Marathon Kebabs

Good food, not great but good, hits the spot and portions are huge.
This is a fill up in a hurry kind of place, pay +leave.
Reasonably priced.

Decent lamb shish and the guys there are friendly! Nothing special but given the paucity of nice fast food places in Chalk Farm, definitely worth a punt.

Looking for dinner past 10pm after a long day of sight seeing on Thurs night and thank goodness this place was open and serving up delicious food! I got the falafel on a pita with hummus and salad and my boyfriend got the chicken shish wrap with white and hot sauce and salad. Both sandwiches were HUGE and delicious! The salad was so fresh and gave the perfect amount of crunch to compliment the sandwiches! Counter service is quick and fast and we got food for take away, in and out in under 10 minutes.
This would definitely be a great place for some late night drunk munchies, check it out!

Kebab is not the best in the world but fine.
But always nice to visit for drinking with friends!

To badly (and incorrectly) paraphrase Samuel Johnson, when a man is tired of kebab, he is tired of life.
Marathon Kebab House is a local fucked foodie legend. It’s a real institution. And there could be two definitions of that. Somewhere that’s been in situ serving local kebabhounds so long that it’s passed into popular mythology; or somewhere you get dragged screaming towards when you’ve lost your faculties and are desperately in need of an intervention.
For the ever smug Chalk Farm locals, it’s both. A hot bed of dirty Doner kebabbery guaranteed at the end of a long boozy night and the last place you remember walking into as you wake up with the whiff of chilli scented shame on a ‘too old for that, my god what did we do’ Sunday morning.
Generation Y have no doubt expunged it from their moral compass, too poefaced or rich with uni debt to have fond remembrance of the joys of the late night elephant on a stick. For the barefaced bechilded Bacchanalians it’s a blast from the past. A dirty hot grill upfront and a groovy cliché of sticky tabled late night embuggerance out the back.
I’m not going to try describing the food. If you have to ask, or really want to know, you shouldn’t be here in the first place. I’ve never walked in sober, but I’ve never walked out hungry. I can’t deny I’ve never lost it down the u-​bend, but it was almost certainly the fault of that second-​to-​last Sambuca.
Deal with the crowds on a weekend. If you haven’t had enough they do lukewarm cans of lager. In the day you could get ten Bensons with your kebab roll, ideal if you’d stumbled out of a nearby gig desperate for a smoke. There’s a guy dressed as Elvis doing karaōke out the back. He’s a regular, a member of staff or a fevered dream, but you won’t know till you go there properly steaming drunk.

definitely the place to go for a kebab on the way home after a night out drinking in Camden.
they must have had some licencing issues in the past year or so as they are no longer late night — believe they now close around 11.30pm /​midnight. Kind of sad but still a great kebab if you can grab it before they shut for the evening.

Am I reviewing the same place as all these other reviewers? I’m confused because I didn’t see a bouncer at the door, no live music of any sort, nor were the kebabs delicious… ehhh did I come on the ONE bad night of the year?
I’ll admit that I was blown away when I saw the size and value of the kebab shop… not your average little fast food kebab type set up because revenue is keeping the lights on at this one. The staff was entirely friendly, kind, and even waited/​served us. It is almost a more-​than-​fair bargain for the amount of food you get. I ordered their chicken donor kebab but was quite disappointed because there was no special sauces or spices in it. Very bland, dry, and flavorless. I tried to add their sauces but was only left a few strange options – minty toothpaste sauce and mushy red spice sauce. Wish I could’ve liked this place more but it didn’t make the cut!
If only I could write a review for or compare my favorite kebab shop thus far in Europe, but Unilocal has yet to be established in Spain…

5 Stars for being hands down the best, most entertaining, most original and strange little place that a trip for a kebab will afford you in our fair city. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a bouncer on a kebab house elsehwere?!
It’s brilliant in here! Not done with your night when the pubs close? Well then head on over to Marathon and get your fill! You can usually get drinks at a late hour too although I’m not sure this is entirely above board so you might find the availability of Red Stripe cans fluctuates with how regularly the local rozzers are passing by! They keep the music going, mostly crazy hillbilly rock and the odd bit of live music too.
The food is surprisingly good — and there’s a huge range too. I’ve been known to invest in a chicken shish kebab with a side or taramasalata! Lord knows why, but hey, I’m in Marathon and I wont be judged!
For me a night out in Camden just isn’t complete without a jaunt to Marathon… bravo.

