Doyum Grillhaus

Doyum Grillhaus is one out of many Turkish kebab places around Kottbusser Tor, but what makes it stand out from the crowd is the fantastic barbecued meat they serve. Come here for one of the best Adana kebabs in the city and leave with a smile on your face and a belly full of delicious meat.

The hunt for the best Turkish grill house continues. After having discovered Adana Grill in Kreuzberg I was rather confident that I had found the best Adana kebab in Berlin. But then a friend sent me to Doyum, which is located just south of Kottbusser Tor next to the famous Trabszonspor Vereinsheim, in a rather unspectacular location. When you see the place the first time you can even call it very unattractive and borderline ugly as the surroundings are classic Kotti: Dirty, grey and full of Kotti characters. Right now the restaurant's sign is also broken and it's kind of lying down on the roof which ads another level of somewhat tragic decay to the whole scenery. But if you walk inside it's actually very lovely, with the massive grill taking up the entrance and the classic Turkish, colourful tiles dominating the rest of the interior.

Doyum is very much not a regular Döner Kebab shack, this is a proper Turkish restaurant, an Ocakbasi where the food is grilled over an open charcoal fire and where the local Turkish population gets their fix of the taste of Istanbul. Doyum does have one of the classic, rotating Döner-Spieße and you can actually buy a regular Döner Kebab for 3 euros here if you want. Nothing I would specifically recommend though, the Döner is pretty good but the real reason why you should visit Doyum are the meat dishes. They serve around 15 varieties of classic, Turkish kebab dishes like the Adana or the Iskender. Classic Turkish style these main dishes are all about the meat. The menu is very meat-centric and you have more choices here compared to Adana Grill but the choices are also very focused on variations of the minced meat Adana kebab. That's totally ok though since the Adana at Doyum is fucking OUTSTANDING! And I really mean that, this meat makes we want to migrate to Turkey. The minced lamb is perfectly seasoned, packed around a long, metal skewer and then grilled to absolute perfection over hot charcoals, making the outside slightly crunchy and infusing the juicy meat with the flavour of burnt charcoal. When you're contemplating about what to pick from the menu, the variations of the Adana just mean that there is a different side served with the fabulous meat skewer, for example barbecued and chopped aubergines or rice and grilled vegetables. If you are hungry I recommend having the cold meze platter as starter, it's a great mix of high quality meze and the perfect start to a meal. For this money you are getting a plate of some of Berlin's best barbecued meat After having visiting Doyum a couple of times I must say that I consider it superior to Adana Grill. It's a fantastic Turkish grill and I could easily go there multiple times a week without growing tired of it. If you expect a Döner place it might seem expensive to you as most mains will cost you around 10€, but if you realize that for this money you are getting a plate of some of Berlin's best barbecued meat, then it's not really expensive at all. Service at Doyum is usually good with a lot of men working behind the grill and the front of house. Again, only men working here, it seems that employing a woman in an Ocakbasi is a no go. Waiters might prefer the Turkish family next to you but in the end service is always great and fast.

Doyum is the kind of place which makes the Berlin restaurant scene so interesting, the possibility to eat truly genuine and traditional Turkish barbecue alongside Turkish families is a very special food experience and stands in fantastic contrast to all the modern eateries popping up left and right. Doyum is also a food experience that is worthy of a much broader audience, it's a taste explosion and if you like barbecued meat something you will cherish with every bite you take and which you will miss once you have finished all of it. More Adana Kebab for the people.