Restaurant Review: Simply Donairs

SIMPLY DONAIRS 140 St Albert Trail ~ simplydonairs.com Instagram: @simplydonairsedmonton Co-Diners: The E.A.T Crew

I have written about donairs several times before and the fact remains: There are two major cities in Canada that are hotbeds for this spinning-meat-wrap-handheld and Edmonton is one of them. (The other is Halifax.) I think it has a lot to do with Maritimers coming to work in the oilfield and bringing their beloved donair with them. Which I appreciate! There are a bunch of donair shops in Edmonton that are considered "the best" but when the Edmonton Journal named Simply Donairs as the Best Shawarma/Donair Shop 2020, I took notice. You'll find the unassuming shop all the way up in St. Albert, which is a bit of a trek for a southsider such as myself. However, I certainly never have a problem with driving a little bit further to get good food. If we all stayed in our own little bubbles we would miss out on so much! Arriving on a Saturday evening, we located Simply Donairs in a strip mall shopping complex in an area that was largely uninteresting and didn't seem to have much else going on other than grocery stores and gas stations. The shop itself is small with a green logo that acts as an alert that good food is near. Don't expect anything fancy inside. It's clean with a general grey colour scheme, subway tile, and a couple of artistic touches on the walls. It really doesn't need to be anything more than this. The menu is fairly small and straight forward as well, focusing on what they do best. It's mainly all donairs but they do make a couple of other things, such as a burger and chicken fingers... Although I'm not sure why you would order any of those. The woman who took our order was also the same person who made our food and she was wonderfully friendly. (She also indulged my exclamations as I witnessed the sheer size of their donairs for the first time.) Simply Donairs does two types of meat; beef or chicken. There's also a vegetarian falafel option. The chicken is basically shawarma and they've got it on one spit. Meanwhile, the beef is on three different spits, making it obvious that this is their specialty. They also do four different sizes of donairs; kids, small, regular, and large. I tried to keep things classic and simple and ordered a Beef Donair ($8.93 for regular + $0.81 to add cheese). Once ordered, the meat was freshly shaved off of the rotating spit with a giant knife and then thrown onto a flattop grill to really lock in the flavours. As the meat was deliciousifying, a flatbread was lightly toasted and placed down in front of an array of toppings. A thin slice of white cheese was laid on top. Similar to a sandwich shop, you are able to select the exact ingredients that you would like put into your donair. I picked almost everything; lettuce, tomato, black olives, banana peppers, and pickles. I was asked if I wanted the sweet sauce (this is one of the main things that makes a donair a donair) and of course I said yes! However, they also have tzatziki so I had her throw some of that on their as well. I then watched in awe and amazement as my donair was built... I could not believe my eyes as layer upon layer of toppings were added, the heap getting ever larger. Then the meat was added and there was so much that it didn't seem possible. The pile of toppings was at least half a foot high. There was no way that the flatbread could wrap all the way around - it looked more like an overstuffed taco. But the whole thing was rolled and wrapped in paper which held the donair shut. I've never seen anything quite like this.

Please remember that I ordered the regular size... I now know that I could've picked the small size and that still probably would've been too big! And they offer a large size! It's the size of a newborn baby!! Quick history lesson. A doner is a type of kebab, made of seasoned meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, originally from Turkey. The Canadian version, called a donair, was invented in Halifax in the 70s. This version takes the Turkish preparation and modifies it by using beef instead of the traditional lamb. The distinctive sweet donair sauce was also invented. The result was an all-Canadian dish that has now been embraced all over the country, especially in Edmonton. I loved this version very much. It felt very real and the generous and abundant toppings were bright and fresh. The heaping amount of meat was savoury and delicious, with a spicy kick. I loved how well-seasoned it was, creating a caramelized meat that was packed with huge flavour. The donair was super saucy and amazing too. As you can imagine, there was absolutely NO WAY to eat this without making a massive mess. You've really gotta rely on the paper that the donair is wrapped in to try and hold everything together. I really do think that this is the best donair in the Edmonton area. Because we're crazy people, we also ordered the Donair Poutine ($8.46 for regular size).

Again, this was giant. And there's a bigger size than this. It's not a perfect poutine - they use shredded mozza instead of curds - but I wasn't super mad at it either. It's a huge sloppy mess but in the best possible way. The crinkle cut fries, while definitely frozen, were actually pretty good. Tossed with liberal amounts of donair meat, tons of shredded cheese, an absolute swimming pool of gravy, and of course sweet sauce on top... You're going to like this. It might kill you but you'll die happy. With so many great options in the city, you're never too far away from a pretty solid donair. But I will agree that Simply Donairs is worth the drive to St. Albert because their version is truly the best. No one can compete with the way that they load those things up. You've gotta see this and try it for yourself!