Papa Kebab Mediterrenean Bistro
“The appetizer consists of babaganoush, eggplant soslu, ezme hummus, mast-o-khiar, tabbouleh and is served with soft warm pita cut triangles (ask for extra pita).”
“I repeatedly get the Chicken Joojeh platter with the Pilaf and that's really all you need to make your day.”
“Support these people who are doing good things at a fair price (with the unfairly priced shopfront rents of Chelsea).”
Papa Kebab Mediterrenean Bistro
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Dogs Allowed: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I think this is a 3.5, not 3, unfortunately I can't give half stars.
Came here for lunch one day and I ordered it to go. To be clear, it's not the cheapest lunch option around the area. $12 platter, $4 extra if you want to add hummus or babaganoush or any meze. I ordered the platter with Adana Chicken, house salad, and added Hummus. I didn't realize till I got back to office that instead of giving me chicken, they gave me lamb instead, and I really don't like lamb. The portion is relatively small, the platter included one skewer, one pepper, half roasted tomato, and house salad. On the plus side, hummus was really good and I finished it all. Looks like they also have some good happy hour deal, maybe I will try that next time.
This is a pretty good lunch spot. The store is tiny, but they serve food quickly. Their meat is very tender, and everything is flavorful. The only complaint I have is that they use too much salt in their meat, I like the flavor but even in the salad you can find grains of salt. If you don't happen to eat bread/rice with their meat but choose salad, you will have to drink a lot of water. If they can turn it down to lower sodium level it would be great.
This place was pretty good! I had the chicken kabob platter with rice. It came with a small salad in addition to yogurt sauce. For $11 and a sit down meal with good service in a cute small bistro for DINNER, this was a steal. They even have sides like hummus only for $4! The food was pretty good and it wasn't hard to get a table. I wouldn't go out of my way to go here but if you're in the area and want some tasty Mediterranean food that won't break the bank, you should definitely come here. Also, it's open pretty late at night for an area where most food options close at 9/10 PM!
I don't claim to be an expert or an aficionado when it comes to Mediterranean (Persian/Turkish/et al) food. But I DO know that I really like it. And it seems like NYC does this genre like the West Coast does Mexican food, so maybe this is just a start for me.
All that said… as of right now this is the best Mediterranean food I've ever had… and we only had the takeout. As others have mentioned the cold meze plate alone is worth the price of admission. And with the kebabs it only gets better from there. We sampled all of the chicken, lamb, and beef versions and enjoyed each to the last bite.
Really looking forward to sampling more of what NYC has to offer in this category but can't imagine that we won't order from this place again (and again, and again).
We enjoyed their outdoor seating area, where we parked our stroller and also had our pup sit with us. Gotta include the whole family when you go out to eat!
We started off with the eggplant and zucchini chips, which were pretty tasty. They also give you some pita bread, yum. As for entrees, we had the koobideh beef plate (I thought it was just ok) with fries and the mediterranean tacos (delicious)!
The service was super friendly, btw!
Oh papa, give me more kebab! The lunch Sloppy Joojeh Wrap was a hefty $13 but I enjoyed every bite of it. There was so much chicken and it was sloppily tasty. The staff was also very friendly. There is outside seating area, so I will return for after work happy hour too!
Brought a friend here a few weeks again for dinner and happy hour drinks. The space is small for eat in but since it was a rainy day it wasn't very crowded. We can a bit before 7 so that we could take advantage of happy hour. The beer and wine selection could definitely use a bit of help. There aren't a lot of options.
We chose to do the cold meze combo for an appetizer which was extremely good but, they were really slow to bring out the bread ( its hard to eat this without bread!) and we each did the build your own platter as it definitely seemed like the best deal for dinner. The Adana lamb had good flavor especially paired with rice and hummus!
Overall I wouldn't come here again as there are quite a few Mediterranean places in the. City higher on my list.
This has to be one of the best, casual, Turkish/Mediterranean spots in Manhattan. I've been coming here since they opened in 2012 and it's one of my go-to casual spots for healthy food.
Funny thing is, before Papa Kebab, Turkish had been one of my least favorite ethnic cuisines cause I think I hadn't had great Turkish yet. I had been to Persepolis, Uskudar and Kashkaval, and thought they were all good, but not great. I think Papa Kebab is great. Especially if you're just looking for something casual that tastes great and is healthy.
One of the best things to get on the menu is the Cold Meze appetizer, which has humus, babaganoush, eggplant soslu, ezme, mast-o khiar and tabbouleh, and comes with warm pita bread. Love that appetizer and could probably just eat that alone.
For the entrees, I would stick with one of the Kebab Mix & Match Platters. There are 6 different kebabs – minced beef (koobideh), chicken (adana) or lamb (kofte or adana), or whole piece chicken chunks (joojeh), or shrimp kebab. And they all come with a side – bulgur pilaf, basmati rice (my fav), fries or salad and a meze of your choice, all for $15.
My personal favorites are the Joojeh Chicken and the Koobideh Beef. I would pass on the wraps and the "turkish pizza" as I think the platters are way better, but just my opinion. But whatever you choose, make sure you at least order the cold meze appetizer, cause that's a very special plate.
And to top it all off, the prices are reasonable for the quality of food that you get, the restaurant and bathrooms are very clean and the service is good. Overall an excellent place that I'd visit if you're in the neighborhood…or even if you're not but want great Turkish/Mediterranean food.