By Jonathan Matias

Along Katipunan is the answer to the question “If the color ‘yellow’ was a place, what would it look like?” If you were wondering what the answer is, you would need only to look at the large logo with the word Kebabers.  It serves—you guessed it—kebabs (chicken, pork, and beef) along with shawarma and onion rings.  This time, I brought two people along with me to savor the experience for you lucky readers!

Here are our orders:

The Monster Beef Shawarma Bowl (Double-Up)—my order,

The Two-Piece (Cheese) Beef Kebab Meal,

And Onion Rings.

The Shawarma Bowl, in short, is divine.  Full disclosure, I’m a complete sucker for glorious ground beef, layered on top of a heavenly pile of rice.  Why?  The flavour of the beef flows down and smothers each grain of rice all the way to the bottom of the bowl.  And to help it along, I like to mix everything to guarantee delish from top to bottom.  Couple that with the spicy sauce that they provide you (you can scoop up tiny amounts to flavour your rice… Or you can Mongolian-barbecue it and just pour everything into the bowl—my preference), and you’ve got a hurricane of awesomeness with slices of onions and tomatoes to shake up the taste.  But what does “double-up” mean, you may ask?  They up the amount of rice in the bowl—and if you’re a rice monster like I am, it’s not a bad idea to try it.

Of course, with the restaurant being called Kebabers, it’s only logical to talk about their kebabs.  The Beef Kebab Meal consists of two rectangular pieces of beef with cheese inside.  Imagine the beef.  Imagine the cheese.  Imagine the cheese and the beef, together.  The mere idea that this combination exists, folks, is enough to drive me insane.  The signature flavour of a kebab with the extreme satisfaction that only cheese can provide is mouth-watering.  The experience of eating it is like getting a chocolate Kinder egg and discovering that not only is it made of chocolate, but it also has a toy inside.  I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

If you’re still hungry after that, you could always supplement your order with a side dish.  But don’t expect too much from the side dish we ordered.  The onion rings were just that.  Onion rings.  Although they tasted great—the fantastic flavour of onions covered in deep fried breading never fails—they lack that satisfying crunch you get when you bite into other variations.  If you feel like supplementing your order with an appetizer, you won’t go wrong with Kebabers’ onion rings—just don’t expect them to become your new favourite.

I left Kebabers satisfied and with a smile on my face.  All three were delicious orders and has definitely convinced me that this restaurant is one for the books.  (Though the onion rings were average, they definitely won’t mar your experience if you decide to chow down.)  Be adventurous, my dear readers, and try their other options as well (if you’re not a fan of beef, they do offer chicken and pork).  In fact, if you’re anywhere near the white bridge, don’t hesitate to head towards it.  You’ll only avoid one of the best upstarts along Katipunan.