Turkish Delight Kebab Cafe sits on Fitzherbert Avenue in Palmerston North Central, in the West End end of town, and does exactly what its name promises: kebabs, done Turkish-style, in generous variety. It is a casual cafe rather than a fine-dining room — you can walk in, ring 06 355 1032, or skip the queue by ordering online for pickup. The site's ordering page notes the cafe reopens at 11:00 AM, and pre-orders can be placed in advance for a time that suits you.
On the western side of Palmerston North's city centre, on Fitzherbert Avenue, Turkish Delight Kebab Cafe turns out the kind of menu kebab lovers hope for: wraps, grilled skewers, generous plates and a lineup of dips that shows up alongside almost everything. It is a casual, order-and-go kind of place — Turkish in flavour, straightforward in style and big on choice. The name might make you think of the rose-scented sweet (which, yes, is on the dessert menu, served in a container), but the daily business here is kebabs, in more variations than most.
The kebab wrap list is where most people start. Chicken, beef & lamb, or mixed meat for the traditionalists; mixed vegetarian, falafel, fritters, grilled halloumi or a plain salad wrap for the non-meat eaters. Every wrap is served on a flatbread with salad and — a constant across the menu — three sauces. If you are especially hungry there is a Special Size Kebab Only Large, with your choice of chicken, beef & lamb or mixed meat, and an Adana Kebab that comes in a large size only.
Bigger appetites are directed to the plates. The iskender plates pair a serving of rice with salad and three dips — beetroot, hummus and jack — plus the usual three sauces, with chicken, beef & lamb, mixed meat, falafel, fritter or mixed vegetarian versions to pick from. The shish section moves to the grill: marinated chicken or lamb pieces on a skewer, a mixed grill combining both, and a 300-gram lamb cutlet with your choice of salad, rice or chips.
Mezze plates stretch things out even further, adding a fourth dip — spicy walnut — plus a dolma and a falafel to the rice and salad. For something simpler there are rice plates with no salad, chips plates for the comfort-food crowd, and the Yavo dishes, which come with creamy mushroom sauce and can be made on rice instead of chips if you leave a note. Salad plates round it out, from a Just Salad Plate up to mixed meat and mixed vegetarian versions.
One of the cafe's quiet signatures is that almost everything arrives with three sauces — and the extras list lets you add satay, aioli or tomato sauce if you have a favourite. The dips are treated just as seriously: beetroot made with yoghurt, lemon juice, oil and mayonnaise; hummus built on chickpeas, tahini and lemon; and a spicy walnut dip with sundried tomato and roasted pepper. The Mixed Dip Plate brings all four together with salad, and the Halloumi Side Plate serves hummus over four slices of halloumi with salad and two falafels.
Vegetarians are properly looked after here, with (V) markers throughout the menu — falafel and fritter versions appear across the wraps, iskender plates, burgers, chips plates and salad plates. Kids get their own rice plates in six varieties: chicken, beef & lamb, mixed meat, mixed vegetarian, fritters or falafel, all served kids-size with three sauces. And if someone in the group would rather have a burger, there are chicken, beef & lamb, mixed meat, halloumi, falafel and fritters burgers on a bun with salad.
Save room if you can: the dessert list covers baklava, tiramisu and Turkish delight in a container. Drinks run from Lipton Ice Tea and Charlie's to Phoenix, Red Bull, Loaded Energy Drink in blue or red, canned soft drinks and bottled water.
The cafe runs online ordering for pickup, and when the counter is shut you can still place a pre-order in advance — the site notes a reopening time of 11:00 AM, with pickup slots from then on. If you would rather talk to a human, the number is 06 355 1032.
Whether you are grabbing a chicken kebab wrap between things or settling in for a full iskender plate with all three dips, Turkish Delight Kebab Cafe keeps it simple: plenty of choice, generous plates, and sauces and dips by the trio.