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    Balkan House

    4.3 (146 reviews)

    Balkan House Photos

    BALKAN HOUSE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Outdoor seating

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    Doner Dner Kebab
    Brian S.

    This is 100% not a traditional donor kebab. The meat is gyro meat and nothing more. Friendly ordering friendly, takeout OK bread and toppings, but I was expecting a donor kebab and I got a Gyro. I can't believe more people don't mention this.

    Nicole E.

    Luckily this place was open just down the street. The Döner sandwich actually sounded pretty good for a filling meal. There is absolutely no sitting allowed at all inside the restaurant, not even to wait for your carry out food either. They said they would bring the food out to the lovely exhaust infused patio or to your car. I told her I would wait on their sidewalk patio, but then was asked to leave the patio a few minutes later and to move to my car since I was not eating and only waiting for a carry out order. She said the the two ladies that came after me wanted to eat at the patio. I told her she's kicked me out of the restaurant after I put my order in and now she asked with a little guilt trip and pressure to leave the patio for their dine-in patrons. She said she's not kicking me out and I could go across the street and wait in my car, that's kicking me out since she suggested I go to my car. This place has a knack for making their patrons feel small. I had to stand by the garbage can, but close to the shop, yet out of the sidewalk and shop store path, so I wouldn't have to wait across the street and in my car. Their smoothies are not fresh, nor is their baklava. Their Döner is their best meal here, so they claim. They offer fries and a canned soda with their Döner sandwiches on Thursdays. The soda options are coke, sprite or Mountain Dew. I figured I should take the sodas since they were free and give them away, even though we don't drink soda at all. As I stood watching everyone else comfortably seated, they brought out a table and chairs for another family that wanted to sit on their patio, how sweet for them. My carry out Döner is taking longer than the dine-in orders of the family after me, with the same main meals, nicely executed and right in front of me to see too. My order took A little over 22 minutes to come out. I asked for no meat on my salad when I ordered, it came with lamb meat and plenty of it too. I tried a couple of pieces of lamb meat, they were bone dry as was the chicken meat in the Döner sandwiches. The fries tasted bad because they had cooled down and tasted stale and bad. The food here smells better than it tastes, sadly. The service was about a 1. The woman taking my order even snapped back at her male colleague about something. I felt uneasy the entire time I was here. The food is a 2 and that's being generous. The food was definitely not worth the $36.31 that was extorted out of me at all.

    The flavor knock out!
    Homer M.

    Awesome sandwiches, our group had the Döner Kebob with steak, lamb, chicken Falafels. The peppered seasoning was excellent! The server was very prompt and knowledgeable about the menu.

    Freyhan D.

    Heard about this from a coworker, and while we were in the area, I decided to give it a shot. Definitely very glad that he took me there. Fortunately they were still catering during Covid, so we ordered some takeout and enjoyed it outside on a nice Summer day. I think my only complaint here is just how messy it is to eat. Of course that's just the nature of this type of sandwich though. Other than that, extremely pleased with it. The tastes were awesome, everything was cooked just right, and it was very filling.

    The Balkan House
    Alex M.

    My husband has been talking about how much he loves Doner Kebab for years, so when I saw a post for Balkan House we added it to our must visit list. Located in Hantramck, there is ample street parking available. There is also a lot across the street, but I am unsure if it's available for parking. I am also unsure if they have a dedicated lot behind the restaurant. Regardless, it was easy to find free parking. When we came in there was only one other group eating. There are not too many tables inside, and the interior is not fancy. There was a great playlist when we visited though. While there may not be much for ambiance, it more than makes up for it with the food. We did order the Doner Kebab, but you also have the options of a Doner bowl, Doner fries, or a Doner wrap. We went the traditional route, which was beef/lamb served in between some crispy white bread. It was topped with shredded cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and Doner sauce. It was definitely big enough to share, and at $12.50 with fries it was a great deal. The fries were not anything special, but they were very seasoned and delicious. We also ordered falafel, which is also served with Doner sauce. Trying the sauce with the falafel, it is definitely spicy. The order came with 5 falafel, and while they were not big in size they were very heavy. Overall it was a good flavor, but if you are sensitive to spice I would skip the sauce. The price was a little high at $7, but since we were splitting our main meal I did not have a problem paying that. I loved the addition of the DCFC scarves on the walls, as well as the different flags throughout the restaurant. Our food was ready in less than 5 minutes, and eaten probably just as quickly. I would recommend checking out The Balkan House if you are in Hantramck, or if you miss the taste of Doner Kebab. The food, service, and price will definitely have us coming back.

    Doner - yum!
    Carey C.

    Tried this place on a whim at 9:15 on a Saturday. Thought they'd be annoyed of us walking in at that time since they close at 10, but they were ready to serve us. We were the only people in the joint, which I thought might be a clue that they don't get many diners, but I just think they don't get many diners after 9 pm. We were sat at booth, and our waitress helped us order since we really didn't know what anything was. She steered us to the 2 most popular menu items, the Doner and the Chevapi, and said she could have them cut in half, so each of us could try both. I loved the Doner. It's a Balkan/Bosnian/Romanian take on a Gyro, but way better. Their sauce is a mix of Tsaziki and Garlic sauce, and it's spicy! I could eat these sandwiches often. The Chevapi had this wonderful spongy bread with sausage, way too many onions, and a roasted red pepper sauce. This combo was good, but next time I would order it sans onions, or only a spoonful. We then decided to get crepes with fruit for dessert. Great call! I think they put Nutella on the crepes, bananas, strawberries, and chocolate drizzle. Yummy! Will definitely hit this place up for lunch sometime.

