The Great Canadian Sandwich Blog

Bakerbots Ice Cream Sandwiches

2013-09-29T09:21:00.002-07:00

The Clubhouse Sandwich Shop

2013-09-29T09:20:00.003-07:00

Brock Sandwich

2013-09-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

2013-09-04T20:53:00.003-07:00

The first Canwiches Video! #CharlietheButcher in #Buffalo #NY with @TravelAnnex

Vanwiches

2011-07-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

*Editor's Note: Once again I find myself apologizing for a lack of updates. I have found that the style of post that I been involved with up until this point, which rely heavily on my acerbic wit and obscure references, often takes a while to inspire and even longer to write. In its place I will switch to a much more straightforward style - pics of Sandwich, a few lines of commentary & review followed by the much-loved and highly controversial Opa rating all displayed on a minimalist tumblr site.*

From January to March of 2011, I found myself working at a law firm in North Vancouver as part of Osgoode's Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Resources and Governance. As always I took my Sandwich investigations with me.

Entry #1: La Grotta Del Formaggio

At my first day of work at the firm I was placed with, I sent out an introductory email referencing this very blog, and soliciting Sandwich recommendations. The most common one pointed me towards La Grotta Del Formaggio on Commerical Drive.

On old fashioned Italian deli, this place has been making pretty bella Sandwiches since Bill Bennett became premier.

At La Grotta, you get your choice of bread, meat, and a whole range of fresh toppings.

I opted for: the large bun, capicola, smoked provolone, and the works (lettuce, tomato, red onion, green olives, roasted red peppers, hot pickled eggplant and artichoke). The place definitely reminded me of La Bottega in Ottawa.

The Sandwich is assembled expertly in front of you, with all the expert Sandwich steps being taken (tomatoes are splashed with coarse salt, aged balsamic placed on the bun, ingredients carefully stacked to avoid mushiness etc.):

The thing came out to be the size of a Football:

When I first bite into it, I knew this was the kind of Sandwich that got me into Sandwich Blogging. The Sandwich arrangement worked perfectly with sweet, sour, spice and salty working together in concert to tickle my tastebuds on every bite.

Impressions:

Fantastic bun. Crusty and great form for maintaining Sandwich structural integrity. Even by the last bite of this monstrosity, the Sandwich did not get mushy
Very fresh ingredients
First time I've TRULY enjoyed Olives on a Sandwich
SO many different tastes in each bite
Excellent 60:40 ratio of topping to meat

Overall Review 9.5/10 Opas.

This, IMHO, is what a well made Sandwich is all about. A ABSOLUTE MUST for Vancouver Sandwich Lovers

Entry #2: Meat & Bread

Where La Grotta is part of the Old-guard of Vancouver Sandwiches, Meat & Bread is the young funky upstart. With an atmosphere and clientele which makes you feel like you are in a club that you are not hip enough to be in, Meat & Bread was constantly talked about as another must-do on my trip.

The place features a few standbys (meatball, grilled cheese) but is primarily known for its Porchetta.

Porchetta definition from Wikipedia:

"The body of the pig is gutted, deboned, arranged carefully with layers of stuffing, meat, fat, and skin, then rolled, spitted, and roasted, traditionally over wood. Porchetta is usually heavily salted in addition to being stuffed with garlic, rosemary, fennel"

A critical aspect of the Porchetta Sandwich for me is the careful arranging of the loin and belly and whether the Sandwich keeps its structural integrity. As well, I enjoy a truly crispy piece of crackling because if you are going to eat essentially a caramelized pork rind, it might be as well be crispy in addition to being deadly.

Here we see the carvers carefully slicing the Roast and placing it onto the Sandwich with healthy dollops of grainy mustard.

The resulting products is:

Impressions:

For a place with bread its name, I had high expectations. They were not entirely met. It was a solid bun, but I found it that it was not that fresh, and probably used a few seconds in the toaster or press.
The Pork loin was excellent: very fresh flavors from the seasoning of the loin (garlic, parsley etc) + the addition of a very tasty Salsa Verde
Cracklings were super crunchy and even had a touch of sweetness to them
It was not the best constructed porchetta. I got a few bites that had too much meat in them, followed by a mostly bread bite. I felt that this may have been due to the layout of the Porchetta itself, but this was proved wrong at a later trip to Porchetta and Co(... which will be reviewed later)
Price point seemed a bit high

Judgment: 8/10 Opas.

Entry # 3: Benton Bros Fine Cheese

When I mentioned to my schoolyard chums that I was gonna be in Vancouver for a couple of months, my pal Shaky *aka Brian Higgins* told me in his ever excited tone, that I simply HAD to visit his engineering pal's Cheese shop which just started making Sandwiches.

This place is the kind of artisanal joint where just about EVERYTHING is done in house: cheese is expertly sourced and aged, meats are lovingly smoked and preserves and condiments crafted as if were guided by the hands of the most delicate of Grandmothers.

I opted for the: House Smoked Duck Breast with Avonlea Cheddar, Brandied Cranberry Sauces, Tomatoes, Arugula on a Ciabatta Bun. The result was worth all the effort that went into it!

Impressions:

Duck was quacktacular. It didn't feel too heavy for such a rich meat, and had a very appropriate level of smokiness throughout
Excellent flavour pairings. This Sandwich felt like a mini-holiday dinner wrapped in a Cibatta. Sweetness from the Cranberry Sauce worked great with the Duck Breast.
As expected, the cheese was expertly selected.
Very good Sandwich construction. No structural problems like @ Meat & Bread

Overall Judgement: 9/10 Opas.

Keep a look out for these brothers, they are gonna continue to make a major splash on the Vancouver food scene.

On a (Lobster) Roll

2011-04-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Things seem to looking up for this humble Sandwich blogger: the weather is finally starting to warm out, law school is officially done forever and new Sandwich compatriots are emerging in my life. Clearly I'm on a roll personally and what better way to celebrate it then by talking about one of my favourite Sandwiches: the Lobster Roll.

The Lobster Roll is a quintessentially American take on a classic summer food; for whatever reason it has not caught on in the same way in the Maritime provinces. It takes a certain kind of only-in-America excess to take what is now considered upscale food like Lobster (despite the fact that it was considered unfit for prison consumption in the 18th century)

The Lobster Roll features freshly cooked lobster, sometimes tossed in Mayo, served on a grilled/toasted and buttered Hot Dog bun. The best ones tend to be understated, emphasizing the freshness of the Lobster with a nice hit of fat from the butter.

To sample one, I decided to hit up Luke's Lobster in the East Village.

Luke left a Finanical Industry job to start slangin' Seafood Sandwiches, noting that:

"We make our rolls Maine-style! The seafood is served *chilled* atop a buttered and toasted New-England-style split-top bun with a Swipe of mayo, a sprinkle of lemon butter and a dash of secret sauce."

I ordered the "Taste of Maine" Combo which came with half a Lobster Roll, half a Crab Roll, a half Shrimp Roll, 2 Empress Claws, chips and a soda.


(Left to Right: Shrimp Roll, Lobster Roll, Crab Roll)


Ms. Vickie's BBQ Chips + Blueberry Soda!

The Shrimp Roll was the most surprising of the Sandwiches. I felt that this Sandwich had serious underwhelming potential as I never thought of as Shrimps as having enough flavour to anchor such a less-is-more Sandwich.

Forest Gump's Bubba would have known just how wrong I was:

It was DELICIOUS. Buttery soft shrimp fit snuggly in the toasty bun led to a taste sensation which hit me harder than Forrest facing off against a ping-pong ball (that will be the final Forrest Gump reference of this post).