One of my favorite places in London… Possibly the world.
Marathon is notable for its combination of idiosyncratic elements such as Middle Eastern food, cheap English beer and American Rockabilly.
American rockabilly? Well actually it’s a blend of old-​time rock ‘n roll stylings interpreted by an aging Frenchman, which only adds to the charm of this place. Every night or so he performs solo, running through raucous rock ‘n roll standards with only the accompaniment of his electric guitar and the choir of drunkards he’s playing to.
These four elements, while unremarkable on their own, fuse together to form a truly unique dining /​drinking /​dancing experience.

Unfortunately the police took a dislike to Marathon Kebab and they got raided. The report on the street was that their late licence had been stripped. I have been by a 1am and the same old Marathon with the same old fake Elvis singing inside, is still doing their thing. Love it. Best kebab shop in the area.

There’s nothing like a kebab after a long night of partying in Camden Town, and Marathon Kebas is the place.
Across from the Roundhouse, this place starts getting packed at 2AM with hooligans, drunks, kids, and revelers. A bouncer keeps everyone in line, though, so it’s great fun.
The food is good– doner and kebabs are fresh and made as you watch. The staff is quick and gets you through the line and food in your hand before you pass out or hurl on your date.
The night we were there, a rockabilly guitar player was on the mic. He was an amazing musician playing for tips to drunk college kids, but he seemed used to it. He had Johnny Cash hair, few teeth, and was cool as hell. He played a two hour set – from midnight to two. The people in the bar clearly loved him. A curly-​haired freckly, sloshed student really wanted to play with the rockabilly genius. He kept whipping out his harmonica and attempting to get to the mic. That’s dedication. Needless to say, the bouncer kept the peace, and kicked the ginger kid out via the back door.
Hooligans, Johnny Cash rockabilly music, great food, and a helpful staff make this place the perfect dose of controlled chaos. Especially when you’re starving late at night and are not quite ready to head home.

Life’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon and if you happen to be having a marathon night of burning up the dance floor, this place will hit the spot.
The guys in Marathon Kebab churn out a hot and spicy kebab at top speeds. A personal favourite is the large mixed, but get your eating shoes on because this is a serious feast.
The meat is always top quality and the salad is very fresh. They serve alcohol for indoor consumption only and often have live tunes. When’s the last time your local kebaby re-​fuelled your tank and kept you liquored up, thankfully mine does! On nights of Camden chaos, they even employ a doorman to keep out the slobbering riff-​raff.
If you’re keen for kebabs, Marathon is a must-​eat.

Probably a great place to go at the end of a night out, but don’t go if you’re sober. The food is pretty sketchy, and the atmosphere can be pretty tense, at least in the sense that everyone everyone is having a good time until someone isn’t have a good time.
If you’re just looking for a place to hang out after everything else closes, it’s good to have the option. But there’s a reason you never see anyone in there during daylight hours.

This place is great. I have never been here completely sober, but I from what I can remember, each time I have been I have had an amazing time. I have been to some of the best parties (or after parties) here. If you are lucky, you might stumble on a fun party out back– every time have been there has been amazing music.
I remember the first time I ever went to Marathon after going to a concert at the Roundhouse, and was completely amazed when I was taken through the kebab shop and into the back room. I can’t describe how
shocked I was to be eating a kebab next to Devendra Banhart.
The food is good, the atmosphere is incredible and it is open very late.

