Restaurant Review: Swiss Donair

SWISS DONAIR 8308 144th Avenue ~ swissdonair.com Instagram: @swiss_donair ~ Twitter: @SwissDonair Co-Diner: Tim Golem

The humble donair has a bit of an interesting history. Invented in the 70s in Halifax, of all places, its creator took a Greek-style gyro and modified the recipe to be more appealing to a Canadian audience. The traditional pork and lamb recipe was replaced with spiced ground beef. A Lebanese flatbread is used, and the most distinct ingredient of all is the invention of a sweet donair sauce. This sauce is made with condensed milk, vinegar, sugar, and garlic. A whole new handheld wrap was born and called a "donair." As you can imagine, Halifax is crazy about them (the place to get one is King Donair), being the place that they were first created. But there is one other city in Canada where donairs are a big deal; Edmonton. This is likely due to the large amount of Maritime natives who travel to Alberta to work in the oil and gas industry. Of course you can find the donair in other Canadian cities as well, but it's a really noticeable culinary item in both Halifax and Edmonton, moreso than anywhere else. VUE Weekly named Swiss Donair the #1 Best Donair 2018 and if they're doing the best version in the whole city, I'm trying it. Visiting on a Saturday evening, the small fast-food style shop was busy. They had a ton of staff working, furiously rolling wraps. The foot traffic of customers coming in to grab their dinner was continuous. Swiss Donair is located quite far off the beaten path for me, all the way up in Evansdale. (It's north. Real north.) But I certainly do not mind visiting new parts of the city to eat the best things. I'm not exactly sure why they've decided to call themselves "Swiss" Donair because I really don't think that there's anything Swiss about it, but I digress. There isn't very much of note when it comes to the interior of the restaurant. It's very much a fast food-style establishment located in a strip mall (and some of the best food comes out of these exact types of places). They have a few tables should you prefer to eat inside, however a donair is an extremely portable item. As someone who spent their early 20s frequenting the Edmonton club scene, the donair was a quintessential post-bar food. The first thing that I did upon entering the restaurant was turn to the refrigerator section in order to seek out the most unique and foreign beverage. I was in luck! They carry bottles of Mirinda ($2.50), a carbonated drink that originates from Spain. This is exactly what I'm talking about.

This pop beverage is huge in Arabic countries, making it an ideal match for the food. It tastes like orange juice from concentrate except carbonated. It was actually pretty good! Sweet and enjoyable. I like the tall, skinny bottle too. Next is the business of the donair. Swiss Donair has options. Not only do they make the traditional beef style, but they also do chicken and "mix" (which I can only assume is a combination of both beef and chicken?). They even offer other foods entirely, such as burgers, falafels, and chicken strips. However, for me it was going to be a straight-up Beef Donair ($9.00 for regular size) with cheese.

The donairs come in several sizes at Swiss Donair; kids, regular, super, and jumbo. I kinda want to see the insanity that is a jumbo donair. Upon ordering, you will be asked if you want all of the toppings. These include; tomato, lettuce, onion, and sweet sauce. Generally you should say "yes" to all of these toppings because that's the right way to eat a donair. The cheese used is a thin white slice of cheese that they lay on top of the flatbread before loading in the rest of the toppings. The whole thing gets rolled into a very familiar wrap formation and you're ready to eat! In terms of the donairs that I have eaten in the past, this one was very good and probably one of the best. The beef donair meat was plentiful and very flavourful with a nice spicy kick. There's something about the texture of donair meat, shaved off of the turning spit, that is quite appealing. I liked the tomato, lettuce and onion because they were fresh and added a bit of a crunch. I found that the cheese was almost unnoticeable but I did taste it a little bit here and there. And the flatbread wrap was very soft and warm. But let's talk about the sweet sauce for a second. Swiss Donair has literal vats of sweet sauce lining the walls. This is the sauce that makes a donair what it is and it can be a little bit strange at first. For me, I've always loved having gyro meat with a classic tzatziki sauce. That is not what this is. If you go in wanting that, you will not be pleased. This is something all its own and quite special in its own right. Eating a donair is a messy endeavour, yet extremely satisfying. It feels like a classic Edmonton food and that's what I love about it. Is there a Donair Poutine ($10.00 for regular) on the menu? Yes, there is.

My one criticism is that this poutine is made with shredded cheese as opposed to cheese curds. But regardless, I was not angry at this poutine situation at all. The fries and gravy were good. And the absolute heaping abundance of donair meat and sweet sauce was pretty over-the-top. I loved every bite. I'm not sure that any other donair in poutine form could be better. The sweet sauce mixed in with the gravy and melted cheese. The spicy meat held up well with the crispy fries. You can't go wrong with this flavourful mess. Swiss Donair delivers exactly what they're meant to: A perfect donair. If you've never tried one, this is very likely the best place to go for that inaugural taste. Personally, I would say that I prefer chicken shawarma better than a donair. However, this city barely has any shawarma and plenty of donair. So go with the flow and go where the eating is good!