New kebab restaurant planned for city centre

AN international kebab restaurant chain could open as many as three new branches in the City of Discovery.

German Doner Kebab, which has eateries across the globe, is poised to start serving customers at premises in Dundee’s Reform Street by the end of the summer.

Franchise owner Akky Mayat has secured a hot food licence for the new restaurant and takeaway, which will have seating for between 40-50 diners and is expected to employ about 20 people.

The businessman — who already owns Subway sandwich shops in Dundee — claims the chain is the “healthy option” when it comes to choosing a kebab.

He added: “We are offering people an upmarket, high-end choice where they can relax and sit down.

“The food is 100% beef or chicken depending on what you order.”

Plans are already being laid to transform the Reform Street premises into a German Doner Kebab outlet.

The process is expected to take about six weeks and the aim is to open the new restaurant by late August.

Mr Hayat said: “The place is going to be stripped, gutted and undergo a complete refitting to ensure it’s a great place to eat.”

German Doner Kebab opened its first store in Berlin in 1989 and now has scores of restaurants in several countries around the world — eight of them in England.

Plans are in place for Dundee to have three German Doner Kebab branches, with others set to open in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Reform Street premises — which have been vacant for some time — will become just one of nine new outlets being opened across the UK.

Mr Hayat and his brother, Alfy, had hoped to open the city’s first German Doner Kebab restaurant in Lochee’s High Street, but Dundee City Council rejected the proposal in December.

The local authority said at the time that the application had been blocked due to the “detrimental impact” it would have on residents and the surrounding area.

Council officers said the “environmental quality afforded to neighbouring residential premises” would be adversely affected and cited potential noise and cooking smells from the planned restaurant as major factors in the ruling.