6572 28 Avenue NW, Edmonton

Donairs are one of my favourite things to eat. It is my all-time favourite drunk food at 2-3 AM, but also as I’ve grown in age, just a nostalgic and indulgent dinner option. It’s a variation off of the doner kebab and is typically cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Though traditionally lamb, the Canadian variation is most often comprised of beef.

This last weekend I went golfing at Victoria Golf Course for the first time (I’m trying to pick it up as a hobby) and believe you me, it’s a pretty tiring sport. I went with my friend, Jamie, and my cousin, Thomas, and we opted to walk the course. Needless to say, after our round, I was starving and we decided to try Primetime donair, which we had heard from multiple sources that it was the ‘best’ donair in the city (along with Swiss Donair and High Voltage).

They now have three four different locations. One in Millwoods, one in the north, and one in the east, and now one downtown (Oliver). We went to the one in Millwoods. There’s an ample amount of parking, and it’s just a small little shop in a strip area that looks typical of any donair shop. We came at around 10:00PM on a Saturday and it was surprisingly busy. There was a small line up, which I was actually grateful for because I needed a bit of time to figure out what I wanted to order.

You have options of classic donairs, primetime donairs, platters, burgers, poutines and salads. Their full menu is available online (www.primetimedonair.com/menu/). When I was there, it was poutine after poutine that was coming out. It seemed like everyone was getting a poutine. There are three sizes but the large is definitely a good deal. You get a huge amount of fries and a very generous amount of donair meat. They have Primetime flavours that you can get the meat infused with (Bold BBQ, Sweet and spicy, honey garlic, butter chicken, spicy fire, and pineapple curry). These get pan tossed over an open flame and the flavours get infused in the donair meat.

Something that differentiates this donair place over a lot of the other places is that they have a lot of options for their fresh toppings. They have lettuce, green peppers, tomatoes, black olives, raw onions, banana peppers, and pickles. Most places that I’ve seen usually only have lettuce and tomatoes.

I got the Primetime Donair with sweet & spicy sauce, and loaded with all of the toppings. Overall, it was a really good donair. It’s a bit smaller in size than the donairs that I’ve gotten from other places, but pretty good. I really liked the variety of vegetables that you get. This was a very good donair, definitely top 5 that I’ve had in Edmonton. What really set it apart was the sweet sauce. Probably the best sweet sauce I’ve had. I’m not sure the extra flavour from the primetime do and was worth it. It was difficult to taste and was not spicy at all. I might try the pineapple curry next time to see if it makes a difference. Otherwise, the classic donair is probably just as good for me.

And of course, because the poutine was so popular I figured we might as well get a donair poutine to share as well. The regular is about half the size of a large, and almost everyone was getting a large. The poutine was really good, and had a generous amount of meat. We got the mixed poutine that comes with half beef and half chicken, and topped with sweet sauce. Really good and very filling. It’s a pretty heavy dish, with a complete lack of vegetables. Pretty much the ultimate hangover food.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Primetime Donair. I’m was impressed by the volume of customer coming and going the entire time that I was there. They do have a lot of ways to customize your donair, and overall is pretty good but I’m not sure I’d make the drive all the way to Millwoods for it, but now there is a location in Oliver, I might find myself there more often.