The sauce worked very well with the soft shrimps, and the whole package seemed like an excellent conduit for the richness of the mayo and butter.

Next up was the Crab Roll:

The Crab Roll was also tasty, but I found the Sandwich as a whole to be a little bit more bland than its Shrimp cousin.

I also found a small shard of shell, which is both understandable and regrettable.

The Main Event: The Lobster Roll

The Lobster Roll's at Luke's feature a nice mix of Claw and tail meat. Despite being located outside of Lobster Country, the Lobstie tasted very fresh and the luxurious texture of the meat held up throughout the Sandwich. I scarfed the thing down so fast that there was little room for Sandwich strucutural integrity issues.

The Sauce and lemon-butter worked best on the Lobster Roll.

Overall Impressions:

Great, classic split-top buns
Good traditional approach to the Seafood Roll
Very fresh tasting shellfish
Very good ratio of mayo:lobster (or other seafood) meat

Final Judgment:

8.75/10 very treyf Opas.

Sibwiches

2011-03-10T22:03:00.000-08:00

After my Fry-filled trip to Steelers Country, I decided to fly to NY to visit my sister on a whim. One of the things I love about going on Sandwich trips with another person is the chance to get two Sandwiches and share them with a valuable Sandwich Associate.

Sandwich Sibs

At this point, I've become pretty familiar with the NYC food blog scene and whipped up a few Sandwich spots on the fly.

Former Pen Pal, Prost Alumnus and overall good guy Adam Rossi accompanied me to my first spot:

Locanda Verde.

The place caught my eye based on their Lamb Meatball Sliders with Goat Cheese.

While probably closer to the Burger spectrum that this blog ventures likes to venture into these delicious morsels were a great start. The meatball was extremely tender with just a hint of spice in the marinara. These little darlings packed a consistent and well balanced bite - crunch from the cucumber, creaminess from the Goat cheese and a great meat:bread ratio.

Next up was the Broccoli Rabe Sausage Grinder. One thing that was really appealing about this particular Sandwich was that it had some of Locanda Verde's signature Sheep's Milk Ricotta. I'm a sucker for the delightful bitterness of Rabe in an Italian style Sandwich.

The Sausage itself was very good. Solid mixture of pork, fennel, spice and herbs.

The best part of this Sandwich was the Ricotta. Silky smooth with a nice bite of herb.

The roll was nice and crusty, and for a Sausage based sandwich it mostly retained structural integrity.

Overall Judgement: 8.5/10 Opas

Next up was The Smile, where at my sister's request I HAD to try there Breakfast Sandwich

This is one of the better Breakwiches I've had.

The ham added a nice saltiness without overpowering the Sandwich with grease like Sausage or Bacon often does. The Carmelized Onions gave it a nice rush of sweetness and the Eggs were cooked in a perfect manner for a Breakwich - light and fluffy. The English Muffin was solid but wasn't as above-average as everything else in the Sandwich.

8.75/10 Breakfast Opas

While I was there, I wanted to visit the latest piece of hype Eataly.

Eataly is a HUGE (50000 Sq Feet) marketplace. Here's a sample of the layout:

Source: NY Post

After getting simultaneously claustrophobic (there must have been a thousand people in there), hungry, confused and curious, I settled on the Panini Bar:

I went for a toasted Portobello Panini with Gorgonzola. For a two ingredient Sandwich the tastes were incredibly layered. The nutty almost umami of the grilled portabello made me forget that it was a meatless Sandwich. The gorgonzola melted evenly and was clearly of a much higher quality than I am used to. It got scarfed faster than a hipster in a wind-filled city.

My sister got something, but my Sandwich memory isn't what it once was and I can't recall what delicious Italian deli meat was in there. Pretty f'in tasty though:

These Sandwiches featured fantastic in house baked bread, a selection of delicious and well-aged meats. What more could you want?

9.25/10 Chaotic Opas.

Till next time: Keep your mustard in sight at all time.

Steeltown Sandwiching

2011-02-06T22:28:00.000-08:00

My a product of the post-graduate school selection process, I am a Steelers fan. My parents got married and then tried to get accepted at the same places for grad school. My parents elected for UPitt over Berkley, giving me the name Jesse instead of Moon Apple and making me a 2nd generation Steelers Fan.

As such, Rubin and I took a little Football Aliyah, to Heinz field for a Steelers vs. Jets game in Week 16. What better time to write about it, the day that the Steelers take on the Packers in the Superbowl!

Stop # 1: Steel City Sandwiches
We stopped midway to Pittsburgh and a Steelers themed joint called Steel City Sandwiches in Erie, Pennsylvania deep inside Browns territory.

The place is famous for having Primanti Bros style Sandwiches (more on that below).

With my Williamsport Cheesesteak fresh in my mind, I ordered another.

The Bun was very good. Nice and squishy. Unfortunately the meat felt more like steakums then diced ribeye. Decent provolone, but nothing to write home about.

Rubin ordered a mixed Hoagie that looked a lot better.

Overall Judgement:
6.75/10 Opas

(but extra points for all the Steelers tchotchkes' )

Stop #2 (Essie's) The Original Hot Dog Shop

While falling clearly into the Quasi-Sandwich category, this was way to good not to write about.

The Hot Dog Shop is a neighbourhood stable that dated back to my Dad's years in Pittsburgh. Located in the heart of the neighbourhood of Oakland, this place has been a pillar of the community.

With amazing hot dogs like these its no surprise how they could become such a permanent fixture. You get your choice of an Original (Pork and Beef mix) or Kosher Style Pure Beef. Ever the indulgent treyfe Jew, I opted for the Original, with Chili and Onions:

The Dog itself is fantastic with a great 'snap' from its natural casing, and great taste of meat throughout. The chili was a nice, almost Cincinnati style Chili with some smokiness and a bit of bite to it. Could have used a better quality bun though.

The dogs are griddled until they get delicious grill marks as seen here:

They are also known for their Mountains of fries. This is a small: (it goes up to XL which looks like a Pattater-horn)

Overall Judgment: One of THE best Hot Dog I have ever eaten.
9/10 Quasi-Sandwich Opas

Stop #3: Primanti Bros

I have aspired to eat at this place, since my 2nd entry in this blog.

Primanti Brothers is a local legend for their Sandwiches. As the Sign notes:

No matter the Sandwich, it comes stuffed with freshly-made French Fries, a heap of coleslaw and think tomatoes, served on their fresh Italian Bread.

I opted for the Pastrami, instead of their famous "2nd best seller Pitts-burger Cheesesteak".

When doing my pre-trip Sandwich research, I worried that it would be too bread-y. It seemed just to thick for proper balance. Luckily the French bread was nice and squishy, allowing you to choke up on your mega-Sandwich

The fries added a nice salty crispness. The coleslaw was nice an vinegary-y and the tomato was particularly fraiche.

My only major 'beef' with the Sandwich was that the Pastrami did not seem properly proportioned with the rest of the Sandwich.

I wanted at least a 40:60 type ration and got more like 25:75.

That being said, the Fries and Slaw added a great element to an otherwise excellent Sandwich.

Overall Judgement: 8.25/10 Opas.

Just Sandwich Reviews - straight, no chaser

2011-02-04T19:47:00.000-08:00

Entry #1 - Pancer's

The Pancer family recently sold the their eponymous shop after more than 53 years in the deli game.

Although I've already blogged about it, out of respect, I thought I'd lead this entry off with two classic Sandwiches I had at my most recent visit.

Combo 1: Corned Beef & Tongue!

