Stomachs, get ready to ruuuuuuuuummmmbbbbbble!
(FOOD FIGHT! Is featured in this blog the first Saturday of every month)
I decided on donairs this month because I have never had a donair, apparently being the black sheep of the family since when I confessed same to said members they looked at me as if I had just said, "I don't know what rain looks like." So it occurred to me that if I used donairs as a food fight I could try one at two different places, thereby putting to rest the family's sudden suspicion that I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to food, due to my lack of donair experience.
The reason I chose Meditalia and Donair Affair is because they both got such high scores on Urbanspoon; if you're going to try something for the first time you may as well go with the one people like the best. Meditalia is located just off 72nd Avenue and 137th Street in Newton and Donair Affair pretty much on the corner of 108th Avenue and 148th Street in a little strip mall. Both places are small but clean, with personable people working behind the counter. In both cases we ordered the lamb and falafel donair. In Meditalia this is on the board but you have to ask for falafel with your lamb donair in Donair Affair. We also ordered a side of hummus at both places. Both orders came to approximately the same price--around 30, 32 dollars for three lamb/falafel donairs with one order of hummus.
Meditalia danced out a 330 g. (11 1/2 oz.) donair, with crisp lettuce and tomato (not too much), falafel and lamb. The lamb tasted like lamb, and fresh at that. I was amazed at the complexity of this simple fast food. This is a good example of layers of flavor. Spices, chickpea, crisp vegetable all harmonized in a really lovely way. The hummus was nice as well. Thick and full of flavor, with cumin top notes that didn't overpower the dip.
Weighing in at a whopping 535 g. (18 3/4 oz.) came Donair Affair's contender, a lamb donair with falafel added. The hummus came with two pita breads. If you are starving and need to fill up in a major way I recommend this place. Unfortunately, it didn't come up to par on taste. The meat was supposed to be lamb, but we really couldn't distinguish any lamb flavor; it could have been a really good meat spread for all we could tell. The lettuce and tomato, while crisp, was oddly flavored. If something can be stale and crisp at the same time the lettuce was a good example. The hummus was rather thin, more like store-bought tzatziki than a chickpea spread, although it did have a lovely lemon top note that won my brother-in-law and me over. My brother-in-law assured me that the donair was as good as most others but that is damning with faint praise; what it really means is that it is rather generic.
Meditalia, on the other hand, stands out in its quality. Ultimately if I am craving a donair I will go to Meditalia; in fact, I would be hard-pressed to try anyone else. I don't think many would come even close to creating a donair I was as happy with.
Winner: Meditalia
I decided on donairs this month because I have never had a donair, apparently being the black sheep of the family since when I confessed same to said members they looked at me as if I had just said, "I don't know what rain looks like." So it occurred to me that if I used donairs as a food fight I could try one at two different places, thereby putting to rest the family's sudden suspicion that I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to food, due to my lack of donair experience.The reason I chose Meditalia and Donair Affair is because they both got such high scores on Urbanspoon; if you're going to try something for the first time you may as well go with the one people like the best. Meditalia is located just off 72nd Avenue and 137th Street in Newton and Donair Affair pretty much on the corner of 108th Avenue and 148th Street in a little strip mall. Both places are small but clean, with personable people working behind the counter. In both cases we ordered the lamb and falafel donair. In Meditalia this is on the board but you have to ask for falafel with your lamb donair in Donair Affair. We also ordered a side of hummus at both places. Both orders came to approximately the same price--around 30, 32 dollars for three lamb/falafel donairs with one order of hummus.
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| Medalia's crib |
Weighing in at a whopping 535 g. (18 3/4 oz.) came Donair Affair's contender, a lamb donair with falafel added. The hummus came with two pita breads. If you are starving and need to fill up in a major way I recommend this place. Unfortunately, it didn't come up to par on taste. The meat was supposed to be lamb, but we really couldn't distinguish any lamb flavor; it could have been a really good meat spread for all we could tell. The lettuce and tomato, while crisp, was oddly flavored. If something can be stale and crisp at the same time the lettuce was a good example. The hummus was rather thin, more like store-bought tzatziki than a chickpea spread, although it did have a lovely lemon top note that won my brother-in-law and me over. My brother-in-law assured me that the donair was as good as most others but that is damning with faint praise; what it really means is that it is rather generic.  |
| Donair Affair's crib |
Meditalia, on the other hand, stands out in its quality. Ultimately if I am craving a donair I will go to Meditalia; in fact, I would be hard-pressed to try anyone else. I don't think many would come even close to creating a donair I was as happy with.
Winner: Meditalia
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