Hashtag Donair — Restaurant in City of Langley

This review is from Aug 2020 posted by me on Yelp Hashtag Donair Hi all it's been a long time since I have done a review of sorts thanks to the pandemic, and I should say it sure keeps you healthy, eating home made and delicious verity of food. Today after a long time I got some food from outside. Middle eastern, Mediterranean or Arabic is our preferred food choice when eating out (take out). Today let me share a story of another not so good experience even though the customer service was good. I went to get some shawarma tried online for some new spots and the place in Langley popped up (Hashtag Donair) first I thought what in the world is that name.... just for online and marketing purpose? Or is there something to it??? We went in to order some. This is is what we ordered. 3 chicken shawarma wrap 1 meat lover shawarma (chicken) wrap 4 chicken platter, 4 falafel, (no pickled turnips and garlic sauce) 3 baklava Thankfully I had asked them to make the chicken more grilled and or fried. Reached home started out with the shawarma wraps. The packaging of the wrap was impressive and that's it, any positivity to the food ends there. Unwrapped the lined foil to eat and I felt that this would not end well cause there was no wrap to hold it in place (after unwrapping I should have used the paper bag that it came in, too late). First bite is mostly just pita and some veggies for almost every shawarma you get here in Canada or US, that's exactly the same here as well. The second one I got to taste the chicken, veggies and the sauces (hummus, garlic and tzatziki sauce) the taste was totally bland, no zing or zest in any manner to it. Even with hot sauce it didn't have any sort of spiciness. The third bite was similar and the first drop of juice fell on to my hand and that was the start of the disaster which led me to think is this the first time I am trying a shawarma or what!!! Half way thru it my plate was messed up with droplets of all the sauces oozing out of each and every hole it could find, what a mess. It would have been okay if it was tasty. In between I had the falafel and it was the smallest one ever, but the texture was pretty good. Well fried and another negative was it was way too salty. For the falafel it is supposed to come with pickled turnips, pickled chilli and sometimes olives and a serving of garlic or tzatziki sauce but nothing. Got some pickled cucumbers after requesting for it, that too in the tiniest container ever. I didn't feel like eating the entire shawarma but had to finish it. Without wasting much time I went for the platter and once again the presentation was really good. The salad was good and so was the rice and that was it. Same chicken without much flavor and an important thing I noticed was the hummus which was like a loose gravy where it was supposed to be like a spreadable paste. My daughter likes Baklava but she didn't like it either. No going back. The counter staff and the presentation was the only positive point in this experience. I should say the place was pretty busy with almost 10 orders going out via skip the dishes and door dash and one other customer during the 25 minutes wait, it was also Friday evening and most people get their eat outs during this time after 5 long days of work. If the management or ownership is reading this please look at the way you wrap a shawarma please do a visit to couple of places I have mentioned earlier and...

Most definitely a one-off. Donair salad: the donair meat looked and tasted nothing like it should. It was too thin, slimy, wet, and pale. It came from a bucket of preshaved meat that was sitting in it's juices and full of moisture and drippings. Not ideal for salad, let alone a pita shell (way too soggy!) . No strips of nice shaved donair meat like most places have. And the taste and texture was not right. Upon closer inspection, it looked like store bought shaved roast beef that was poorly attempted to be spiced up and turned into an authentic donair slab. Maybe it was a mix of the 2.... I don't know. But it wasn't right.

And I second a previous review regarding the sweet sauce texture being that of fine granules of sugar. I noticed it right away before even reading the review. Tasted like pure sugar with a hint of garlic. Other Halifax donair affectionados like myself would be appalled ....

The rest of the salad was fine. The veggies were fresh, the garlic sauce was great, and the feta was plentiful. I can only speak to the beef.

If, and only if, I was forced to go back, I'd definitely get the chicken instead. It looked to be much more "done right".

Signed, an avid donair fan...

Update: November 2022 Booths and tables are now open for eat-in. Food is hot and delicious. Ready quickly. Employees are kind and with a smile. But still need to perhaps not speak in their perspective language when English speaking customers are present. They carry several types of pop and drinks. Only 4 parking spots but most customers take food to go. Not kid friendly seating, not wheelchair accessible (tight spacing). More for the meat lovers but they do have a few salads for vegetarians. Let them know about dietary restrictions when you order. You can order ahead of pickup. Highly recommend this establishment.

Not busy but did have customers stopping in. Take out only, no seating inside due to covid. Employees were masked and wearing gloves. Donairs are a good size and packed with vegetables, sauce and meat.(meat was a bit dry but still good) establishment was clean, limited parking out front. Staff was friendly and attentive due to our first time into their establishment. 4...