S&H Kebab House

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611 East Passyunk Ave
philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 500-3018

Theme: Middle Eastern

Updated 4/21/09

After going here for a second time, we were disappointed that they had not made any improvements to this place. When coming in, the decor was gloomy as ever. However, a new benefit to this place is that if you bring your parking ticket when you park on the corner of South and 3rd (make a left when coming down south street and its right there), they will stamp it and it only costs 3 dollars.

We ordered a combo appetizer, but the price of it made us assume the size was humongous. So we asked the owner if we could decrease the size for a lower price, and he was more than happy to accommodate. The baba ganoush was outstanding. As was the Tzatziki sauce (or so we think it is). It was spicy, tangy, and creamy.

The Shepherds salad was disappointing. We expected something more tangy but it lacked the acidity that most salads have. However, it came with some lemon, so if you squeeze some, it will add some taste, but we didn’t feel it was enough.

One of our entrees were turkish dumplings, otherwise known as monti, which reminded us of gnocchi, only it was filled with quail and pork. This was probably their most disappointing dish, as some of the dumplings were al dente and others extremely soggy. The sauce was also bland, we felt maybe some paprika would have livened it up.

The other entree was Selcuk’s Kebab, which is skewered lamb with yogurt. The lamb was wrapped in pita (which was soggy), and tasted rather dry. There was hardly any yogurt, as it was just dabbed on with the tomato sauce. The rice that came with it, however, was perfectly cooked and seasoned.

Overall, we were severely disappointed as we had hoped for some improvement in the quality of the food. We may be too harsh in saying their decor hasn’t improved, but it definitely wasn’t pleasing. However, their service is excellent and quick.

Previous Entry

We were lucky enough to come here at their grand opening. Unfortunately the wait was about 45 minutes because they were offering free dinners. I have to admit that this is a very bold move by their management. We drove up to Passyunk avenue and found the owner of the place greeting everyone.

When we walked into the restaurant the decor was hideous. There were no windows and it felt completely crowded. The lighting reflected poorly on the wall, which was painted to have curtains on it. I think that this is something they can easily improve on.

We decided that we were going to get the free 3-course dinner. It started with a choice of lentil soup and chicken noodle soup. The lentil soup looked nothing like lentils and did not even taste like it. We were beginning to wonder if lentils was a misnomer. The chicken noodle soup was bland and lacked texture.

However our perspective of this place completely changed when the first course came, which was pita with a selection of dips, including hummus and tzatziki. Their selection was delicious and flavorful.

What was even better was the second course, which was Doner (lamb) kebab and skewered chicken, with rice and vegetables. This was the highlight of the evening. Normally we would expect very dry meat coming from a middle-eastern restaurant. But much to our surprise, the meat was so juicy and so much flavor, you would think that they added something forbidden to it.

This place is relatively new and as room for a lot of improvement.

Our score:

Good