Combo #2 -The Triple Decker - Chopped Liver, Onion, Coleslaw and Pastrami on Challah bread.

Comments: After being a loyal patron for 15 + years I can't believe I never tried either of these before.

The tongue + corned beef combo was awesome, but I was truly blown away by the triple decker. It's like the long lost Jewish club Sandwich of my dreams.

Chopped Liver and Challah work perfectly together (see: most of Friday night dinners with my parents). The Onion added a nice crunch and the sour tang of the coleslaw played well against the dense salty perfection of Pancer's Pastrami.

Attention new owners: Keep this Sandwich on the Menu or be prepared to face the wrath of one angry Sandwich blogger.

Entry #2: Schnitzel Queen

I've heartily supported Schnitzel since my parents used to take me to a long-deceased Hungarian joint at Bathurst and Bloor.

Schnitzel Queen is a Schnitzel only cafe operated by two loving Germans Theresa and Bernard (yes I put those two words next to each other INTENTIONALLY).

Source eyeweekly.com

They offer many variations on the same theme - BAVARIAN STYLE SCHNITZEL. Arguably my favourite of the pounded-meats, they offer up one hell of a product, in one helluva sketchy neighborhood (Moss Park)

I ordered mine with Cheese, Mayo and Carmelized options. A popular variation of this is the Cordon Bleu which adds sliced Ham into the mix.

The Schnitzel itself is excellent. Good crispness with an earthy pork essence to it. The batter is thin and not too oily. Bernard is constantly frying up fresh schnitzels, while Theresa entertains the customers with her banter. The last time I was there we discussed the 2012 phenomenon, the reversing of the Earth's polarity and why my friend Brian sucks for being 30 minutes late.

This is one of the cases where a low-brow ingredient won the day. They only use processed cheese and I think it works great! It adds a kind of familiar, grilled cheesiness to it that pairs well with the fried Schnitzel and the gobs of Mayo.

Overall Judgment: 8.5/10 Opas

I'm rooting for these guys and their fantastic product, so do yourself a favour and brave the sketchiness to sample one helluva Schnitzel!

Next up, a very special Canwiches Superbowl Special Edition!!

Keep it mayo'd

The Rally to Restore Sandwiches

2011-01-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

In October of this year, Jon Stewart, for whatever reason (satire, politics, his profound sense of Enochlophilia?) decided to hold a Rally to Restore Sanity.

This guy clearly supports my Sandwich/Quasi-Sandwich division

Eventually after a few discussion amongst friends, the idea of driving to Washington to attend the rally starting picking up steam. The drive through three states would no doubt give me an opportunity to examine a small piece of Sandwich Americana.

Stop #1: Williamsport Pennsylvania, Joey's Place

Williamsport is the home of Little League Baseball and a town with a profound love of the Hoagie Sandwich. The Hoagie Sandwich is but one of many names for that loveable submarine Sandwich concept (others include: grinder (New England), hero (NY), filled roll (NZ), a Wedge (Yonkers).

I ordered a Cheesesteak and an Italian Hoagie to split with my enthusiastic Sandwich pal Steve:

The Cheesesteak was pretty good. I got it with provolone (once again trying to save my first Whiz-Wit until I make cheesesteak Alliyah to Philly)

The steak was finely chopped and had the commensurate levels of beefiness that one should expect from Ribeye. The bun was nice and fluffy, almost to a wonder-bread level, and was served warm but not toasted.

The meat was not overstuffed, and each bite had a nice inter-mixture of Steak, Provolone and onions.

The real start of the day though was the Hoagie. When Steve ordered his Assorted Hoagie (salami and ham) he was asked if he "wanted it in the garden?" (Pennsylvania Sandwich talk for tomatoes, onions and lettuce)... naturally Steve went for it.

The bread had a good exterior crunch while maintaining form. The onions and fresh peppery tomatoes gave a very nice offset to the meats. While the meats felt like they were of the processed kind, I certainly still enjoyed them. I feel like there is a time for artesian gooseberry-fed hams and salamis and there is a time for Boar's Head meats.. this was the latter.

My half of this Hoagie was scarfed down at a alarmingly quick rate.

Another Sandwich Biographical ("ASB") note is that in this part of Pennsylvania, Ranch Dressing is seemingly king and is an accompaniment for most everything.

Another satisfied customer

Overall Judgment: 8/10 Pennsylvania Ranch Opas.

Stop #2: Chat-A-Whyle, Bath NY

After spending roughly 20 hours in the car over 72 hours, we are ill in need of a freshening up, so we decided to stop in Bath NY (I can hear your groans over the internet)

This place felt like the quintessential American diner. The restaurant features home-style foods like Country Fried Steak, Pot Roast meatloaf and a generous dollop of good old-fashioned hospitality.

Since we were in upstate NY, I figured I'd order another Beef on Weck (for more info on the Beef on Weck click here).

Unfortunately the Kummelweck bun was far inferior to the ones at Schwabl's. At Schwabl's I got hit with by a fantastic kind of saltiness. This just seemed like a Kaiser with a few caraway seeds.

The roast beef felt tepid and uninspired. I had to pour almost the entire container of Au Jus to get something sufficiently moist.

While I definitely enjoyed the experience at Chat A Wyle, on my next visit I am much more likely to check myself as opposed to wecking myself.

Overall Judgment:

5.5/10 Opas

Investing in Pastrami Futures at the Deli Duel and the Stockyards

2010-12-30T13:35:00.000-08:00

What's the capital of Jewish India? New Deli

Even before Tom Davis opened his now famous "Stockyards" Restaurant on St Clair West, I began following his progress thanks to a Chowhound post and a link to his catering blog.

The Stockyards bills itself as a "modern day interpretation of the family diner/ BBQ joint". It features the city's BEST Fried Chicken, fantastic ribs available only on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays (and get there quick b/c these things sell like perfectly smoked hotcakes) and a couple of fantastic Sandwiches.

The Deli Duel

While I had been there several times already, my first exposure to The Stockyards Pastrami (which was sold out during my first four visits), was at The Stop's Deli Duel, pitting three of Toronto's best Smoked Meat Sandwiches:

First up was likely favourite and Rye-Toast of the Deli-Town, Caplansky's

For my impression of Caplansky's, see volume 2 of my deli guide

Next up was Goldin's Smoked Meat. I first heard of Goldin Smoked Meat from some wowed reviewers on chowhound. Originally, the Goldin brothers sold their meats only via a mail-order system where you could purchase the meat cryo-vacuumed, and you would be instructed to re-steam it yourself.

(Source: user duckdown on Redflagdeals.com)

More recently, Goldin's smoked meat has been available at the thematically-Jewish but far from Kosher Free Times Cafe. Free times is a bar and eatery mostly famous for their "Bella did ya Eat?" Klezmer Brunch, as well as a live music venue.

I ordered the Goldin's Smoked Meat Sandwich at Free Times and was very disappointed. While the meat had great flavour and spice, it was very poorlycut and clearly hadn't been properly resteamed. While I wanted to love the Sandwich, I found myself very put-off my chunks of meat that were so dry they tasted like Smoked Meat Slim-Jim:

When I got to the Duel, I noticed that the Goldin Bros themselves were manning the stand and I found myself eating an entirely different product: You can tell just how much jucier this Sandwich was then at free times:

When properly cut (by hand, with good thickness and a nice balance of meat to fat) , Goldin's Meat was meltingly tender with the same great spicing and flavour profile that reminded me a lot of Snowdon Deli in Montreal. Like most other Toronto Delis, it was served on Silverstein's Rye

Overall Impressions:

Free Times Version - 4/10 Opas
Smoked Meat Duel Version - 8.5/10 Opas

The Final Stop at the Deli Duel was at The Stockyards

The Pastrami had a strong sense of smokiness and had some excellent spicing but unfortunately there was simply not enough of this delicious pastrami for me to really sink my teeth into it.

