Until a couple days before going to Berlin I didn’t know
that the inventor of the Doner Kebab was Mahmut Aygun, and moreover he
invented it in Berlin. The Kebab King as he was known probably desperate to get
rid quickly of drunken Berliners at the wee hours, decided in an act of
desperation to put their traditional Turkish Kebab which was by that time served
in a dish with rice to be served inside a bread, genious isn’t he?
Rotisserie at Hasir, I wonder if Mahmut said Donner I'm your Father Star Wars Style
So on March 2nd 1971 at the Hasir restaurant in
West Berlin Mahmut stroke pure gold. As you can imagine I couldn’t resist to
try one of these babies in their birthplace. I did a little bit of research,
The visit to Hasir one was for sure, but it might be that some other curious Turkish
street food provider went a step forward into Kebab evolution, so after many
days of intensive research, and I mean googling and checking every Berlin tour guide I had the time and chance
to check I found a contender.
Hasir Brithplace of the Donner Kebab
Schlemmerbuffet the contender
Schlemmerbuffet the contender
What a name, convenient located in Mitte (exactly in Scheunenviertel)
not far if you’re having drinks in Prenzlauer Berg. Got to the place and asked
for a special one. I guess the difference in the special was a white cheese he
added. It was amazing, highly recommended, what struck me as divine
intervention was the bread, is not the typical pitta kind we are used to get in
London and in NY with the Kebabs, Shawarmas, and Gyros, no it’s thicker and has
this amazing texture that plays great with the meat, the salad, the sauces, and
in this case the cheese.
Inside
The Bad Boy, please appreciate the bread
Schlemmerbuffet
T: +49 30 2832153
Turkish Cuisine
Area: Mitte
Borough: Mitte
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Hasir the immortal one
Got to Hasir on a rainy day in Berlin, opposed to London
apparently rainy days are not so often. Sat on a table, and after having mixed
thoughts I decided to eat like a civilised human being, also Tony Bourdain again trick me into that as I
watched his show as usual before my trip and he got this amazing red lentils
soup. So asked for the soup and a Iskender Kebab. Soup was glorious, and the
Kebab excellent, the Iskender came with yoghurt and a spicy tomato based sauce.
Inside, the queue for the Take Away
Menu
Lentils Soup
Iskender Kebab
Hasir
T: +49 30 61659222
Turkish Cuisine
Area: Kreuzberg
Borough: Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
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Both were really good, location wise probably Schlemmerbuffet is the best one, but Hasir is pure history and also has 6 locations around Berlin.
Turkey reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Secret Code”.
Jerry: Alright, you're locked up in a prison in Turkey, I
have your wallet. The only way I can bribe the guards to get you out is for you
to give me your ATM code.
George: Call the Embassy.
Jerry: They're closed.
George: Why?
Jerry: Bomb threat.
George: We're in Turkey?
Jerry: Midnight Express, my friend.
George: My card won't work
there; they're not on the Plus system.
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