Like many Americans, I learned about döner kebabs while backpacking across Europe in college, practically living off the massive sandwiches that fueled long days and nights, all for two euros from a small cart on La Rambla, Barcelona’s liveliest street.
The sandwiches that Dearborn’s Döner Shawarma packs are the closest thing in town to what was on offer in Barcelona. Like döner kebabs’ close cousin, the shawarma sandwich, there are various takes on the sandwich depending on which country you’re in, but the most popular around many western and northern European cities is the German-Turkish, or Berlin, style.
At last count more than five other spots serve them around metro Detroit, and Döner Shawarma is the only one doing it almost exactly as one might find in Berlin. Also like shawarma sandwiches, the formula is fairly basic, and the best execution lies in the ingredients, which is what really makes Döner Shawarma worthwhile. Everything is made in-house, and you can tell.
The foundation of any good döner is the bread, or pide, and this version is an excellent pocket with a soft interior, and a slightly crusty and crunchy exterior that comes dotted with black sesame seed. Owner Bassel Hamdan has a baker who makes the bread fresh daily for him, and it’s noticeable. One of the differences between döner breeds is the bread. Balkan House in Hamtramck, for example, which does an eastern Euro döner, uses lepinja, the Balkans’ flatbread version of pita, which is also awesome.
Another hallmark of the Berlin döner is the use of the three sauces — the deep red spicy chili sauce, yogurt sauce, and a garlic herb sauce. Hamdan combines the latter two into one, and while it’s a bit thin in consistency, as it should be, it’s also deep and creamy in flavor, and applied generously. That works in a cooling and creamy contrast to the electric, acidic chili sauce. The sandwich is further enlivened with pickled red cabbage and red onion, and includes tomato and shredded iceberg lettuce.
The beef and chicken döners were both excellent. The beef shaved from the spit is fragrant with spices — we detected hints of clove, cumin, and cinnamon — while the shaved chicken is lemony and bright. Hamdan notes that he makes his own spits. Many restaurants in town order frozen spits, or use frozen meat that was never on a spit to begin with, and assembling the spit in-house simply yields a better product.
Hamdan’s menu is fairly short and simple. He didn’t have the sujuk döner that is on the menu — a punchy Lebanese sausage — which he said it’s kind of a rare special. Instead I got the Doritos döner burger, which was a surprise. The burger is shaved shawarma beef molded into a patty that’s topped with melted American cheese, Doritos chips, jalapeños, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and döner sauce. On its face, it seems like something only a 16 year old could love, but it works — a wall of flavor in every bite.
On the side, the fries with cilantro and garlic came with generous portions of garlic and cilantro and were super lemony. It reminded me of a french fry version of the classic Lebanese spicy potato, or batata harra, dish. Genius.
Hamdan said he has always loved döners but his education on proper construction of one came while working in a five-star kitchen at a hotel with a bunch of seasonal German and Turkish chefs. Döner Shawarma is his first restaurant, and it has been popular — boosted by shoutouts from Instagram influencers like Mr. ChimeTime — so much so that he’s already expanding to a brick and mortar location at Ford and Inkster roads in Garden City.