So a couple of days later I rounded up my Sandwich-friends Jeremy and Natalie and headed out to the Stockyards with Pastrami on my mind. I should note that I called ahead to ensure that they had pastrami in stock as I have been disappointed in the past.

Jeremy and myself ordered the Pastrami while Natalie skillfully went with porchetta and a sauteed rabe add-on (From the website - "Fennel and garlic scented pork loin, belly and cracklings served on a baguette with garlic aioli"...)

The Pastrami featured the same rich smokey taste and reminded me of the smokiness in some of Zane's earlier briskets. It had a great texture with sufficient amounts of both tender and chew in each bite. Occasionally some bites felt a bit overpowering in terms of spice but overall a very good Sandwich.

What really blew me away at The Stockyards was the Porchetta. The Porchetta sandwich, which is seemingly experience a renaissance (due to Porchetta-only Sandwich shops in NYC and Toron to).

Every single aspect of this Sandwich worked elegantly together:

- the Pork was extremely tender. Using different parts of the pig (loin, belly, cracklings) gave a fantastic layered taste.

- the rabe was an amazing addition. The rabe added some much needed garlic (despite its presence in the aioli) and just a hint of bitterness that really paired well with the creamy aioli. Also the rabe gave a good snap/crunch to the Sandwich

- this was a rare case where I felt a Baugette served its roll (get it) prefectly as a Sandwich Conduit, it was soft on the inside with a nice crust too it. Very little Sandwich spill off was observed.

While I was mowing down on the Sandwiches, a photographer from Toronto Life asked my group if we were willing to be in some picutres for the magazine's guide to St. Clair W. When she asked, I immeadietly was struck by the notion of Canwiches getting some shine in a traditional media source.

Unfortunately we didn't make the final cut, but after some emails, to Jessica Darmin the extremely talented photographer, I managed to get some copies to share with you all. I think they truly give a sense of the full-body experience I give in reviewing all these deli-licious Sandwiches:

Overall Impression of the Stockyards: 9.5/10 extremely smoky Opas!

Law-Wiches Volume 2: Amici Sandwichicius (friend of the Sandwich)

2010-12-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

As I stated in volume 1 of this post, throughout my initial forays into the legal profession, I am CONSTANTLY asked about my favourite Sandwiches in Toronto's Financial District. As such, here are the rest of my Sandwich reviews in the general vicinity (e.g. walking distance from King & Bay where I worked this summer) of the Financial District.

Entry #4: Petit Four Bakery

Petit Four is the sister restaurant of Four Bistro and is located in Commerce Court. The main attraction of these Sandwiches are the freshly baked and occasionally-eccentric Foccacia breads that serve as a conduit for Sandwich deliciousness.

The first Sandwich I sampled from them was the California Turkey Sandwich:

The Sandwich featured tender roast turkey, avocado, tomato and lettuce. What really piqued my interest on this Sandwich was that it was served on Bacon Foccacia. I wondered what this meant: was bacon going to be ground in and baked in? Was the flour bacon flavored? or was the foccacia simply inspired by Bacon's salty deliciousness. Turns out it was NONE OF THE ABOVE. It had large strips of bacon laid on top of the loaf:

Keeping the Bacon separate and above the Sandwich fillings was actually a little bit of genius. It kept the bacon crisp and prevented mushiness from setting in (which definitely would have happened with the mayo and avocado in the sandwich)

This Sandwich came with a mixed salad and was around $10 bucks, a very reasonable price for Bay Street.

I also sampled a terrific Smoked Salmon and Egg sandwich with shoestring onions on a more conventional whole-wheat Foccacia. The boiled eggs were perfect degree of well-done (just a shade below hard boiled) for a Sandwich. The Smoked Salmon was fresh but lacked the wow factor of say Russ & Daughters Salmon

Overall Judgment:

8.5 Opas/10

Definitely one my favourite Sandwiches in the district.

Entry #5: Mustachio's

Mustachio's is the well-known Veal Sandwichery in the basement of the St Lawrence Market.

Some of my older readers may recall I made a passing reference to it in the Great Back-Bacon Bonanza Post , where I sacrificied my body in the name of ascertaining the best Peameal on a Kaiser @ SLM.

Mustachio has its crew of fans who constantly harangue me about missing it my 2 volume Veal Sandwich treatise (volume 1 and volume 2). It also has its haters.

In my opinions it has some notable advantages over other Veal shops and some areas where it is lacking:

Pros:

They offer the option of the Veal/Eggplant Combo
Free carmelized onions (... I think)
Nice crispness

Cons:

Bland tomato sauce (can't compare with California Sandwiches, Vinny Panini and the rest of the top of the pack)
My eggplant seemed a bit dried out

Overall Impressions:

I think that it was a solid Sandwich, but clearly I am biased towards this type of Sandwich (as I've already reviewed like 6 other veal Sandwiches in the city). I think that it probably ranks closest to San Francesco in the Veal Sandwich pantheon.

As such, it deserves 7 Opas/10

Entry #6: The Sandwich Box

As Canada's premier (and possibly only) Sandwich blogger, I would be remiss to avoid any place with the word Sandwich featured prominently in the title. However, when it comes to the Sandwich Box, I was a little bit shy about reviewing it.

Why you ask?

I have always found it hard to review D.I.Y Sandwiches. If you gets a bad Sandwich where you get to pick your choice of meat, bread, toppings, is it truly the restaurant's fault or does the blame lie on the Sandwich eater?

As such, I resolved to review the Sandwich Box by trying their "Sandwich of the day".

The Sandwich featured chopped Bacon, roast Chicken, Swiss Cheese and if I recall correctly some sort of flavoured Aioli.

It was alright. The bread was fresh and the meats were perfectly serviceable but not otherwise noteworthy.

While around the same amount of food/$ as Petit Four, I felt that I got a much better value at Petit Four.

Overall Judgment: 6.5 Opas/10

To close, some Sandwich humor for you all:

A Sandwich walks into a bar in a seedy neighborhood bar and tries to order a drink.

The bartender replies "I'm sorry we don't serve food in this bar".

Sandwich Times - Volume 10

2010-12-14T09:44:00.000-08:00

1. Dear Mayor Ford:

Please SAVE OUR SANDWICHES

I know you have a heavily anti-gravy train. As such, I can imagine that the thought of an open-faced Hot Turkey Sandwich MUST be repugnant to you. But the $48,000 you will save from cutting Sandwiches from the board is a drip in the Sandwich Ocean of City Councillor expenses.

2. If you are going to a shop to get a Sandwich, DON'T lose your 1.2 million pound Stradivarius violin in the process

3. Recently Zachary Garcia googled himself, something all of us can identify with. He found out that he was mistakingly wanted for murder. When asked to comment on it, Garcia noted false accusations of murder ≠ screwing up someone's :

Everybody makes mistakes, I mean I work at Publix and I might get somebody's sub wrong. But for somebody to get, you know, that wrong? It's not a sandwich, you know, it's somebody's life you're playing with."

