Adelaide’s top yiros and other grilled meat and pita favourites
WHILE we all have a soft spot for the barbecued snag in a fluffy white slice, the vendors of the Mediterranean and Middle East take meat and bread to another level. Our team went out in search of Adelaide’s best yiros in all shapes and sizes.
WHILE we all have a soft spot for the barbecued snag in a fluffy white slice, the vendors of the Mediterranean and Middle East take meat and bread to a another level.
Call them yiros (or gyros), doner kebab or souvlaki, the combination of grilled lamb or chicken, salad and a warmed pita bread is hard to beat — especially with a healthy squirt of garlic and yoghurt sauce.
Our team went out in search of Adelaide’s best in all shapes and sizes.
CITY
EAST END YIROS
Lamb yiros, $10.50 (or $12.50 for a regular)
If you want to make a name for yourself by making a classic yiros, you’d better make a damn good one. And that’s exactly what East End Yiros has done. The well-seasoned lamb here is tender and tasty, and the caramelised onion gives the yiros a pleasant smokiness.
It’s wrapped in a not-too-thick, not-too- thin but just right pita.
No wonder East End Yiros has established itself as a foodie go-to.
ONE MORE THING: They also do a kransky yiros.
■224 Grenfell St, city, 8223 3424
YIROS HOUSE
Lamb yiros, $11.90
It must be doing something right as Yiros House is almost an institution at the cafe end of Rundle St — as the line-up of photos on the wall attests, it’s fed an awful lot of revellers in its time. The service is quick — the indoor and outdoor tables aren’t designed for lingering. The yiros arrives a bit tepid but bursting with meat and not much salad. Still, if you are looking for vegetables, you really aren’t after this fast food. Yiros comes with a choice of garlic, chilli, sweet chilli or tomato sauce and you can add cheese, hummus or tabouli, each for an extra 50c. The chilli sauce is warm, not savage, and the garlic sauce is tasty without being overpowering. You can wash it down with soft drinks or juice but, as one of our company observed, what it really needed was a beer.
ONE MORE THING: Yiros House is open through the wee hours of the morning if hunger strikes.
■ 258 Rundle St, city, 8232 6611
YIANNI’S HELLENIC YIROS
Combination yiros, $14
When it comes to late-night eats, Yiannis is a Saturday night favourite for many, with hungry punters lining up out the door to get their meaty fix. Admittedly, it isn’t the fanciest yiros in the world, but it’s a good feed and, with the meat cooked over charcoal, has a great flavour. The meat – we went for the combo of chicken, lamb and pork – is nicely cooked and there’s plenty of it. The iceberg lettuce is crisp and the tomato chunky. The amount of onion is bang on, but where this yiros stumbles is the garlic sauce – it didn’t pack the kick that some of them have. For 14 bucks though, it’ll fill a hole in your tummy without creating too much of one in your wallet.
ONE MORE THING: Bring cash, as they don’t accept eftpos.
■ 270 Hindley St, city, 8212 5552, find them on Facebook
KUTCHI DELI PARWANA
Chapli kebab, $16
The yiros family tree has some fantastically tasty offshoots – notably the traditional Peshawari lamb burger, cooked eastern Afghan style at Kutchi Deli Parawana. Chef Durkhanai Ayubi creates a chapli kebab that tastes as good as it looks. Her lamb kebab is flat and round (chapli means “slipper” in Urdu) and is topped with assertive raw red onion, which packs spicy heat, but is kept in check by the mix of lamb, cucumber and tomato. Be warned — all that fresh tomato and cucumber can make things a little drippy.
ONE MORE THING: Traditionally, a chapli is eaten alongside the naan, so Kutchi’s is simply folded once over the kebab — it’s up to you if you want to roll your lamb.
■ 7 Ebenezer Place, city, kutchi.com.au
PEEL ST
Slow-cooked lamb shawarma to share, $39.50
The ultimate lamb and flatbread combination from a chef in Jordan Theodoros who doesn’t know how to serve a plate that isn’t generous in every sense. The centrepiece is a spice-rubbed piece of lamb shoulder that disintegrates into gorgeous, juicy shreds at the first prod of a fork. It is surrounded by a typical Peel St wallop of flavour from pickled peppers, tabouleh, labneh, a sprinkle of tangy sumac and a bundle of herbs. Underneath it all, soaking up the meaty juices, is a grilled pita to tear up and share around. Fabulous.
ONE MORE THING: Shawarma is a Middle Eastern word for what is known here as yiros or doner kebab.
■ 9 Peel St, city, 8231 8887, peelst.com.au
SUBURBS
SARAY KEBAB HOUSE
Combination chicken and lamb yiros $9.
Take a walk down Henley Beach Rd between South Rd and Marion Rd and you will have passed no less than a dozen opportunities to treat your tastebuds on a culinary tour of the world. But when you’re in the mood for some Turkish delights, Saray hits the spot.
The lamb and chicken combo is not the biggest yiros in town but it’s packed with all the essential flavours. Warm and chewy pita, tangy garlic sauce and fresh tomato, lettuce and onion to cut through the salty, deliciously greasy lamb filling. And for under $10 it’s pretty hard to beat.
ONE MORE THING: If you’ve got the time to satisfy a big appetite, try one of Saray’s delicious charcoal kebab and rice plates.
■ 1/178 Henley Beach Rd, Torrensville, 8354 3614
DORA’S YIROS & SEAFOOD
Lamb yiros, $11.90
A soft, grilled pita filled with melt-in-your-mouth lamb, lettuce, tomato, onion and tzatziki is the only way to enjoy a traditional Greek-style yiros, and the guys at Dora’s do it well. The marinated lamb is slow roasted on a rotisserie and carved fresh after you place your order, ensuring it remains juicy. Dine in and takeaway options are available, with indoor and outdoor seating that will make you feel as though you’re relaxing on a Greek island with the shop’s blue and white decor. And just like in Greece, the lads cooking away are always up for a friendly chat.
