Gyro House: Oradell, NJ

He says… The Gyro House sits in an unassuming spot on Kinderkamack Rd next to a Music School and something else not food-related, all of which are on the ground level of what looks like an apartment.  A block’s radius from the ‘House (which is how I’ll now refer to it) are: a Chinese take-out spot, a Mexican taqueria, a deli, a pizzeria, and an Italian Restaurant, making it–culinarily speaking– the most racially diverse block in my piece of suburbia (just kidding, although it does lead to a lot of choices for dinner ). Upon entering, you can definitely tell that they just started recently.  There are no chairs, and random bits of decor everywhere including a tea/coffee thing that I’m sure you put on a stove, and I’m sure would be used as an instrument of divine torture (it WAS pretty nice looking though).  They also had limited fridge space as I saw gallon tubs of Greek yogurt in the fridges up front where customers pick drinks–unless of course, the ‘House is also your next go-to place in the case Costco ran out of Greek yogurt (do they even sell that there?). It really does look like a take-out spot, organized like a Dominos pizza (also no tables) or a glorified street meat spot that just happened to find its way into an Oradell shop space.  Which again, isn’t bad.  I love street cart style food, and it found a good translation here for the townsfolk. –The Food– Cheese pastries ($4.50): It should be a general rule in life that you should eat anything delicious that people wrap in something and fry to make it more delicious.  Not fried too hard, and not greasy at all, the pastries had a subtle tartness to it from the cheese they used (I think it was feta).  My only regret was that it was probably crispier when it came out of the fryer, but we ate it at home after a 10 minute drive and it probably steamed a little in its styrofoam casing. Gyro kebab ($8.95): If you read Jess’s side first, you’ll know that we watched the Good Eats episode on gyros whist eating gyros–when in Rome i guess (or actually in this case, Greece, which in actuality, should be Turkey in relation to the ‘House).  I actually had been craving gyro from a previous view of that episode, which is why I had to get their gyro platter.  The platter came with your usual gyro ecoutrements including a salad that probably no one ever eats, rice, and pita.  The pitas were nice and big, and seemingly unleavened which gave it a nice visceral tear upon biting and pulling.  The rice was also quite good, sitting below the gyro and getting a nice flavor from the spices on the meat.  The meat itself too was quite good– a little dryer then what I’m used to–it seemed like they sliced the gyro and reheated it on the griddle–but still flavorful and not too lamby.  The portion was also generous which justified the $8.95 price tag. Chicken kebab ($8.95): Jess’s look after her first bite of chicken kebab led me to believe that she really enjoyed it, and I have to agree.  The chicken was very delicious, and still quite juicy.  Also a generous portion was given, with 8 cubes placed rather nicely on the rice.  I was happy that the seasoning on it wasn’t too over-powering– I didn’t get that eat-food-sweat-food feel that I often get from stuff seasoned with Greek/Turkish spice choices.  If we were playing that game of who’s dish was better, I would definitely say hers.  The chicken was also enhanced by their yogurt sauce, which had a nice burst of fresh mint in it. Rice pudding ($2.95): A funny story about the rice pudding.  As the dude behind the counter was packing our food, he said, “Do you want to try our rice pudding?”  Thinking that it was gonna be a freebie since they were new, I said, “Sure why not”.  He then rang up the $2.95 on the till and then told us that we had to let it sit and cool since it was right out of the oven.  Ok so it’s not that funny… but gosh darn if I wasn’t fooled.  Your win ‘House employee…your win.  Anyway… the rice pudding was also very pleasant, and a nice way to end the meal.  It definitely could use some cinnamon or almonds (I don’t know if that’s traditional but I’m going with what I’ve had at other Turkish establishments), but the flavor of the pudding itself was subtly sweet.  My one complaint was that the rice was undercooked, but that might have been a factor of us putting the pudding in the fridge to speed up the cooling, which in turn might have hindered the carryover heat that would have cooked the rice had we just let it cool like the ‘House employee said.  ‘House employee, 2…me, 0. — I would go back there, definitely for some chicken kebab and maybe for some of the other Turkish desserts they had… maybe too for a gallon or five of Greek yogurt.

She says… The Gyro House is a little take out place on the busy Kinderkamack Rd in Oradell, NJ. It recently opened a couple of months ago. J noticed it while we were driving around the area one day and recommended we check it out. (I think he wanted to go just because he wanted to order a gyro by pronouncing it ‘hero’.) We decided to go check it out but were put off to see that despite there being space for it, there were no tables or chairs to eat at the restaurant. Sad! Since it was late we opted to take it home and eat while watching “My Big Fat Greek Sandwich” on Good Eats. (Corny, I know… don’t be jealous. ) We ended up coming home with four dishes off the menu: cheese pastries, gyro kebab, chicken kebab, and Turkish rice pudding. —-The Food—- Cheese pastries ($4.50): These were quite delicious and tart. Basically, they were like little Turkish style egg rolls. Instead of spring roll wrapping, filo dough was used and the filling was feta cheese and parsley. They offered a delightful, light crunch while biting and a tart, sour feta cheese taste. If you’re not into sour cheese then I wouldn’t recommend this. There were four in the container (I wish there were more! ) Gyro kebab ($8.95): This was J’s dish. The lamb came in thin shavings of lamb w/ rice, veggies, pita, and white sauce. I had a little sampling of it and thought it tasted pretty good, w/o a heavy, lingering lamb taste. The lamb seemed like it was cut and then cooked again because it wasn’t very moist but I thought that was good since there wasn’t a lot of oil and it made the meat seem lighter. I’m sure J’s side can tell you more than I can. Chicken kebab ($8.95): This was my dish and I must say I REALLY enjoyed it. I wasn’t expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. The chicken came in 8 huge chunks that were definitely straight from a skewer since there were skewer holes in it. It had a nice smoky, flavor to it and was seasoned very well. Each bite was so good that I couldn’t stop eating until I finished it all (there goes my diet…again). The dish also came with this great, soft rice that had some sort of brown pasta-like thing in it which seemed to add to the flavor of it, giving a slight sour-like quality. I also loved the white sauce because it tasted fresh and the light hint of mint was a great compliment to the meat and rice. Rice pudding ($2.95): The flavor was nice and light but not too sweet. It was made on site and was fresh out of the oven when we bought it. I really enjoyed the light vanilla flavor of it but was disappointed to find the rice was undercooked. There wasn’t a bite that didn’t have the ‘crunch crunch’ of undercooked rice. For some reason it really grosses me out to eat undercooked rice, almost as much as it grosses me out to find a scale in my fish. If it wasn’t for that and a lack of dusting of some cinnamon, the pudding would’ve been perfect. —- All-in-all, a good experience. I’d like to go back there again since the food is pretty good, well priced, and the service is pretty quick.



The Gyro House
“Everything is Homemade”
246 Kinderkamack Rd.
Oradell, NJ
(201) 599-9299

Prices: $2.99 – $10.95
Parking: Street
Take-out only. Catering available.