4. I have a Desert Sandwich beef with ColdStone Creamery. Why can't I purchase a single Ice Cream Sandwich.

SERIOUSLY

5. Wilco popped into one of Canwiches' favourites Sky Blue Sky. Way to go Chad!

6. While more of a quasi-Sandwich, a few months back, Buddha Dog shuttered its Roncesvalles' windows. It featured homemade smoky dogs, with all sorts of fantastic sides and cheese (below we can see guacamole and swiss, pepper jack w/ chilli and sweet chili and mayo:

7. A little Sandwich Youtube Love:

8. I've been thinking a lot today about Sandwich underdogs. The kind of Sandwich that comes with limited exceptions that wow you nonetheless?

Tongue on Bread at Au Pied de Cochon

This was my "light appetizer" at one of the most epic, foie-gras stuffed meals I've ever had. As a result of my deli infuenced habits, the tongue is by no means at exotic choice of meat. What was different about this tongue was that it wasn't sliced like at Pancer's. It was just a cross section of a tongue, that still looked like a tongue. So much so that when our tongue's first met, I questioned if I was being over-eager on a first date and should have just started with a kiss on the beef cheek.

Still , it won me over with its deliciousness. It was incredibly tender and the rustic bread was just perfect for it. Once I had a few bites, and it looked less like a tongue, I was extremely happy I ordered it.

The Dutch Sandwich

2010-12-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

Once again, I have gone absentia from my blog. Unfortunately, the only Sandwich I've really engaged with due to the exam crunch is the old Dutch Sandwich tax evasion shelter.

As well, as a result of a micro-USB crash on my Sandwich Phone, I lost a bunch of Sandwich pics. As such I thought that this would serve as an opportunity to clear out some of my archives for some long overdue Sandwich reviews.

When I found out my dad was driving to Buffalo to pick up my sister, I figured it would be a great opportunity to enjoy near parity exchange rates and pick up a much-lauded Beef on Weck at Schwabl's. The Beef on Weck is a Buffalo super-regional Sandwich featuring thinly hand-carved roast beef on a special caraway seed and coarse pretzel salt bun called a Kummelweck. This joint has been serving for so long that it's entirely possible that William Lyon Mackenzie could have eaten one of these after he fled to Rochester in 1839 (I ain't Lyon!). It

I had to borrow Buffalo Chow's picture to try and make up for my lost pics, all credit due:

I thought the Roll was fantastic but frankly wasn't overly impressed with the Roast Beef. If this was typical Sunday brunch Roast Beef, I'd imagine I would be satisfied but for a place that's supposedly famous for the product I thought rare would be much more tender and flavourful. The Au Jus gave a great chewy soft contrast to the already delicious and very salty roll. The Saltiness also led to 2 very quickly downed Black & Tan's. Also the 1 hour wait kind of killed it.

Overall Impressions 7.5/10 Opas.

Ba Le 2

Ba Le is an unassuming Banh Mi shop on Dundas just West of Spadina.

Banh Mi is by far my favourite culinary by-product of Colonialism (but then again Curry isn't too bad either)
With a crusty baguette and a combination of fresh tastes like cilantro, thai chilis, cucumbers daikon and all sorts of delicious deli meats, pates and roast meat, the Banh Mi can hit just about any taste you want it to.

This time I ordered a Mixed Sub (featuring sliced pork, chicken roll and head cheese

And a classic Roast Pork:

Overall Impressions:

Great crusty roll made for excellent even bites throughout.
Nice dressing
Very fresh ingredients
Very tender roast pork.
Relatively expensive (but within the extremely cheap and affordable Banh Mi ballbark of under $3.00 after tax)

Overall 8.5/10 Opas and my favourite Banh Mi in downtown China town (stay tuned for a Banh Mi ho-down in Chinatown East)

My final review for the day comes from one of my all time favourite watering holes, the Victory Cafe.

The Victory has one of the best patios in the summertime, a delicious beer list with a running roster of delicious cask ales and way above average pub food.

Sometime ago, I went for their Grilled Cheese Sandwich. The Victory's version featured three very convetional ingredients (thick cut French Loaf bread, cheddar and gruyere) and one innovative ingredient (red pesto).

To me, this sort of felt like reinventing the Sandwich wheel. The Sandwich would have worked perfectly without the pesto, as the cheese was perfectly melted and the Bread was near idyllic for a grilled cheese. However, the red pesto added an almost jarring aftertaste to a hitherto excellent grilled cheese.

Overall Judgment:

Bites that had the pesto: 6/10

Bites without pesto 8.75/10.

That's it for now folks. Stay tuned for the 2nd entry of Lawwiches, a guide to Bay Street's best Sandwich offerings as well as my pictures from this summer's Smoked Meat Battle and the Sandwich Pics that were almost published in Toronto Life.

FA LA LA LA LA LA FA LA LA Great Canadian Sandwich Fraiche!

Sandwich Times - Volume 9 - National Sandwich Day, Sand-tube and A meal to tickle your McRibs

2010-11-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

1. Today is National Sandwich Day in the U.S. celebrating the anniversary of the Earl of Sanwich's invention (tho peep my 2nd entry for some commentary on the issue)

I recommend you celebrate that fantastic event with a fantastic Sandwich, an album of Sandwich Show-tunes and maybe even a lengthy reading of Canwiches back posts!

2. In my neverending quest to bring you the world's most heart-stopping Sandwich Catastrophe I bring you this

Two dudes from Montreal teamed up to bring you The Angry French Canadian, featuring:

"20" french toasted Parisian baguette, poutine, a quebecois steamay, bacon sandwich covered in 100% pure maple syrup from the tit of The Mother Maple Tree."

How does this compare to Conan's Version?

2. Celebrity Chef Sandwich Lust over at the Huffington Post

3. From the Wacky Sandwiches in the news pile, a customer at a Connecticut Subway recently called 911 after not getting justice over some allegedly burnt meatballs.

4. The McRib is Finally Back, and it couldn't be sooner for Jack Osborne (let's hear it for early 2000's reality tv references hoo-wah) .

I recently was able to Sample the McRib at a D.C McDonalds (As part of Rally to Restore Sandwich Sanity/Fear Tour... More Sandwich Details to Follow...).

This was my first ever experience with the McRib. That is not to say the concept was entirely foreign to me. I had an early high school love affair with the Subway BBQ rib. The concept is pretty brilliant. They took a Sandwich that was probably neck-to-neck with the Filet-o-Fish (The Fish Mac for Continental European Canwichites) in sales and turned it into cult figure. It's kinda like the Rocky Horror Picture Show of Sandwiches or the Disney Vault. The 'boneless rib cutlet' is right up there with imitation crab in terms of faux food pyscho-outs.

The Sandwich features a boneless rib cutlet, brought you proudly by The Boneless Pig Farmers Association, smothered in BBQ sauce, and topped with Vidalia Onions and two pickles (as opposed to say Chick-Fil-A were the magic pickle number is 3).

Overall Impressions:
Honestly, I kinda liked it. The tangy bbq sauce worked really well with the sweetness of McDees' pickles and every bite had a nice mix of flavours to it. That is not to say the McRib is necessarily worthy of the having its own Jonestown-style following but if I'm at McDonald's and the mood strikes me just right (I'm thinking at 455 p.m, at Union Station, about to board a train to Ottawa) and it were on offer I would seriously consider out over the McJesse (aka a McDouble w/ Big Mac Sauce.... yeaaah!)

7/10 fast-food scale Opas

5. Yesterday was my birthday. My devoted friend and sometime Sandwich-associate Chris Reineck presented me with "Great Canadian Sandwich Blanket",a fleece blanket with images from this site:

Here are some other not so subtle suggestions for yours truly from amazon.com: (

HAPPY SANDWICH DAY ALL!

