Ever since my favorite Turkish spot Roka in Queens closed down – I have been on a hunt to find anything even half as good. My explorations led me to Mangal Kebab in Sunnyside a local dive that seems to be patronized by a lot of the Turkish community.

The place is nothing special – it’s a brightly lit takeout spot with tables to eat in at. Our meal started off well with a really good ‘Babaganoush’ followed by a mediocre ‘Cacik’.

I dared to get excited about the kababs that were to follow. I have to say that overall I was disappointed. The best of the lot were the “Lamb Adana Kebabs” and the “Chicken Kebabs” were decent too. However the rest were almost inedible. The lamb gyro was like tough leathery pieces of meat with virtually no flavoring and the lamb chops were just as bad. 

Mangal Kebab is good for what it is. What I like about the place is its community feel, the familiarity and friendliness of the servers. However, my search for incredible Turkish food will continue….

Here is some of what we ate:

Babaganoush

Cacik

Chicken Kebab

Lamb Gyro

Adana Kebab

Lamb Chops