Our original plans were foiled when we tried to go to Sahara Palace and were greeted to an empty restaurant. Yes, the front door was unlocked and yes, we walked into a deserted restaurant. No idea what happened there but it was bizarre that no one was there. Wednesday lunch time and not a person in sight. Oh well, we had spotted another place in the same plaza, Babas Donair, so we walked back to check them out. It’s located right beside the Elsafadi Mediterranean Supermarket.
The place itself looks like every other donair shop in town. Couple tables, ugly orange walls and a TV in the corner which had a 1980 NHL All Star game on tap (quite random indeed). It was pretty empty until a bunch of junior high kidlets came in to grab fries. They literally took over the shop.
Hours are pretty solid. Open every day and hours are good if you want to grab a late bite.
They have a pretty reasonable family deal for $32.99, which include 4 regular beef donairs, 4 pops and a family sized basket of fries.
As there was only Dbone and I, we settled on sharing two things and luckily, I spotted that they had a shawarma platter on their menu. Done!
Shawarma platter ($11.50) (#11)
Chicken, rice, fries, pickled carrots, sour cucumber, tomato, hot peppers, black olives and the most crack homemade garlic dip. Seriously, that garlic was fantastic. Garlicky, creamy, dab a little onto your spoonful of chicken and rice. Just the best combination! The chicken was flavourful and had a nice char to it from being cooked for an extra bit of time on their flat top.
Value meal #2 ($10.00)
Regular donair with cheese, fries and a pop. They use a sweet sauce here and add some lettuce to the mix. We liked the donair overall as it wasn’t greasy and the sauce added a contrasting sweet element. The donair meat itself was decent but I preferred and enjoyed the chicken much more. The fries were nothing to write home about – they looked like McCain fries and were in need of more fry time and seasoning.
Overall, pretty decent spot to grab a quick bite to eat. A neighbourhood donair shop that I wouldn’t mind going back to again if I happen to be in the area.
Babas Donair
10807 Castle Downs Road
Edmonton, AB
(780) 406-3006
CHERRY BOB-OMBS 