The Bristol Fryer

Touched on in my last post, I had to try a Bristol Fryer. This review is from over a year ago now, I have since had quite a few of these.

The kebab skewer looked a moderate size and a deep, rich brown for midweek which is a good sign, a measly pale squared-off doner is rarely an inviting sight. Due to this essentially being a fish and chip shop I was unnerved by the high counter and lack of visibility of salad. A notice boasted that "Spanish" onions, cabbage and lettuce were available. I selected a regular doner, all the salad, garlic sauce. This arrived disturbingly quickly, it was slapped into a standard pale polystyrene box with a clicky tab lid that never stays shut properly and handed over. I dared not peek until I got home.

I find for some reason I always worry that I have made an unwise choice with a small doner. I watch them shaving the doner, praying for one more swipe, eyeing up the growing greasy pile at the bottom. When I get it home however, all my concerns drift away. Put it this way, in one small mouthful of most kebabs there is far more meat than an Italian BMT from Subway.

I arrived home, unwarapped the beast from the three sheets of paper and the box sprung open to reveal a beautiful sight. I took photographs. I tucked in, the onions had a little too much tang unfortunately, a good solution would be for them to be inserted along with the meat (or within a wrap rather than pitta?) which would allow them to mingle with the flesh to gently steam and soften. The lettuce was OK, the cabbage was a little on the red side but added good bulk.

This was a very promising start and the speedy arrival could only mean one thing: shave n save. A pot of pre-cooked meat kept warm allowing it to effortlessly glide into an awaiting pitta. I have had wonderful experiences with this technique in the past, the humid atomsphere the meat is exposed to softens it beautifully. However this time it intensified the slightly off lamby notes of the flavour and the grease factor was overwhelming as the fat rendered out of the meat. Each mouthful the oil was dripping through my fingers, my pitta slowly disintegrating before my eyes. By the time I had finished, the grease resembled thick white vaseline on my hands. I had to wash them using fairy liquid. Twice.