    Beef/Lamb Doner Kebab with Waffle Fries
    William W.

    I've had doner in Berlin, Vienna, and Krakow. This place stacks up. The bread, sauce, meat, and veggies are damn near tastebud perfection. I usually head to Hamtramack for Polish food but this place might have changed that!

    Loved the Turkish coffee
    Laurie P.

    Not a fancy place, and a little chilly in the cold weather, but the food was outstanding! I had a Doner sandwich, and it was incredible. Although it isn't a "gyros", it's very similar - and I'll never eat one again because this Doner is soo much better! And the bread is amazing - the outer layer being delicately crisp, and soft on the inside. Also had Turkish coffee for the first time, and loved it! Prices are reasonable, and the staff is friendly.

    Doner Kabob
    Jon D.

    One of the best sandwiches I've had. Taste was amazing! Sally had the Doner bowl and loved it as well!

    Beef|Lamb Kebab - Most popular dish
    Alexis H.

    Excellent food. Got the Donne Kebab with Beef and Lamb. The bread was good but maybe too bready. Will get the wrap or bowl next time. It was still very good. Onion rings were OK, don't recommend. Will be back!

    Doner Kabob
    Randy G.

    This is what you come here for, The Doner Kabob. I saw the write up and had to try it. Don't be discouraged by the looks of the front, kind of like a house converted to a restaurant. It's what makes it unique and special. The house repurposed to the restaurant is awesome and definitely special. First time there, you should get the doner kabob, then you're free to get what you want. You can try to compare it to a gyro but it really is better than that. If I had a choice side by side, doner, for sure. I also tried their gyro salad, lots of cheese. The cheese was very tasty, no meat even with the name. It was ok, not sure if I would get it again though. Staff was very nice. It took some time to get water refills but overall helpful and nice.

    *Gasps*
    Mohammed S.

    BRO THE FOOD LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE PHOTOS AND THEY TASTED AWESOME! Oh don't forget to ask for hot sauce if you love spicy foods and you find yourself wondering "what's missing in this delicious donër kebab sandwich?"

    Loaded Doner Kebab( lamb)

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    10 months ago

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    11 months ago

    Drove nearly three hours because I missed the döner kebabs in Germany... this did not disappoint!

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    2 years ago

    Definitely try the loaded donor, smaller menu than the original in Dearborn and less staff but great food!!

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    Page 1 of 4

    Ask the Community - Balkan House

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    Yelp considers 3-Stars to be Okay. This visit was a bit better than just okay, but not worthy of…read morefour stars. We arrived at 6:24 for a 6:30 resv and were immediately seated. My first impression: Noisy! Lots of hard surfaces. Difficult to hear the hostess, server and my wife. The tables were appropriately spaced for diners and servers to work with no bump & grind. We started by sharing a dozen oysters and the pear/walnuts salad. The oysters were a bit small-ish; but otherwise, excellent. Server took a drink order from my wife, but skipped me. Eh? I flagged down another server to order a Pino. It took a surprisingly long time to arrive. On the plus side, I was offered a taste to insure it was satisfactory - it was. The pear salad w/walnuts was excellent. The pears were sliced paper-thin. One of the joys of eating a properly ripened pear is the juicy explosion and thinly sliced pears defeat the juicy explosion. If the pears were fully ripe, perhaps cube them? Weirdly; the two sides (mushrooms, potatoes) were served before the entrees. The server noticed, seemed surprised and withdrew the sides, returning with our entrees (lamb shoulder, steak). Then the side returned. Both entrees were warm-ish and the sides were hot. The 14-day, dry-aged steak was ordered medium-rare and was seasoned and prepared as ordered. Again; warm-ish, not hot. I expected better beefy flavor for a dry-aged steak. One end was a bit chewy. Tenderness improved as I got to the other end of the steak. I ordered it with horseradish. I will admit to being a weirdo who loves spicy horseradish (and wasabi) that will clean the sinuses - this was "Ohio-spice'd" horseradish ... not creamy, but less spicy than Arby's Horsey sauce. The mushroom and the potato sides were served hot from the kitchen. Both were excellent, no complaints. The presentation of the steak needs improvement. It was a properly prepared, lonely lump of brown, served on a white plate with cracked ceramic glaze. The lamb shoulder was the better entree. For some reason, my wife was expecting Middle Eastern seasoning. The menu did not mention Middle Eastern seasoning and she did not ask, so that's on her, not the kitchen. I thought it was excellent. Gripe: After the entrees arrived, our server did not return to ask if the entrees were satisfactory. She did return later to ask if we wanted a second round of drinks. We did ... We were offered dessert and ordered, but never asked if we wanted coffee or an after dinner drink. Both desserts were excellent. Will we return? Probably ... not. With tip; dinner for two was $286. At this price point I expect better: Less noise, better beef and flawless service.

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