By Dessa Bayrock (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: April 10, 2013
45641 Lark Road, Chilliwack
604-846-7669
Hours: Mon to Tues 11a.m – 5 p.m.; Wed to Sat 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Prices: Food ranges from $6 – $10
I consider myself a little bit of a donair expert.
For those of you not familiar with the food type, a donair is basically a pita filled with slow-roasted meat (beef, chicken or lamb) and a variety of vegetables (tomatoes, lettuce, bell peppers) topped off with a selection of sauces (from Caesar to tzatziki to sweet). The result is basically a sandwich in packet form – hot, delicious and often messy.
It was with great sadness that Chilliwack lost its beloved and long-time donair provider over Christmas. Peggi’s Donair began downtown, moved to a location on Vedder road around 2009, and found its last home on Lark avenue, just a block away from its former location.
Peggi’s Donair had it all – cozy location, fantastic food, experienced cooks and the welcoming presence of Peggi herself. But the move to a larger and more out-of-the-way location on Lark was a death sentence for the café; it closed up shop for good a little over six months ago, selling the equipment to another restaurant entrepreneur.
The result is Donair Top, which took over the location that Peggi’s abdicated. My grieving period for Peggi’s over; I thought I’d give it a try. I can always whip out to Abbotsford’s Donairo’s if I’m in the mood, but the idea of having a closer-to-home option is also appealing.
Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed.
With any new restaurant, I think it’s only fair to give it a couple of months to get into the swing of things before passing judgement on it. Despite the fact that Donair Top has been open three or four months now, the atmosphere and service seemed like we were visiting on the first day. The woman who took our order was flustered and not 100 per cent sure how to put together a donair. A friend I went with was undercharged but then shortchanged, and the food was simply uninspiring.
I ordered the maritime donair, which is the equivalent of a Halifax donair elsewhere – beef, tomatoes, onions and sweet sauce. It’s a simple but delicious combination, and usually is a pretty good test of donair quality.
There was something essential missing from this donair. The meat was bland instead of flavourful, and the contents weren’t well-mixed – I felt like I was working my way through geological layers of onion, tomato and meat one by one.
With a specialty food shop like a donair place, the restaurant has to really nail that specialty food. In this case, the elements are all there – but they’re still figuring out how to put them together. The donair wasn’t bad – it was just a little too similar to what I would build in my own kitchen.
Donair Top also offered fries and poutine, which were decent, but are honestly available anywhere. The gravy on the poutine was scalding, but the cheese appeared to be chunks instead of curds and had a hard time melting.
I think I’ll give them another six months or so and head back again, to see what the difference is when and if they become more experienced. For now, however, I highly recommend passing on Donair Top in favour of some other establishment.
