Which kebab should you order? Adana, şiş, döner and the rest explained
On a Turkish menu the word kebap sits above half a page of dishes, and yet they are very different things: spiced minced meat from a flat skewer, cubes of lamb, meat shaved from a turning spit, a roll with tomato sauce and yoghurt. First-time customers often order by guesswork. This is the menu in plain language, from spicy to mild and from quick to substantial.
Adana: minced, spicy, off the flat skewer
Adana is the heart of the menu. Lamb, chopped fine with a knife rather than ground, mixed with red pepper and lamb fat, pressed around a wide flat skewer and grilled over charcoal. The fat drips into the coals, the smoke works into the meat, and the outside turns crisp while the inside stays juicy. Adana is spicy by definition; we serve it at one heat level, the real one.
In the Netherlands you often see urfa listed next to adana. It is the same dish without the hot pepper: the same skewer, milder seasoning. We do not have urfa on the menu. If you want no heat at all, kuşbaşı or köfte, below, are the better choice.
Kuşbaşı: cubes of lamb on the skewer
Kuşbaşı literally means "bird's head", an old word for the size of the pieces. It is what is called şiş kebap elsewhere: cubes of lamb, marinated, threaded on a skewer and grilled. No mince, no pepper, just meat and charcoal. This is the mildest lamb option on the menu and the best first introduction if adana sounds too bold. We serve it as a dürüm.
Köfte: seasoned meatballs, mild
Köfte is minced meat with onion, parsley and spices, shaped into flat patties and grilled. Softer in flavour than adana and without the heat. If children are eating along, or you simply want something familiar, köfte is the safe choice: as a dürüm or on a platter.
Döner and shaorma: not from the grill
Strictly speaking döner is not a grilled kebab but a spit kebab: thinly sliced meat stacked on a vertical rod that turns slowly beside the heat. We have chicken döner and veal döner, in a bread roll, as a dürüm or on a platter. Shaorma is the Arab cousin: marinated chicken from the same kind of spit, seasoned differently, with garlic sauce. And the kapsalon is a Rotterdam invention: fries, döner or shaorma, cheese and salad in one tray.
The specials: beyti, ali nazik, yoğurtlu
Three dishes build on the adana. Beyti is adana rolled in thin lavaş bread, cut into pieces and topped with tomato sauce and yoghurt. Yoğurtlu kebap lays the adana on pieces of bread with yoghurt and tomato sauce over the top. Ali Nazik is the gentlest of the three: a bed of smoked, mashed aubergine with yoghurt, with cubes of lamb on top.
Also on the menu: patlıcan kebabı (mince and thick slices of aubergine alternating on the skewer), kaburga (grilled lamb ribs) and ciğer, lamb's liver, grilled quickly and eaten as a dürüm with onion and parsley. We grill lamb chops (kuzu pirzola) as well; you will find them on the menu as Kuzu Pirzola Schotel, among the kebab platters.
Dürüm or platter?
Almost everything comes in two forms. The dürüm is the meat rolled in thin bread with lettuce, tomato, onion and sauce: eaten by hand, quick, good on the go and late at night. The platter (schotel) is the same meat on a plate with rice or bulgur, salad, grilled pepper and tomato, and bread on the side. More food, a slower sit-down. Rule of thumb: dürüm for lunch or take-away, platter for dinner.
Cannot decide: mix grill
The mix grill puts adana, chicken and kuşbaşı or chicken wings together on one platter, for one, two or three people. It is the shortest route to getting to know the menu, and for a table with different tastes the easiest order: the spice lover takes the adana, the others the chicken.
Practical: where and how
Tuana Grill is at Bos en Lommerweg 313 in Amsterdam-West, open seven days a week from 9 a.m. Until 1 a.m. on weekdays and until 3 a.m. at the weekend; the kitchen closes half an hour earlier. You can eat in or take away, and delivery is available through Thuisbezorgd, Uber Eats or directly through our own ordering page.
The full menu is on the menu page. Still unsure at the counter? Say how spicy you want it and whether you want to eat by hand, and we will point at the right skewer.