You’ll never be disappointed with a trip to Marathon. And I’m not just talking about the food. Believe it or not, this unassuming kebab shop in Chalk Farm is nothing short of a North London institution, one that I’ve become rather fond of.
Beyond the counter, which serves tasty and rather reasonable offerings of kebab, chicken and burger meals, you’ll find Marathon moonlighting at the weekend as a live Jazz venue serving beer until to the early hours.
I like to make my way there around 2am at the weekend because the later the hour, the more rambunctious and raw this little cavern becomes, awash with every walk of life: the strange, the drunk, the dancing, the saxophone-​playing old timers and of course the curious new-​blood. Absolutely to be experienced if you’re looking for an ‘after hour’ walk into the wild side.

If you are ever stumbling through Camden looking for somewhere that will let you in after 12.30 this is the place to go. I thought the night was over after being turned away from club after club at 1.30am on a Friday night… until we reached Marathon!
A Kebab house by day, a place to eat drink and dance by night — I felt like I was going into a secret underground bar as we walked through the café to a back door manned by a bouncer. The entrance fee is a bottle of beer or a kebab, so as long as you’ve bought something — you’re in. I didn’t try the kebab (having vowed never to try one when I’m too drunk to see exactly what’s in it), but my friends told me they were actually pretty good. So, drink in hand I was let in.
Inside was packed with all sorts of people, all with one thing in common though — to carry on the party. The music was pretty good and everyone was dancing on the rather small dance floor. Lining the walls of the room are benches and tables, mostly rotating with people taking quick a pit stop before returning to shake their thing in this weird little place.
The surrealism of chefs carrying plates of food through the party-​goers (to be cooked in the kebab shop) added to the Marathon’s crazy charm. However, one word of advice — it probably wouldn’t have quite the same eccentric appeal if you turned up sober, but since as that’s yet to happen for me, I’m a big fan.

Wow i LOVE Marathon Kebabs.
Not because i enjoy greasy burgers, kebabs and falafel wraps, nope (i mean there’s a time and a place for them i agree…), nope the best thing about Marathon is that come the evening they open up the outdoor area for you to sit with your kebab on your plate, serve you a can of beer and pump some music out!!! Can you imagine, a filthy kebab with a knife and fork!
This also means you can smoke outside. Really famous with Camden residents, a good place to feed yourself up before a night out. A new kebab experience!

I have been visiting the marathon for over 20 years, and it has not changed. The main attraction has always been late night beer, not as relevant now as it once was. There is a seating area to the rear where the staff will bring you cans of beer, often warm, at inflated prices. Good place to have a late beer with mates and a kebab. I’ve never been in there sober nor eaten there in the day. The food counter offers your usual choice of chip shop goodies and kebabs. Not pricey for the food, just those tepid cans of Stella!

Most of these reviews will state how amazingly drunken this place and it is exactly that.
Finish at one of the haunts in the locality of Camden and live several million miles away? (or what seems it). You just want to carry on in a loud and lairy kebab shop, or at the back of it.
What i can remember they had beer (stella) and the queue of people at the front of house were ordering styrofoam plates of indescribable meats.
The music was great and the people in a similar frame of mind, namely drunk.

When I was first taken to the Marathon I was deeply drunk and extremely suspicious that I was about to be force fed a kebab. The nice man at the counter took my money, gave me beer and ushered me into what — at the time — I was convinced was a Prohibition era speakeasy. Live music and lots of people in very cool hats. I proceeded to have a conversation with someone’s saxophone. I named her Millie.
I have only ever stumbled into this Mecca of the alcoholic Camden night owl when blind drunk and stupid. To my delight I have discovered (each and every time it is a fresh discovery) that I am allowed to smoke. Or perhaps I’m not allowed to smoke and nobody can be bothered to tell me that I’m an idiot.
In summary, the Marathon Bar is a happy place. Go there. If you meet Millie, tell her I say hello.

I remember little of Marathon. But the evidence was all there to see the next day. Dry clean only. Damn. Must have enjoyed it though