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Joining its sister locations in Ealing, Fulham and Ilford is this Islington branch of GDK. Not familiar with the ‘healthy and nutritionally balanced’ kebab chain? That’s no great surprise; while it has dozens of restaurants, most of them are across the Middle East and Asia. This is fast food, pure and simple. You order at the till, everything comes in set meals, and the staff wear matching shirts and caps. Which is all fine, although for our ends, it was a shame that it’s not licensed or BYO. Eating kebabs outside of the context of alcohol feels downright weird (although the teetotallers that frequent the branches in places like Kuwait and Pakistan would probably disagree).
But this did put the food under the scrutiny of sobriety – and it passed the test. The slivers of meat in the doner wrap actually tasted like meat, rather than the blitzkrieg of salt and fat we’re used to guzzling at the bus stop.
Lahmacun wrapped around a bundle of salad made for a perfect hit of doughiness and crunch. And a nice accompaniment in lieu of booze or a fizzy drink was ayran: a salty, thinned yoghurt drink that’s delicious once you get used to it.
There were no details of calories on display anywhere, so I’m remaining optimistic at best about just how good GDK’s food is for you. You’d never make a trip across town to eat here, but if you find yourself in Islington and after a quick, gratuitous meal, then pop in. Either side of a session in the pub.