Grand Slamming the Double Down

2010-10-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

Guys honestly I can't hear any more about the Double Down. Since this hype-generating monstristy emerged in the U.S. I have been bombarded with calls, texts, wall posts, smoke signals, smoked meat faxes etc. This Sandwich is famous in a way that Paris Hilton and Snooki have made the norm in the 21st century.

I hereby agree to NEVER review, eat, or otherwise discuss the Double Down on this blog.

And besides, if you want a pure monstrosity of artery-clogging Sandwich Hare-Kare, I offer you this recent monstrosity I had at Denny's. Despite the silly political wrangling over the issue, the Double Down seems like lo-cal fair in comparison to THE GRAND SLAMWICH!!!!.

The Grands Slamwich consists of:

Scrambled Eggs

Sausage

Bacon

Ham (therefore it contains the Pig Trifecta)

Gobs of Mayonnaise

Processed cheese

All between two pieces of maple-glazed thick toast.

A peek inside the Pork Trifecta

Here I am smiling while awaiting the inevitable Pig-Coma

This thing pretty much equals death weighing it at a COLOSSAL 1230 Calories, with 89!!!!!!! grams of fat.

vs. the pitiful in comparison Double Down:

Sandwich	Calories	Fat (g)	Sodium (mg)
KFC Original Recipe® Double Down	540	32	1380

Impressions :

Really Pork-y. I'm pretty sure "Babe" spoke to me on the third bite.
Due to the varied contents of the Sandwich, each bite offered a different mixture of tastes, textures & salt... lots of salt.
Decent maintenance of Sandwich Integrity.
Sluggishness began to set in by 2nd half of Sandwich.
Scrambled eggs reminded me of warming tray eggs at a Holiday Inn Express complimentary breakfast.
WAY too much mayo.
Real cheese would have added a much-needed sharpness to this Sandwich.

Overall Judgment:

4.5/10

Law-Wiches Volume 1

2010-10-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Roughly one year ago I had a discussion with the then Director of Career Services at Osgoode. I had recently sent her a copy of my Curriculum Vitae and was meeting her for a mock-interview for the O.C.I (On-Campus Interviews) recruitment process. When I got there, the first thing she remarked was:

"I noticed you referenced creator of 'The Great Canadian Sandwich Blog' in your interests section. Is this something you REALLY want to convey to corporate law firms"

I responded
"Well, I'm pretty sure I couldn't work for a law-firm that exhibits an inherent anti-Sandwich bias".

Throughout the recruiting process, my conversations with lawyers were EXTREMELY Sandwich-oriented. One of the most frequent questions was: What's the Best Sandwich near Bay Street. Luckily for me, I managed to snag a job at a terrific firm on Bay Steet. Over the course of the summer I challenged my Sandwich Taste Buds and I now present to you:

LAW-WICHES - A Survey of the Financial District's Tastiest Sandwiches:

Entry #1 - Osgoode Hall Dining Room

Within my first week as a summer student, I was taken on the obligatory tour of Osgoode Hall.

In addition to creating a great deal of location as to the location of the Law School I attend, Osgoode Hall also houses: The Ontario Court of Appeal, the divisional division of the Superiour Court of Justice, the Law Society of Upper Canada and what will be focused on for the purposes of this blog, the Osgoode Hall Dining Room.

The dining room is run by the Law Society and feels sufficiently lawyerly. Unfortunately, its Sandwiches are more 1st-year associate rather than equity partner.

I ordered a Club Sandwich and was woefully underwhelmed with the result.

Although the Sandwich was visually appealing, this only contributed to my later disappointment. The Turkey was dry. The Cheese was underwhelming. The Bread was overly-toasted which gave an extremely unpleasant mouth-scraping sensation. The Bacon was sufficiently smoky but felt overcooked. The only thing I actually enjoyed about this was the fresh tomatoes.

Also at $16 bucks, I'm pretty sure one needs to bring their Sandwich A-Game to a much higher level than this tepid, uninspired Club. While several of my dining companions thoroughly enjoyed their sweet potato ravioli, clearly the Sandwich did not, on a balance of probabilities, satisfy this court of Sandwich Jurisdiction I feel that this Sandwich could/should be the subject of a complaint under s.23.04 of the L.S.U.C Guidelines - "the prohibition against Sharp Sandwich (bread) Practice".

Overall Judgment: 4/10 Opas.

Entry #2: Petite Thuet

Petite Thuet is Celebrity Chef Marc Thuet's attempt to bring the patisserie concept to Downtown Toronto. Featuring delicious baked goods such as classic Macrons (fancy french desert or colourful mini-hamburger... discuss), tasty shots of espresso and of course

SANDWICHES:

The Sandwiches, as seen above, are prepared in a centralized locations, briefly thawed in the microwaved (to bring it to room temperature) and then perfectly grilled on the Panini Press resulting in a criss-crossed of Sandwich near perfect symmetry.

Over the course of the summer I visited Petite Thuet and enjoyed many of their Sandwiches.

My summer selection included but was not limited to

Chicken w/ Provolone, Speck and Pesto (also seen above)

Roast Beef w/ Saurkraut and Swiss on Pretzel Bread:

Comments:

Although pre-packed, these Sandwiches taste INCREDIBLY fresh
Fantastic bread
Great Content/Topping pairings
Very reasonable price for locale (10 bucks gets you a Sandwich and salad)
No ability to customize, for those Sandwich connoisseurs who NEED to have some element of control

Overall Judgment:
9/10 Opas

I think this place was probably my favorite Sandwich destination within the Financial District. Also there are more locations in Rosedale, Bath & Eg and the St. Lawrence Market District, so you don't need to be on Bay St to eat like you are.

Entry #3 - Pumpernickel's

Pumpernickel's is primarily known for their deli-ish offerings as well as some decent catering.

While there was a bustling Pumpernickel's in First Canadian Place where my office was located, I preferred the more relaxed location in the TD Centre.

I only went for a Sandwich of theirs once, a VERY serviceable Philly Cheesesteak:

Comments:

I was extremely impressed with the crusty roll. It held up PERFECTLY to the cheese-steak. Definetly a better roll than the ones' offered at previously reviewed Reggie's and my cheese-steak goto Great Steak and Potato.
The beef was clearly the same beef that was used in the roast beef feature. As a result it was tender but far too thick and chewy for an authentic cheese-steak experience. This was the biggest
The cheese, stringy mozzarella, melted perfectly but didn't A) add the flavor of provolone or B) The Gooey creaminess of Whiz

Overall Judgment: 7.5/10 Opas

Canwiches' New York Trip Vol 4(1) - Cleaning out my Sandwich Closet

2010-09-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes writers block, even for a only quasi-serious Sandwich blogger, requires extreme forces in order to break through.

In this case it took a bad cold, 2 doses of cough syrup and an urge to move on before my memories fade.

So without further delay, I present to you the rest of my NY Sandwich Trip

1) Entry #1 - Second Ave Deli:

The recently re-opening of the 2nd Ave Deli, no longer famously located just off "3rd avenue", led to a major sigh of relief for NYC Deli lovers. While lacking the international clout of Katz's,2nd Ave Deli throws down classic NYC deli meats along with the rest of the Ashkenaz classics that frequent readers will now occupy a special place in my heart (namely one of the already partially clogged arteries). 2nd Ave opened in 54, but closed in 2006 following the tragic murder of Deliman Abe Lebewohl and an unfortunate rent dispute by new proprietor Jack Lebewohl.

