Kébab has been an indelible part of the Parisian street food landscape for decades, ever since waves of Turkish immigration in the ’80s brought this specialty to the capital – and further afield. Kébab is perhaps the most widespread and beloved street food in France, with 350 million sandwiches consumed every year and about 10,000 kébab shops (aka kébabiers) across the country.
Of course, not all kébab are created alike. Supplanting the traditional lamb broches are hodgepodges of veal and turkey, many of which aren’t made in-house. To find a truly fantastic kébab is a difficult task, but Chez Ibo has recently popped up as a favorite among foodie influencers, and while I don’t love surfing the waves of trends, when my friend Peter Shelsky and I ate there a few nights ago, we quickly found this offering delivered on the promise.
Chez Ibo is a kébab shop founded by two brothers just next door to the restaurant their father pioneered several decades ago. Whether you opt for the dining room or the more relaxed kébab shop, phenomenal traditional flavors await. And the welcome here is genuine and genial. Since sandwiches aren’t allowed in the dining room, we opted for a terrace seat at the shop, but when we wanted to also order an item off the restaurant menu, we were met with absolutely zero resistance.
We started with a glass of ayran, a savory yogurt-based beverage seasoned simply with salt. Here, it’s dispensed from a fountain and topped with mounds of thick yogurt. It was a refreshing and delicious start to our meal.
Sandwiches are priced at 8.50, 9.50 with fries, or 10.50 with a drink. While they have perfectly fine Turkish bread on-site, the insider tip is to bring your own baguette, which they’ll stuff liberally with excellent kébab meat. For this particular meal, I veer from my typical love of a sourdough baguette de tradition in favor of the less expensive ordinaire. The fluffy crumb and thinner crust of this baguette makes it far better for a sandwich. And oh, what a sandwich.
The meat itself is a traditional blend of veal and lamb, something that one of the two brothers was happy to share makes them outliers. While most kébab shops dub lamb too expensive to work with, he prides himself on keeping true to his father’s recipe and to Turkish tradition, in spite of the added cost. The deeply flavorsome meat is cooked on a rotating spit and is griddled before serving to add even more caramelization.
An assortment of different sauces are on offer, but I went with my go-to: harissa and sauce blanche. The harissa could have been a bit spicier, in my opinion, but the sauce blanche was perfect: a yogurt-based sauce seasoned liberally with fresh herbs. Even the salade-tomate-oignon toppings stood out, with the onions marinated in herbs and sumac.
If you don’t want a sandwich, you can also get a plate of döner meat from the kébab shop, and if you ask nicely (as we did), iskender (20) from the restaurant next door is a real treat. This dish of mutton and thyme is more intensely flavored than your typical döner, with its caramelized tomato-based sauce and bits of caramelized pita beneath. It’s served with a large dollop of yogurt and is drizzled tableside with melted butter, making it an even richer, more satisfying main dish.
We both had appointments to get to after this meal, though part of me wanted to skip it when our crestfallen host shared he’d hoped to offer us some watermelon for dessert. Next time!
Chez Ibo – 218 Rue Saint Maur, 75010