Fancy a kebab?

Was there ever a more misunderstood dish than the kebab? Just saying the word conjures up memories of dangerous nights out and of dripping, greasy breads slathered in hot sauce. In many circles the very act of eating a kebab is undeniable proof of intoxication. Things weren't always like this. In Victorian times, the kebab was a classy dish - Escoffier knocked up kebabs for the gentry at the Savoy, and you could order a kebab when dining at the Cafe Royal.

The basic principle of eating meat that has been cooked on a stick by grilling over a fierce flame is a good one, and freshly cooked, well-marinated kebabs are delicious. Here are a few places where you can end up with a kebab that towers above its scuzzy reputation.

New Tayyab

83 Fieldgate Street, E1 (020-7247 9543). Mon-Sun (dinner only) £20 ***
New Tayyab is a bustling, cheap, friendly, no-frills Pakistani grill house. The restaurant has taken over what was formerly a corner pub and now serves really stunning grilled meats at basement prices. The sheek kebabs and shami kebabs come by the skewer and are fiercely spiced and implausibly juicy - team them with some of the excellent fresh cooked breads. Go on to the simple Karahi dishes, freshly cooked and finished with a welcome belt of fresh green herbs. NewTayyab is strictly BYO if you want alcohol.

The Best Turkish Kebab

125 Stoke Newington Road, N16 (020-7254 7642). Mon-Sun £8 **
In 1984, Osman Cinik opened the modestly named The Best Turkish Kebab on Stoke Newington Road, and it has gone on to become one of London's fast-food success stories. This takeaway sells so many kebabs that, on Friday and Saturday nights (when they're open until 3.30am), they have been known to make enormous 500lb doners. These huge cylinders of meat trundle slowly around in front of the grill, but will be carved and eaten by the end of the night. The secret lies in the recipe --at Best Turkish, the doners are made using only shoulder of lamb and no breadcrumbs are added to bulk them out. The result is a meatier, less greasy kebab - in fact, the Best Turkish Kebab!

Jin Kichi

73 Heath Street, NW3 (020-7794 6158). Tue-Sun (Sat & Sun lunch)£35 ***
Jin Kichi is a very busy little Japanese restaurant, which has been very busy for more than a decade.

It has certainly found a way into the affections of the Hampsteadians. Whereas in most Japanese places you take a stool at the counter manned by the sushi chef, at Jin Kichi you take a seat around the grill. The chef facing you over the charcoal is master of all manner of tiny kebabs - skewers of perfectly cooked crisp chicken skin, asparagus and pork rolls, quails' eggs, duck with spring onion, chicken wings.

A succession of miniature delicacies. If puzzled, opt for one of the set meals that offers a selection of skewers.

The Real Greek Souvlaki & Bar

Units 1-2 Riverside House, 2A Southwark Bridge Road, SE1 (020-7620 0162). Mon-Sun £50 ****
First there was the Real Greek in Hoxton, then the Real Greek Souvlaki & Bar in Clerkenwell, and then, on Thur 8 Jul, the second Souvlaki & Bar opened near to the Globe Theatre on the South Bank. You'll find the same low-priced, high-quality souvlaki (freshly cooked, marinated lamb served with tzatziki rolled up in a grilled flat bread) and the same array of mezze and Greek wines - although with kebabs this good, it is hard to oppose beer: try the Mythos or Alpha, two sound Greek beers. The riverside tables outside the restaurant have a splendid outlook.

Nyonya

2A Kensington Park Road, W11 (020-7243 1800). Mon-Sun £35 ***
For somewhere with such a traditional name this is a modern-looking restaurant. 'Nyonya' is the Straits Malay term for grandmother and has become the name for a style of home-cooking, much as the French have adopted 'cuisine grandmere'. Nyonya is Chinese food with attitude - plenty of coconut cream, chilli heat, tamarind sourness and the musty tang of blachan shrimp paste. The most famous kebab from this part of the world is the satay - small skewers of chicken or lamb that are marinated in, and served with, a rich peanut sauce, and they are well done here. Also worth noting are the Nyonya fried rice and the 'hawker' meal-ina-bowl dishes, such as the Penang Assam Laksa and the Hokkien Prawn Mee Soup.