90 Manners Street
Wellington, New Zealand
+64 4 4733311

Later that Sunday afternoon, when Marty was feeling a bit better, we decided to go for a stroll around Wellington city. After a bout of clothes shopping, Marty worked up a bit of an appetite. We just so happened to walk past a kebab restaurant so Marty decided that he’d give a New Zealand kebab a go.

This place was called Abrakebabra and they claim to make ‘Wellington’s most magical kebabs.’ There was something fobby yet dirty in that tagline that made me reluctant to give them a go (and I’m not usually one to judge eateries by its cover) but Marty was keen so in we went.

Marty ordered a simple doner plate, which consisted of lamb off the spit, rice, salad and three dips of your choice (he chose beetroot, hummus and cacik (yoghurt dip)). The plate was NZD$12/AUD$9.52 which, on paper, sounded like a good bargain. Marty handed over a fifty dollar note to the muzza at the counter, the muzza then started counting out Marty’s change before Marty noticed a $2 coin in his wallet and gave it to the cashier to make things easier. But what did the idiot muzza say? ‘Oh nah, don’t worry about the $2, it’ll make things too hard.’ Hmmph, really? Too hard? FFS.

Our kebab meal was a far cry from the plates we enjoy at Footscray. The lamb looked and tasted like it had been boiled. It lacked flavour and not even the dips, which were bland in their own right, could save the dish. Wellington’s most magical kebabs? Yeah, right.