Where Am I?
Just outside of Warsaw, find Fazir sitting diagonally across the road from Michalin train station. Coming by car, journey time in favorable traffic should clock in at around 30-minutes from the city center.
How Does It Look?
From the outside, it appears much like any other roadside kebab stop. Set in a wooden shed-like structure, enter to find a small seated area to your right decorated with faded posters of Syria and fogged-up plastic windows, and an ordering area right ahead of the door featuring a coffee station and a couple of giant skewers of meat rotating over a charcoal fire. In a country in which kebab stores are often filled with a rancid, wretched stink, this aroma of grilling meats feels intoxicatingly magical.
What To Drink
That coffee station doles out traditional ‘sand coffee’, a strong, magical sip brewed in pans of sand and heated over an open flame. It’s delicious, but on particularly cold days don’t be surprised to find the staff handing out warming cups of tea to the people that have gathered – the hospitality of the lads behind the counter is unlike anything you’ve seen before in Warsaw’s other kebab spots.
What To Eat
Rule No. 1. As tempting as it is, you simply need to stop drawing comparisons between this place and the rest. The others, they’re… kebabarians. Utterly unique, this is the one place in Poland where the kebab meat is spun over a fire – does that make a difference? Hell yes! The meat alone (lamb or chicken) is spectacular, and of the kind you’d happily spend big bucks on were it served in a restaurant. Accompanied with homemade sauces, including a rich and tangy ‘spicy’ option, find the meats wrapped in fresh, grilled pittas that vary in size: for something that will last you through the day, the XXL is the length of a baseball bat.
Final Word
Not since its earliest days has the Insider reviewed a kebab joint, but this is something else. Enjoying a cult reputation, visit here to understand why it’s being openly called the best in Poland. Eat here and you’ll never enter a Kebab King again – Syrian run, this place changes every preconception you’ve ever had about kebabs. The falafel too gets rave reviews, but it might be several years until you choose to change your order.
Fazir Kebab
ul. Piłsudskiego 40 (Józefów), facebook
(Photos: Kevin Demaria)
