Centretown Halifax Donair & Pizza — Restaurant in Ottawa

While I did sample several authentic Halifax donair while I was there last spring, word on the street was there's a place in Ottawa that offers the nearest thing you could get outside the Nova Scotia capital. So one weekend, rather than heading to Bank or Elgin in search of nourishment, I went west over to Bronson and Centretown Pizza & Donair.

It's casual and unfancy, with a TV showing football, a quiet bar, and basic seating in sufficient quantity. They have the usual pizza items, but I was here for the donair, which featured prominently on their menu, with promises made on its Halifax-style authenticity.

I ordered the large donair, easy on the onions, and a pop. It took a little longer than I'd expect given there was only one other table there (a family on a birthday outing) but eventally my foil-wrapped donair came.

It was...it was fine. Tomatoes, easy on the onion as ordered, a generous quantity of meat, and sweet sauce. The meat was OK, but could have been more seasoned I felt. Tony's took the prize in that regard. This one was probably on par with Johnny K's. I don't have enough experience to fairly judge its authenticity, but it was fine I guess.

It did solidify one revelation for me, and that's why I rate shawarma over donair: I don't care for the sweet sauce. Give me the garlic sauce any day of the week. Maybe if you could give me the garlic saunce on the donair, that would work for me. But I've decided the sweet sauce is not for me, it doesn't fit with what I want from a pita meat sandwich.

Until that fateful day, I'll stick...

This was horrible. I do not believe people who review this place positively have actually been to Halifax where I lived for 18 years.

My donair could not be eaten as a sandwich. The meat, though generously applied, was soaked in way too much sauce making it like handling wet tapioca.

The undersized pita was rubbery, and even when I asked for utensils I could not eat this donair because I could not cut through the pita.

A donair should be able to be eaten by peeling the foil and/or paper and taking bites. For this to be possible, the pita has to wrap the full way around the contents forming a tube. If the pita essentially goes 1/2 to 2/3 around, and if you use way too much sauce, you get a slippery, sloppy concoction that can't be eaten without incredible effort.

I tasted one piece of meat. It had too much black pepper, but was ok in flavour. The sauce was the right flavour and consistency, but the donair had around four times what is necessary applied, making this item impossible to eat.

I would describe this donair as being closer to soup on a pita than what it is supposed to be.

Affordable, but if you eat this you will need to do laundry and clean your shoes. Never try to eat this sloppy mess in a car.

And as for cars, parking is an absolute nightmare in this area during lunch or supper hours. In Ottawa, there is no real Halifax donair shop besides this, but what they are making here is nothing like you get in Halifax on every corner from downtown to upper Agricola.

I was not able to...

DANGER: Use may result in heavy breathing from a full stomach and questionable coloured stains on your shirt. Be careful when eating in a suit.

I moved from Halifax 30 years ago and last visited 15 years ago. I had a sudden craving for the crown jewel of Maritime Ambrosia. Some would lie and say that is lobster, but us gentlemen of culture (as well) know it is the Halifax Donair.

The store is decked out in everything about the greatest province in the known universe. I heard maritime music playing as I approached the counter, as one hears angels in Heaven or Valkyries upon entering Valhalla. If it had been the Rankin Family playing, I feel I would have raptured, and my soul would have overnight expressed back to fishing on the Musquodoboit River.

As I did not rapture at this time, I ordered a large donair and a water. I was tempted to order a flavoured drink, but why drown out the flavour of the donair as it goes Full Send into your taste buds. Besides, it's not Sussex gingerale anyways (they're working on that).

The donair is exactly what I had been missing in my life the past 15 years - meaty, messy, sweet, and a moderate adult situational experience. The sauce isn't overwhelmingly sweet nor overwhelmingly vingary. The meat is a solid chunk of delightful love-handle inducing regret.

I hear they're working on getting lobster rolls. I can only get so turned on before a waiver may...