The Lamb Shop — Restaurant in Gold Coast City

Few things from a grill chef;

This place was recommended for long time and finally I had a chance to visit last week. Here are my + and - comments. My order was lamb/chicken mixed plate.

Positives

1-They are using charcoal instead of gas which is massive plus 🙏.

2-concept and products are way better then one we get average kebab shop in goldie. Deserves higher price

3-I had my plate after 2 min. Very fast service. Congratulations.

4-location is very central. Good customer service. Clean kitchen. Easy and understanding menu.

Negatives

1-Generally I found chicken better then lamb. Lamb was a bit chewy. I highly recommend go for more acidic marination. (Vinegar is always goes good with lamb) But main reason for that is your cutting method. It is impossible to serve cotton soft meat if u cut it that thick. I highly recommend using super sharp (note for your sharpener: keep the distance as long as you can primary and secondary edges) doner knife instead of chef knife. Who cuts meat with a chef knife…

2- I am guessing u are using lump charcoal instead of briquette(well done. Only chefs who wants to go easy use briquette ). Briquette is basically last longer (very easy to manage) and way less ash and smoke but less flavour as well. But There is a problem with lump charcoal quality because I did not get any smoky flavour from meat. First reason for that is your grill design (I will mention below). Second reason is charcoal moisture and general quality. For a perfect flavour result wood has to be aged min 6 months before carbonised. B&B oak lump is an amazin example of it. That brand is Aged for two years in Mexico and comes from texas. Good news is u do not need to order from US. One bbq store has it in mermaid. It is pricy but even sprinkling a bit on your current charcoal will be game changer.

3-main problem is cooking technique. Distance between spit and fire source is to long.Because of that reason meat does not catch any smoke. Charcoal transfer flavour through smoke. No smoke, no flavour. I recommend to keep more ash on the bottom. That will make that distance shorter. Last and biggest problem is related to that one. I haven’t seen any sign of good Maillard Reaction. (Reason for Rick Espin’s comment) Definitely needs more meat science practices.

I would like to share some ideas about lamb (breads, cuts) as well but that would make this comment few a4 pages. Please just keep using young animals👍

Sharing some of examples from my doner kebab recipes to show what Miallard reaction is. If there is one thing makes meat delicious is that golden brown colour. Not the black burned one..

Generally it was good experience and thank you for being in goldie and doing...

Do not come here unless you want salmonella. I ordered from the lamb shop a couple days ago and dined in for dinner I ordered some chips and they were burnt and soggy so we asked for some new ones and the guy was giving us death stares the whole time and was laughing so I knew something was up when He served it to us. I was also very hungry still so I ordered the 40 dollar souvlaki plate with 200g of chicken and pita and I ate it and it tasted a bit funny but despite that I didn’t want to complain again because prior the guy was giving us death stares. Then that night I woke up at 2am vomiting and couldn’t Breath and I had to go to hospital I had the worst stomach cramps all night and couldn’t get to bed till the morning. In total I was in bed for 1 week straight and just vomiting and I couldn’t eat anything or drink otherwise I would vomit aswell Do not come here the guy poisoned my food and tampered with it because we put a complaint in they are very aggressive aswell. If you want a near death experience come...

I was pretty excited to try the food, though as I was watching them prepare it I noticed all of the flies landing all over the food in the kitchen - bit gross but ok we're Aussie's we can deal with it.. then as I'm watching the man behind the grill (I believe his name is James) prepare the food, I witnessed him get a dollop of tzatziki on his finger and then lick it off and continue to handle our food. I was shocked and wasn't sure how I felt about what I'd just seen, then the man grabs some food and pops it into his mouth, then cough into his hand and continue directly handling the meat and herbs going onto my roll.

At this point I'm completely turned off the food, despite it having looked so enticing intially. Thankfully the kind girl behind the counter was understanding and cooperated with a full refund.

This guy needs major education in food handling and hygiene standards!! Wash your hands...