Cafe Helen

claypole

Kebab Mecca 12th November 2008

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London has a certain reputation as being a 24hr city, which for all intents and purposes is true. So at 3.30am on a Tuesday morning in central London, the simplest and most important of pleasures, the kebab, should be readily available right? Well... not exactly. So, if you find yourself heading west after a night out and the Edgware Road is en route or a short detour (being at the western end of Oxford St) then this little establishment is what you have been looking for...

Put simply this is a great place for Shawarma, Middle Eastern lamb or chicken kebabs, wrapped in lafa (a sweet, fluffy flatbread) with a good helping of garlic and chilli sauce. Closed during the day, Café Helen opens from 10 o'clock onwards (the sign outside says 24hr) and provides a perfect compliment to your high blood sugar induced hunger.

Importantly, this isn't some dodgy Döner Kebab joint (though I have nothing against Döner Kebabs!), Shawarma is made by placing strips of lamb or marinated chicken on a spit, then animal fat, with an onion or tomato placed at the top of the stack for flavouring. The meat is then slow roasted on all sides as the spit rotates in front of a flame for several hours. I'm no Shawarma expert, and I've had some lovely Döner Kebabs in my time, but as kebabs go, these are excellent.

The place looks clean, is sensibly priced and is very small with a few high chairs at the back, and is always very busy, consisting mainly of Arab customers, no doubt on their way home to somewhere near Edgware Road! So, a Kebab Mecca indeed.