The kebab is so popular that it is almost taken for granted when it comes to talking about cheap food. How many hangovers have been cured with its almost 1,000 kcal on average per kebab and what is its true origin are questions that unfortunately have no concrete answer.
Although the most widespread format, the doner, was invented in Berlin in the 1970s, thanks to Turkish immigration to the Germanic country, this type of food arose between the Middle East and the Mediterranean, practically from the moment man began to cook with fire.
That is to say, from what can be deduced from its etymological origin, kebab has been with us since cooking began, although its name has been adapted to different cultures and over the centuries to end up being the fast food it is today. The restaurants on this list strive to bring back some of its original preparation and to claim it as a new trendy food, and therein lies their success.
1. De Pita Madre
While stocks last. This phrase, more typical of a retail promotion than of the hospitality industry, can serve as an approximation for De Pita Madre. They open, they have two rolls (one of veal and one of lamb) and when everything is sold out, they close.
This small restaurant in the Chueca neighborhood leads the trend of gourmet shawarma and does so by appealing to a maxim. That kebab can also be Michelin food.
The process is handmade, from the sauces (tahini and spicy tahini) to the pita bread.
📍Location:Calle de Colmenares, 13 (Chueca)
2. Kebab House
One of the best kebabs in Madrid is also one of the oldest. The fame of this small restaurant, which was established in Moncloa before El Faro, makes it reappear in the newspapers from time to time with the already repeated headline: the best kebab in Madrid.
The success is due to two cornerstones that are not always taken into account: the quality of the meat they serve -unlike other kebabs, it is not a uniform piece of meat, but steaks stacked as in the original recipe- and the price, which has not changed much in recent years.
The owner, Romel, of Lebanese origin, is an unfriendly gentleman, but with a certain rebellious charm – like his place – who, although he has retired, has left his legacy to a couple of workers. He used to open when it suited him, and when it happened the queue would go out on Menéndez Valdés street -you will see this complaint often in Google reviews- but now it seems they have reformed, premises included.
📍Location:calle de Meléndez Valdés, 67 (Moncloa)
3. Yunie Kebab
Separated by less than 100 m is Yunie, known for being the Lebanese restaurant that serves kebabs to the Royal House.
Again, it owes the fame of its shawarmas – the Arabic name used in Lebanon for kebab – to the meat they use. Georges, the chef in charge of this restaurant, used to work at the now defunct De Funy, where he began his contact with the Royal House and Madrid’s diplomacy in general, which continued to be loyal to him in his new project and has given him the recognition his cuisine deserves.
📍Location: Calle de Meléndez Valdés, 64 (Moncloa)
4. Sumer Kebab
Sumer Kebab brings back the freshness of this classic fast food and street food. Zaza and Ana, the owners of this Turkish restaurant, make the dough for their pitas and select the meat, which they leave to rest overnight before putting it on the skewer on which it is cooked.
This return to traditional Turkish cuisine also includes falafel, their version of pizzas, hummus and izkender – akind of deconstructed kebab without bread. The prices, as in most kebabs, are very reasonable, even more so if you take into account the care they take with their products.
📍Location: Calle Bravo Murillo, 19 (Chamberí)
5. La Pescadería
La Pescadería is far from the rest of the restaurants on the list because neither its menu nor its owners -it belongs to the Lamucca group- have anything to do with the Mediterranean countries where kebab is typical. However, none of this prevents them from serving one of the most praised kebabs in the city.
What makes this kebab special is that they make it the Greek way, with pork, spicy yogurt sauce and Hellenic salad. They only serve it in their Malasaña restaurant , which is more focused on Mediterranean dishes.
📍Location:Calle de la Ballesta, 32 (Malasaña)
6. Egeo
In Greece the kebab takes another name -and has some particularities- but it is essentially the same. The famous souvlakis are, together with gyros, the star dish of Greek street food, and they certainly are at Egeo. This Greek restaurant in Madrid has two locations (one in Malasaña and the other in Lavapiés).
Here pitas can be filled with meat skewers, Greek sausage, pumpkin meatballs, mushrooms and many more options for less than 6 euros, most of them.
📍Location:Barco street, 41 (Malasaña) and San Carlos street, 17 (Lavapiés).
7. Gyros Gourmet
The need to include Gyros Gourmet is understood when you experience, as happened to the food critic of Ratatouille, when you sink your teeth into his shawarmas. Younes, who runs this small place, prepares everything homemade. His shawarmas, yes, but also if you are lucky and get there you can try some off-menu dishes such as muhammara or Moroccan pastela, a tribute to one of the traditional dishes of the country where the owner of this place comes from and which we have been recommending for years.
📍Location:Calle Blasco de Garay, 21 (Chamberí)
8. Zorro
Zorro’s shawarmas are the premium version of fast food. The menu follows traditional Middle Eastern recipes, but reinterpreting them. A good example is their beef shawarma: a slightly more elaborate recipe to which zumak – a popular Middle Eastern spice blend of sumac, oregano, thyme, sesame seeds and marjoram – is added to pomegranate molasses. The menu is complemented by homemade starters such as hummus and muhammara.
With two consolidated locations in Madrid and a new opening in Malasaña, Zorro continues to expand as a local reference in quality kebabs.
📍Location: avenida del General Perón, 16 (Tetuán); calle Cartagena, 4 and calle San Bernardo, 59.