Basha Donair & Shawarma

Do you ever have one of those days where you plan to do one thing but end up doing something completely different? That's what happened to me last Saturday. CJ and I were only planning to get shaved ice for an afternoon treat, but ended up getting donair out of all things! We decided to check out Basha Donair & Shawarma (2811 116 Street NW) located in the Blue Quill community in south Edmonton for our late lunch. This location is actually the fourth Basha Donair & Shawarma shop opened by Chef Kass Fattah, with other locations being in West Edmonton Mall, Leduc, and Nisku. The word Basha translates to mean "king" in Turkish, and that is the title Chef Kass wants his customers to feel they have when they step inside one of his restaurants. Continue reading to find out if I felt like a king at this southside eatery!

The interior.

Ever since we saw signs advertising that Basha Donair & Shawarma was now open for business, CJ would constantly tell me that we should check it out one day. Well, he got his wish granted! Basha Donair & Shawarma is tucked away in the Blue Quill strip mall, in between Blue Quill Chinese Food and Blue Quill Bar & Grill. The parking space in this area is quite large as well.

The inside of Basha Donair & Shawarma is clean and well lit from the large windows beside the entrance. There is some seating available for those who wish to dine in. 

The menu... sorry, I cut off some words!

You'll find three long panels on the wall listing the menu items when you step inside. I liked how the text size was large which made the menu more clear and easy to read. In addition to donair and shawarma, they also offer burgers, wraps, platters, salads, and some side orders.

Watching our donairs being made!

We were able to watch as our donairs were being assembled. You can choose which vegetables to add but CJ and I only went for lettuce in ours. We found that even though we ordered two different things from the menu, our donairs ended up looking exactly the same. 

Basha Little Bite.

Time to eat! Normally CJ and I would've dined in, but this time we decided to get our food to go and eat in CJ's backyard. My pick was the Basha Little Bite ($6.67) which comes with the meat, sweet sauce, your choice of vegetables, and cheese if you request it. The thinly sliced donair meat was nicely spiced and paired well with the melted cheese. I didn't really get a lot of sweet sauce which I believe is the most important feature of a donair. I also felt that there were a bit more slices of meat for just a "little bite" (but at least I got more bang for my buck!).

The Ashley Hangover.

CJ went for the regular size of The Ashley Hangover ($6.49) which was supposed to be "loaded with meat and drowned in sweet sauce" according to the menu description. Unfortunately, we both felt that there was no difference in the amount of meat and sweet sauce in our donairs. CJ's donair could've easily been my donair and vise versa. I thought his donair would be bursting with sliced meat but that wasn't the case. CJ did agree that the taste of the donair meat was quite good though. 

Regular Fries.

To accompany our donairs, we ordered a side of Regular Fries ($3). These fries look unassuming, but they were surprisingly tasty! They were seasoned well and had the perfect amount of crispiness. CJ and I both wished that we had ordered a Donair Poutine instead to get the best of both worlds!

Now how was our experience with Basha Donair & Shawarma overall? While I thought the taste of the donair meat and fries were pretty awesome, I also felt that everything was hastily put together. I wish there was more care put into assembling our donairs... it's a little disappointing when CJ and I can't even tell our orders apart! In spite of this, Chef Kass (who happened to be at this particular location) was very friendly to us and the other customers coming in. He was also the only person working at this location, so I think our donairs would've been made with more attention to the details if someone was there to help him. 

Since this location is the newest, it's understandable that there are still some kinks to work out. Did I feel like a king when I visited? Hmmm... not quite lol! But all the props to Chef Kass for providing good customer service and some tasty food for us! Basha Donair & Shawarma is a nice southside option if you're craving donair but I must add that the fries are quite delicious as well. Check them out on Facebook too!