DonerG - Irvine

"There's a hot, spinning cone of meat in that Greek restaurant next door. I don't know what it is, but I'd like to eat the whole thing." -- Ron Swanson

The new DonerG in Irvine isn't Greek. It's Turkish. And it possesses not one, but two hot spinning cones of meat.

But those cones, which are a ubiquitous a sight everywhere as there are stir-fries in China, have many names. As you might have heard, the Greeks calls theirs gyro; the Armenians, tarna; the Arabic word for it is shawarma; and in Mexico, they call it al pastor.

DonerG's twirling meat is already part of the restaurant's name: doner kebab. No matter what it's called, all share the same DNA--these are slabs of marinated meat, stacked (impaled really) in front of heating element that slowly cooks it. As people order, a giant serrated saber shaves it like they're whittling a tree trunk. Since it's done by hand, the meat at DonerG can come in delicate petals or thicker fingers.

My favorite thus far has been the chicken doner pita, wherein a toasted-to-crispy pita swaddles what must be at least three fistfuls of shaved chicken slathered in a thousand island-like sauce. The meat is best when it's gotten a little singed, the edges slightly charred. It's a satisfying sandwich--one of those that you don't think you can finish by yourself, until you do.

And of course they do hummus. Every place that has a spinning cone of meat will always offer hummus. Here, it looks particularly manicured, dimpled with olive oil and dusted with sumac. But it's still hummus and it goes by no other name.

DonerG
3800 Barranca Pkwy. Suite N
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 861-2626
donerg.com

THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
C4 Deli - Santa Ana

P.S. No one has yet won the $10 Strickland's Ice Cream Gift Certificates I'm giving away to anyone who e-mails me the correct answers to the 5 trivia questions I posed last week! I invite everyone to try again!

UPDATE! (10/22/2013) We have a WINNER!! Congrats to H. Indra for answering all the trivia questions correctly and winning the Strickland's gift certificates! The original post has now been updated with the answers!