings require improvement.
It was last inspected on July 10.
As I arrived at 9pm on Tuesday, October 11, I chose the XL lamb doner kebab which cost me £9 and paired it with the large cheesy chips for £4.50.
I took the food home, opened it and found that the grease from the food had soaked through both the box and the paper it was wrapped in and had left a greasy smear on my kitchen counter.
I also found that the kebab was so large that the polystyrene box it was in was half open.
As I dug into the cheesy chips I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of cheese on the chips.
I was also ecstatic that it had been melted as I have recently been devastated by other takeaways that have just dumped (unmelted) cheese on my chips.
By no means were these the best chips I have had but they were well-salted, tasty, and something I would devour and be left with a wide grin on my face if I had eaten them intoxicated.
Now onto the main dish, the star of the show, the crème de le crème, the lamb doner. As I had gone for the XL, my kebab was absolutely loaded with meat and I thought it was okay.
As with the chips, if I had been on a night out I would have thoroughly enjoyed my food but as I was cold sober, I did notice the slightly strange taste (which I find is normal with doner meat) and oh my was it greasy.
The salad was very good, with a nice variety and what seemed to be pretty fresh lettuce so no complaints there. My least favourite moment of this experience was remembering that pitta bread is supplied with the kebab.
As I made my way to the bottom of the pile of meat I found two small pieces of pitta bread that were flattened and absolutely soaked in grease.
They by no means were in a state to be used to place a bit of kebab, some salad and some chips on them to make a nice little sandwich, as I would normally do.
My dad however loved the grease-coated pitta bread and generally enjoyed both the kebab and the chips.
It is also a good sign that the following day both my dad and I felt absolutely fine and there were no repercussions of the meal.
It was the most average kebab I have ever had but it would have been greatly appreciated if I was drunk.
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