2nd Ave Deli represents everything great and classic about NYC deli. Tradition, tasty smoked meats, and all the right fixins, toppings and noshes.

I was joined on this mission by noted Fressers' Lindsay and her surname-as-first-name BF.

We started off with the Chopped Liver as modeled by Barnett above. It was creamy and rich, with a prominent tastes of schmaltz and onions throughout. They were served with plates of Pickled Peppers, Full Dills, Half-Sours to round the forspeis selection

A powerful start indeed.

Next up was the Main Event for me. The Pastrami Sandwich:

The meat featured a nice mild smokiness, fantastic notes of pepper, garlic, salt and even a mild sweetness. The marbling was absolutely fantastic. The rye bread held up very well with very little content push-through.

As well I even enjoyed the portioning of this Pastrami compared to the Herculean offerings at Stage, Carnegies.

As expected, fantastic selections of mustard.

Barnett ordered the Corned Beef, which looked just as tasty. While I only had a small piece it seemed like it had a whole other range of subtle and delightful tastes to pick up on:

Overall Judgment: 9.25/10 Opas

Entry # 2 - The Smile

At my sister's urging, I visited the coffee shop she works at, the Smile. In what I can only reluctantly describe as a exuding breathlessly Manhattan charm, the Smile serves excellent coffee, formerly housed a Tattoo Parlour, and serves up some extremely tasty food.

I tried two Sandwiches there:

Thinking outside the usual Sammy template, the Smile's iteration features Harissa Honey Roasted Breast, Red Peppers, Manchego and is served with Presererved Lemon-Mayo on a fresh Baguette.

The result is a nice, somewhat gooey, fresh tasting Chicken Sandwich. The flavours worked well, if not mindbogglingly well together and the bread held up well to the condiment. Perhaps it was the Manchego and lemon-mayo but it felt like a very springtime appropriate Sandwich, and one that would be equally good on go.

The Sandwich I was most interested in at the Smile was their Manouri Cheese & Fig Sandwich. Featuring Manouri, a semi-soft Greek Cheese (think of it as Feta's creamier, less salty cousin), a delicious fig preserve, always deliciously decadent truffle oil, pear & arugla served on toasted Sour Dough.

The textures of the Fig preserve and the pears matched perfectly with the softness of the Manouri. The cheese velvety texture seemed to push the preserve to every piece of the Sandwiches' surface area (SSA for short). The whole Sandwich had a very delicate, exquiste taste to it and makes for a perfect lunch IMO. My only complaint was that I found the crust on the sourdough a little tough for my tastes

Overall Judgment: 8/10 Opas

Canwiches' New York Trip Vol 3 - SCHTICKWICHES!

2010-08-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

One of the amazing things about New York is its ability to support the one off, flavour-of-the-mouth, sometimes plain cooky restaurants that focus sometimes on only a single menu item:

S'MAC - A lactaidy tribute to Mac & Cheese in the East Village
PB&CO - a loving ode to the PB&J
Doughnut Plant - a paean to my favorite fried sweet treat, the Donut.

During my pinguefy-ing trip, I decided to visit the latest (at the time of Sandwich consumption) of these offerings.

This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef:

The owners of This Little Piggy are experienced Schtick-Restaurant proprietors, having previously raised Led Zeppole.

This Little Piggy has but 3 items (they seem to have since added a 4th). Although the Pastrami got some shine, the clear focus on is on that Union Jack Stereotype, the Roast Beef:

They offer:
This Way (Roast Beef, Cheez Whiz served on a roll),
That Way (Beef, Mozzarella, Dipped in Au Jus - Chicago Style - served on a Hero)
&
The Other Thing (Pastrami and Cole Slaw on Rye)

I decided on This Way for a couple of reasons.
1) I've never eaten Cheez Whiz before and figured when in Processed Cheese Sauce Rome. Also I figured I should prepare myself in case I ever make Cheesesteak Aliyah to Philadelphia.
2) It seemed like an upmarket version of a gross Arby's Beef n Cheddar and I'd figure it would really stick it to those smug Raffell Brothers

The Whiz Worked Wonderfully. It added a guilty, velvety(or maybe its Velveeta) texture. The moist, slow roasted beef, the Au Jus and the Cheez Whiz led to a bun that was bursting with flavour.

The Meat was tender and with strong peppery flavours. The Angus Top Round after hours of slow roasting is kept warm in its juices, is extremely tender.

And did I mention greasy?!? As Nick Riviera Said

"And remember, if you're not sure about something, rub it against a piece of paper. If the paper turns clear, it''s your window to weight gain."

Notice the transparency throughout the wrapper.

This is the kind of Sandwich that I could see myself to propose to after a night of libations and instantly seeking an annulment when I woke up the next morning.

Overall Judgment: 7.75 Opas/10

Canwiches' New York Trip Vol 2 - Putting the Sang in Italian Sang-wiches

2010-08-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Entry #1: Sal, Kris & Charlie's Deli.

As I have mentioned before, the genesis of this blog consisted of me searching for "giant sandwich pics" on google images during 'downtime' in Law School. A part of me has always yearned for the kind of Sandwich that would simply dominate me (Sandwich Masochism?), where I would be left a smiling, drooling fool left in the mist of Sandwich run-of.

This was that Sandwich.

I hit up the self-proclaimed "Sandwich Kings of Astoria" during a visit to my good friend Brian "Wonder Bread" Schwartz's new apartment:

The Sandwich Kings, located in a fairly nondescript deli, are known for their monstrosity known as "The Bomb".

Containing: ham, turkey, salami, pepperoni, mortadella, american cheese,swiss, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, roasted peppers, pickles, oil, vinegar, mustard, and mayo, served on an enormous 14" Italian Roll.

To give you a perspective on the enormity of this Sandwich, here's a 500 ML water bottle comparison shot

Roughly the size of a Rugby Ball, the Bomb is a local legend to Astoria like Christopher Walken or Whitey Ford.

Unassembled Bomb:

The Meats and Cheese were similar to what you'd find in any NY neighborhood deli. The signs loudly celebrated their Boar's Head Meats:

But this Sandwich is not about rare imported Iberico Ham,Truffle Oil or Northern Luxembourg Cave Cheese. This Sandwich was all about taking the perfect selection of Sandwich elements, artfully stacking them, balancing the flavours, and cramming as much as into this Hero as that made this Hero stand out.

After 9 bites, the Turkey and Roast Beef make surprise reappearances:

The Sandwich was so delicious and brobdingnagian in proportion that Brian and I were stopped during our Epicurean Sandwich Feast in Ditmars Park to ask what the heck that Sandwich was and were the passerby could get one.

I got through the first half no problem but was able to only polish about 1/3 of the second before throwing in the proverbial Sandwich towel. Brian sped his way though the first half and kept pushing till halfway on the 2nd half before turning green. I hadn't seen Brian eat like this since the Great-Bacon-Egg-Cheese-Sandwich
Triathalon of February 05'.

Impressions:

Fantastic balancing. Different nuanced tastes at every bite. Felt like three different Sandwiches at once.
Possible solution to the elimination of the special food allowance in Ontario by allotting one Bomb per family per week
Great zingy deli peppers and fresh tomato
Bread was crusty on outside while soft and nurturing on the inside. Surprisingly little Sandwich push- through/under-biting
Could have used more Mustard

Overall 8.5/10 Opas.

Notice how the Sandwich has maintained structural integrity.

Entry #2: Torrisi Italian Specialities

Torrisi is a walk-in kitchen style joint that elevates the Italian deli formula to its most gourmand extreme. Featuring an extremely casual setting, the restaurant surrounds the customers with cans of pickled peppers .

