02.01.07
The Hungry Cabbie Eats The Outer Boroughs: Sahara
You wouldn’t know it by looking at me, but I love salad. I enjoy it as an appetizer. I clean off my plate when it comes as a side. And, if it’s really tasty, I could be completely satisfied with salad as an entree.
However, meat, and plenty of it, is clearly what brings people to Coney Island Avenue and Avenue T. Sahara, which is open extremely late into the night, is packed every evening even though it is not cheap. Russians come up from Brighton Beach. Italians come over from Bensonhurst. Black cars parallel double park out front. The lot is usually full by dinner, and on the weekends Sahara is popular enough that they have to offer valet. Everybody in southern Brooklyn knows that Sahara is the place to go for a fix of tasty Turkish meat.
The mixed grill is nothing but winners. The plate is loaded down with shaved bits of meat off their lamb and beef “gyro,” crispy on one side, juicy on the other. The chicken kebab is grilled beautifully, leaving exactly the right parts charred and the right parts tender. And the lamb chop is delightfully greasy.
When I stop at Sahara on a tour, I usually show off Sahara’s shawarma (which they refer to as “gyro sandwich” even though they’re Turkish). Although the spacey grill man occasionally fills the pita with far too many vegetables on top so that the precious meat can’t be reached until after a few messy bites, I still consider it one of the best shawarmas in town.
So isn’t it ironic that Sahara serves my favorite salad on earth? It is called the Shepherd Salad, and it is genius in it’s simplicity. It consists of nothing more than cubed tomatoes and cucumbers along with some red onions and cilantro. The dressing, they tell me, is simply olive oil, salt, and vinegar. And it’s usually garnished with three or four black olives (unless you order it to go, in which case you get none, which is annoying). And every salad comes with soft, fluffy, chewy Turkish home bread that they bake there daily.
But I’m sure the main reason I’ve fallen so hard for Sahara’s Shepherd Salad is the cheese option. For an extra couple dollars, they’ll serve the salad with feta. This Turkish feta, however, is a creamier version than the crumbelievable Greek variety I’m used to. And, quite brilliantly, they SHAVE it rather than crumble it. The result is a salad with an even distribution of feta that makes every bite a sensation.
Yes, there is a giant, lit-up plastic gyro over the doorway. Yes, their slogan is “Let’s Meat At Sahara.” And, yes, I am, admittedly, an unreconstructed carnivore. But since I discovered Sahara’s Shepherd Salad, when I find myself on Coney Island Avenue, my mouth starts watering for salad.
As published in Gothamist.com
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Amy H said,
February 1, 2007 at 3:35 am
Sounds absolutely delicious. I’d have to have the salad and the gyro!
chairwoman said,
February 1, 2007 at 9:27 am
Here in London the salad is served not only in Turkish restaurants, but also most Jewish restaurants. In Jewish restaurants it’s called either continental or Israeli salad. I’m addicted to it, and have finally cracked it, and can manage to make it at home.
Love your site, makes my mouth water every day. BTW, I love the soup and chopped liver at Mendy’s on E34th at Park, and had a great steak at Roth’s Jazz Bar.
Jeremy said,
February 2, 2007 at 12:53 am
fuck that looks good
zeep said,
February 2, 2007 at 7:02 pm
That looks phenomenal – I am literally salivating now… Keep up the great posts!
Natalie said,
February 3, 2007 at 3:20 pm
That salad looks mouthwateringly delicious.
I could go for one of those shawarmas too. Germany has a pretty large Turkish population and it seems like quite a few of them run their own little food set ups where they sell what is known as a döner kebabs. From the looks of it they are very similar to those shawarmas. Yum.
Ilikelimabeans said,
February 4, 2007 at 3:47 am
While you’re home, you should hit Ambrosia Grille on Hungerford, in Rockville. They are formerly Ambrosia that used to be down the Pike, but now is across from the Flagship car wash. Anyhoo, the Greek salad there is AWESOME–they give you more than enough feta so you can have some in every single bite. Top a salad with some gyro meat and you have a complete meal. Tip: if you do top with gyro meat and carry out, get the meat seperately so it doesn’t wilt the salad for your ride home.
Big Mama said,
February 5, 2007 at 6:41 pm
I told you Ambrosia was good. You refuse to go there with me. But I like the Ambrosia on Montrose, not the one on Hungerford. When they moved from the Pike, two restaurants were opened by two different people. Ambrosia Grille isn’t as good as Ambrosia.
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March 12, 2007 at 12:13 am
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