Friday, April 30, 2010

Dürüm Kebab at Balli

There is a neighborhood in Berlin, Kreuzberg, that is also known as little Istanbul (Küçük Istanbul). And true to its name, this district is filled with Turkish bath, Turks-operated pizzaria, Turkish restaurants, Turkish bakeries & baklavari, Halal supermarkets. And if you pay attention, most of the apartments on the street of Little Istanbul boast Turkish names such as Aydin, Yilmiz and Yozuglu.

The Turks are the largest minority in Germany. This is because during the late 60s, large numbers of Turks were invited to come to Germany as guest workers to fill an acute labour shortage after WW II. Most of these Turkish workers eventually stayed in Germany and found their living here. No wonder some say that the best döner kebab, outside of Turkey itself, can be found in Germany.

With that said, my favourite Dürüm Kebab is located at Tempelhof and not Kreuzberg. Even though there are three, no sorry, five kebab booths right across the street from my apartment, my spouse and I willingly take that 30 minutes ride from my borough, Wedding, just to eat this Dürüm. Hey, Kreuzberg is not the only neighborhood filled with Turks.

For those who don't know, Dürüm is a type of Turkish wrap that's filled with finely sliced veggies (ice berg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and sometimes red cabbage) and thinly sliced kebab meat. The wrap is made from wheat flour flatbread, similar in shape to the Mexican tortilla.

The Kebab in Balli is huge and I mean it. Here's a picture of it. Once I went there at midnight and they were putting in a new skewer and it was tremendous! It's twice the size of the skewer in the picture. I think they already sold half of the meat by the time I came.

kebab


And here is the oven they use to bake the turkish wrap, Yufka.

ofen

And here is the Dürüm Kebab. Btw my spouse and me only order one piece and we share it. And trust me, it's enough for the both of us. What I love about the dürüm in balli is that they don't skimp on the good stuff. Warm & big yufka, enough layers of kebab meat, A lot of crisp fresh salad AND they add french fries! I always squeal with joy everytime I bite into one. It feels like biting into surprises, Hey I always welcome something deep fried in my food.

Döner Kebab

To perfect this meal, I always asked for dried chilli flakes for an additional kick to the dürüm. And here is the picture of the restaurant in Tempelhof. Get ready to see a line of people queing in the store as I've never see them without customers.

Balli

Balli Tempelhofer Damm 146
U6-Alt Tempelhof

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