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Donny Ben Hales What kind of foodscape would the world traveller find in Doncaster at Christmas?
Arriving by train he or she might like to be shoehorned into a modern shopping centre and be familiar with global chains offering sandwiches, burgers and fried chicken and conclude this is a very generic town, or may prefer to walk briskly to one or more of our town’s more interesting, esoteric and characterful eateries. Let’s walk right down towards the Doncopolitan studio at the end of Copley Road. On the left Kian’s Kurdish and Persian Dishes serve their delicate lamb soup for a starter – we’ll postpone for now their huge kebab meals. Opposite is Kurdistan Coffee with exotic sounding dishes such as Tashreeb and Nokaw.
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For a main course at this end of town I usually buy a drink from a nearby mini-mart and go to Desi Roti, a small, informal Indian restaurant. I might look like a more traditional take away from the outside, but this place is all about the curries. You select your level of spiciness, which will determine how much fresh chilli is used. The Rotis are baked in a traditional clay oven and are perfect for using with your fingers to scoop up a load of Channa (chick pea), Masala or lamb Balti – whether vegetarian or meat – it’s all vibrant and delicious. There’s also good chocolate cake with cream, though you could nip across the street for dessert, to Aeland coffee shop, the street’s newest, late opening café, where delicious Middle Eastern cakes and pastries, like Baklawa, await. Though full already, we can skirt round
the edge of town, turning onto Nether Hall Road and passing no less than three Turkish restaurants (Yusuf’s, Mezze & Turkuaz), two Italians (Fratellis & San Remo) and a Spanish tapas place (El Toro), turning left at the main junction (noting the Rum Rooms fine dining boutique on Market Road plus the new Twisted Burger Co. within Vintage Rockbar and dimsum-to-die-for from China Palace on Silver Street) and up East Laith Gate. There’s Akbars for curries, the ever popular Relish Bar and Grill, Lalezar (another Turkish one) and The Filling Station, which uses a proper smoker to barbeque its meats till tender. We turn right through Bradford Row then onto Hallgate. At the top on the left is the Hallcross pub, which hosts the waste food fighting Real Junk Food Project, which serves an always tasty