Donair Guys

Donair Guys

554 Main St

204-306-8897

donairguyswpg.com

facebook.com/dongairguys

June, 2022

If you know Winnipeg, you know the McLaren Hotel's reputation--and it's not a good one.  Quite a few years back, Yuki sushi took over the diner and separated it from the hotel bar and turned it into a legitimate restaurant.  

Last year saw the end of the sushi house after a nice run, and in its place comes Donair Guys, offering the Turkish/Greek staple.  In the transformation, they covered the built-in counter with posters of food and dishes.  As scrumptious as the meals look, it closes off the diner and gives it a clautophobic feeling.  It's already a small dining room and covering the glass makes it feel smaller and narrower.  

When your building has a reputation that's less than steller, it's a good idea to improve the aestetics of your dining room to eradicate the residual thoughts in your mind that you're in a dumpy location.  Details like chipped away paint at the foot rest, web-like wires dangling from the ceiling and clutter in the storage bin gives the impression of neglect.  A critical thing you cannot see in this photo is the sticky runners.  Having your feet stick to the ground with every step leaves a disgusting feeling--definitely not what you want your customers to feel when first walking into your restaurant.  Runners are cheap--it would cost very little to toss them all out and bring new rugs in.  Better yet, just leave the floors bear so they can be washed properly.  

Aside from cleanliness, the next important issue is clutter.  The open storage bin does not bolster appetising thoughts.  Worse, there are two glass, upright coolers at the end of the counter.  Both of these teem with clutter and garbage.

The cardboard boxes at the bottom?  Is there any earthly reason those should be there?  If you don't want to use it as a cooler, sure, use it as a display case.  Those Ninja food processors and blenders can look nice if clean, organised and presented.  Straighten it up and make it look like you care.  And the vacuum cleaner?!  C'mon!  That needs to be in the back room.  People really don't want to see this when they're eating.

Why am I saying all this?  It's not because I want to be cruel or because I want to be a jerk.  I want them to succeed and this is food service rule #1:  don't turn off the customer--make the atmosphere so that patrons want to eat here.

I want them to be successful because they make great food here.  It's delicious and judging by the effort they're putting in, it looks like they really care (about the food anyway, if not the appearance of the place).

From start to finish, I'm only here for 40 minutes, but in that time period, two people asked for the panini, only to be disappointed.  At one time, it appeared on their menu, but no more.  Both patrons settled for wraps but if two people at 3 pm on a Thursday asked for panini, perhaps you should think about brining it back to the menu.     

The platter omits the pita and substitutes with rice, house salad and hummus instead.  

The meal comes with a choice of tzatsiki, sweet, tahini or garlic sauce.  The salad comes with a tangy vinegrette dressing.  The vegetable taste consists mostly of coleslaw ingredients, giving it nice texture and crunch to the bite.

Onion dominates the vegetables, which is great, since onion is one of the most fragrant veggies around.

The hummus tastes fabulous; this is one of the richest-tasting hummuses I've ever encountered and I just can't get enough of it.  The olive oil is nice but even without the oil, it oozes with flavour and umami.  Delicious.

The chicken and beef combination gives you a lot of meat, sitting on a generous heaping of rice.  The basmati rice comes nicely coloured with tumeric, and lightly flavoured.  The beef is a tad overcooked and a bit dry, but moistened with the delicious tzatziki sauce, it's just fine.  In fact, the beef needs to be eaten with either the rice or the sauce because by itself, it's quite salty.

Traditionally, the beef would be cooked on a vertical spit and sliced on demand.  The slices are usually quite thin.  Based on the thickness of the chunks here, I'm not sure if it's cooked on the beef spit.

No matter though, regardless of how they cook it, it tastes delicious.  The deep, rich and zingy tzatziki sauce marvelously elevates this dish to new heights.

Unlike the beef, the chicken does not need to be eaten with rice or sauce.  Boosted by a range of earth spices, the chicken has marvelous flavour.  Great on the rice but you could easily eat these substantial pieces of chicken on their own.

Just as a customer note, there's a washroom in the restaurant but the staffed advises that they don't have a key to open it.  

This is great food to be had here.  I hope they take the time and effort to improve the appearance of the restaurant.  This is an excellent addition to have in a neighbourhood that needs some help in attracting people to the area.

This is an unbiased, free public service that I am happy to provide.  If you enjoy these reviews, please consider clicking on the accompanying ads.  This is the only compensation I receive. 

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Ray Yuen, Pit Master / Grill Master
Certified Kansas City Barbecue Society Judge – Badge #97736
Certified Steak Cook-off Association Judge – Badge #7788
Canadian Barbecue Society Member