ONE MORE THING: For a taste of summer, try the Hawaiian yiros with your choice of lamb or chicken, plus pineapple, bacon, cheese, onion, tomato and lettuce wrapped in a grilled pita.
■ 94 Findon Rd, Woodville West, 8268 2064
SOUVLAKI BROS
Lafi, $14.50
The aroma of charcoal smoke and sizzling meat drifts across Moseley Square on a still day, mingling with the smell of the sea. The source is Souvlaki Bros, where two loaded spits – one with lamb, the other chicken – spin slowly over the coals. A more-than-generous serve of sliced lamb, some with nice crisp edges and bit of char, is loaded into an excellent, fresh pita that has been flipped a few times on a hot grill. For the Lafi, tabouli and a thick smear of hummus are added to the standard salad components. Other gourmet options offer a range of cheeses and other fillings. One warning: over winter Souvlaki Bros can close earlier than expected, before 7pm on one night we visited.
ONE MORE THING: The chips with a tangy herb salt are dangerously addictive.
■ 9a Moseley Square, Glenelg,
8294 2000, souvlakibros.com.au
TWO GREEK BOYS
Lamb yiros, $14
It’s an argument as fierce as Port v Crows or Liberal v Labor: should a yiros contain chips? The Two Greek Boys clearly believe it should. Their standard version comes with chips included, though you can be brave and opt out. A lamb yiros also includes a single kebab’s worth of five or six tender meat cubes that are quality over quantity, tomato, lettuce, onion and a yoghurt sauce, all rolled in a pillowy pita with a golden, fried exterior. Best eaten there before it becomes soggy if you can nab a seat.
ONE MORE THING: Make a meal of it by finishing with one
of the Greek desserts.
■ 113 Unley Rd, Unley, and 565 Anzac Hwy, Glenelg North,
8294 2255
LAWASH BAKERY AND KEBAB
Mixed kebab, $14
The flatbread doesn’t come fresher than the huge, flaky frisbees that come out of the domed ovens that are hidden away in a room at the back of this western suburbs gem. So good is the bread, you will find yourself tearing away pieces to eat on their own before tackling the kebabs that are tucked inside. The mixed selection — with chicken, lamb cubes and lamb mince kofta — is a good introduction, with the golden, spice-coated pieces of chook a particular highlight. Don’t expect much in the way of salad — one slice of tomato, tired-looking lettuce — but there is an endless supply of yoghurt and chilli sauces in squeeze bottles.
ONE MORE THING: Alfam chicken is half a grilled bird.
■ 115 South Rd, Thebarton, 8354 0707
CHEEKY GREEK
Combination yiros, $14
Cheeky Greek welcomes a constant stream of hungry punters on this windy, winter’s day. And it’s no wonder. The service is friendly and efficient, and the smell from the fully loaded rotisserie gets our stomachs rumbling. Yes, we’re hungry, but turns out not enough to finish the traditional combination yiros, jam-packed with generous heapings of tender chicken and lamb pieces and finished with salad – tomato, red onion and lettuce – chips and not too much house-made tzatziki . It’s all good but the hero is the flat bread — fluffy, lightly toasted and oh-so more-ish.
ONE MORE THING: Yiros aficionados should try the “cheeky” version, featuring caramelised onion and a seriously yummy house-made creamy mustard dressing.
■ 586 Seaview Rd, Grange, 8353 5577
ALMO’S KEBABS
Lamb Kebab, $10
This is a proper Turkish-style doner kebab, served from a roadside van to the late-night post-pub crowd. The tender sliced lamb, cut from a rotisserie, is laid on thick atop the firm pita bread. It’s big (amazing value) and tastes fresh, but ours was a little too heavy on the onion.
ONE MORE THING: Recently expanded to a cafe with more regular hours in the strip of shops at the same address.
■ 489 Marion Rd, Plympton, 0405 123 801
MEZI MAZI
Chicken souvlakia with chips and pita, $27.50
Two thoughts battle away as the waiter plonks the plate on the table: there is nothing more seductive than the smell of flame-charred meat and fried potatoes – and, do I really need to use the cutlery? It’s a restaurant, so manners win out. In goes a forkful of the hand-cut chips scattered with oregano. Now it’s fingers for the pita bread. Scoop a couple of juicy knobs of the chook from the skewer, swipe it through the not-too-garlicky tzatziki, and then savour that flavour. Repeat, breaking occasionally for a leaf or two of tangy salad and a swig of Greek beer. Magnificent.
ONE MORE THING: For a taste twist, choose the pork souvlakia, still with those irresistible chips.
■ 86B Prospect Rd, Prospect, 8269 2777, mezemazi.com
ARGO HELLENIC CAFE
Lamb yiros, $19.50
If DIY is your thing then putting your own yiros together should be easy. This one is definitely more restaurant style than your usual takeaway but it still has all the standard yiros fillings on the plate. A very generous serving of chunky bits of lamb, toasty pita, salad, golden chips and the best bit, the tzatziki.
ONE MORE THING: Bourekia — pan-fried eggplant stuffed with creamy feta. Give us more.
■ 45 Commercial Rd, Port Adelaide, 8241 2223
WRITERS: Simon Wilkinson, Gordon Knight, Robyn Douglass, Roxanne Wilson, Tom Bowden, Roy Eccleston, Greg Barila, Stephanie Timotheou, Roseanna Daziani