The menu is simple: a rotating roster of 5 fantastic antipasti, 4 different rolls & heros, and either lasagna or eggplant parm depending on the season.

My sister and I first tucked into the Italian Hero:

Simply put, every single aspect of this hero was perfection. Fantastic assorted meats (Mortadella, Pepperoni, Sopresetta Ham, Genoa Salami) go way beyond your typical NY Boar's Head selection (sorry Sals) and are skillfully balanced with extremely juicy tomatoes, fragrant provolone, the best deli peppers I have ever eaten, Oil, Vinegar and house made spicy paste (I pried but they wouldn't reveal their secrets)

Even the role served as a perfect Sandwich conduit as the Sandwich maintained form brilliantly and had a nice crust and softy chewy interior.

Overall Impressions:

Fantastic Meat!
Perfect balance (lettuce:meat:sauce:pepper ratio was off the charts)
Could have used a bit more provolone as some bites were absent
Excellent Hero bread

Since there was a bit of a holdup with the Sandwiches (which was maybe 10 minutes MAX) , the owners comped us 1) a fantastic Eggplant mix with Raisins, and Artichokes and 2) A Spicy Rabe with a beautiful spiciness to it that paired well with the slight alkaline tastes in Rabe and 3) Extra vinegar Peppers

Next up was another slightly upmarket version of an Italian American classic, the Chicken Parm.

Served on a fresh roll, the Chicken Parm was dressed in its Sunday best with home-rolled and pillowy-soft fresh Mozzarella, crispy breaded white meat stacked two-high, a very zippy homemade Marinara with Basil leaves arranged delicately throughout:

The Sandwich was perfectly arranged, mouth-sized, and managed to avoid the messiness that I tend to associate with this generally unfastidious Sandwich:

Overall Impressions:

Juicy and crispy Chicken cutlet
Fantastic home made Mozzarella
Whole basil leaves a great choice
Marinara was good enough to eat on its own

Overall Judgment:

9.75/10 Opas

Our next NYC Sandwich trip post will survey the kooky, one-off Sandwich offerings that only NYC can seem to get away with, in an entry entitled Schtickwiches.

Happy Sandwiching!

The Sandwich Times - Volume 8

2010-07-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a while so let's just cut to the gooey Sandwich middle:

1. Recently the internet has been going nuts for Candwiches. You read me. Candwiches. Very close to the name of the site Canwiches. As a result of this little news item about gross canned Sandwiches, financial scandal and people tending to spell words phonetically, my little website has been recipient of lots of random U.S. traffic in the last few days.

Well here it is, it all its ridicolous glory:

(source: pocketlink.com)

2. Trying to capitalize on the KFC Double Down "Fast Food Porn as Advertising Performance Art and Internet Meme" theme, the always corpulent-minds at Carl's Jr. have finally managed to create merge the Sandwich with the Burger through the "Footlong Burger".

Clearly not phased by Subway's attempts to acquire Trademark rights for the term Footlong, Carl's Jr. will now try to merge the Sub and the Cheeseburger in a way that only Carl's Jr.'s can:

Voila -

While I have spent a lot of time contemplating on the "is the Burger a Sandwich debate", this one surely comes pretty damn close to me (in an endearing gut-rotting way)

Trying to up the Sandwich-Burger hybrid ammo, Friendly's has also laid-out its very own mega-fat Sand-burger. The Burger Melt:

(source friendlys.com)

This time, the burger is Sandwiched betwixt two Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. This thing is so utterly ridiculous that I don't even have a snappy zinger.

Frankly, I'll take the old-fashioned patty melt over either of these any day, like the version I recently had at Widgets' Bachelor Party at The Pilot

3. In an instance of the those loveable rascals, the English seemingly following suit on American trends, U.K retailer Tesco has introduced the Lasagna Sandwich:

(source: dailymailonline.co.uk

4. Processed Cheese and Mayo Sandwich rated poorly by most G-20 protesters, activists, innocent bystanders, ttc train drivers, and people who accidentally wore black on Sunday

5. Amidst the Lebron James fallout, Carnegie Deli has pulled their 5 lb Lebron MVP Sandwich from the menu.

6. Someone named Laurie Mustard wrote an article for the Winnipeg Sun entitled "Sandwiches are Beautiful". Next up Victor Von Mayo writes on the Life and Death of Tuna Salad, Rupert Pumpernickel writes on Professional Slicing and Albert Pastrami-On-Rye (he's the child of new aged, hyphenation-friendly parents) writes about barrel-curing meats.

7. Curious with what to do with your Vuvuelza now that the World Cup is over? KFC is offering a free Chicken Sandwich in exchange for your used Vuvuzela

8. The Zellegabetsky from thisiswhyyourefat.com

8 Decker on special cut rye, corned beef, pastrami, turkey, roast beef, tongue, Swiss cheese w/cole slaw, Russian dressing and sweet peppers.

10. The Hand Baguette from Insanewiches.com

That's all for today folks. Keep those Sandwich eyes open!

Canwiches' New York Trip: the Sandwich Shop that Never Sleeps. Vol 1

2010-06-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

Through a 'perfect storm' of factors ranging from reduced-fare Porter Flights, the law of proprietary familial commons (I have a sister there w/ a winning attitude and trusty couch), and my completion of 2nd year law school, I managed to squeeze in a 6 day New York trip this summer.

Whenever I found myself at the bottom of the depths of writ of certiorari (they never taught me how to pluralize writ) spent a lot of errant time researching NY Sandwiches on the internet. After several conferences with my sister, her paramour and various NYC-Canwiches affiliates, I established a Sandwich plan the likes of which hasn't been seen since George Marshall, George Keenan and William Clayton were told to decrease stipends of Veal Parm Heros in the revisions to their European recovery plan. I packed my bags, loaded up on statins and headed in search of NYC's Finest Sandwich.

#1: No 7 Sub

The first stop was at No. 7 Sub. I had first head of the original No. 7 in an Esquire Article which waxed eloquently on how manly it was in their rather uncomfortable "How to Eat Like A Man" feature in April 2010 (here's a smidgen: "You've been a bad guy before. Your wife knows it, your girlfriend knows it... You can start to reclaim it by taking your wife or girlfriend to no 7").

As such, I half-expected a pair of Flintstone Ribs sandwiched between a Homo Habilis Hero roll. Instead I found extremely creative, even daring Sandwich combos, assembled in factory form.

The benefit of having an enabler/partner/sister with me is that I was able to order two different Sandwiches.

We started off with the Eggplant Parm. The Sandwich consisted of Fontina, Fried Yellow Squash, Pickled Jalapenos.

This Eggplant Parm, which was far milder than many of the bonkrs but delicious sounding offerings (like the Imitation Lobster Roll w/ Candied Wasabi, Carrots, Watercress). Many of the Sandwiches also featured delicious Route II Chips inside.

***Getting off a Sandwich editorial aside, I am all for the occasional use of potato chips in Sandwiches, provided they are merely to provide a crispy punch of flavor. I also heartily support the use of Hickory Stix in North American Hot Dogs and Argentinian Supeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrr Panchos.***

Overall Impressions of the Sandwich were as follows:

Smooth buttery Fontina added a lot of juicyness to the Sandwich. Melted properly without negatively effecting texture of the bread and rendering it 'crunchy'
Probably could have used another Jalapeno for consistent Sandwich spiciness
Great Bun (same bun for both Sandwiches tasted). Perfect soft hero bun consistency without feeling gluey. Toppings stayed in Sandwich, no push out effect
Squash was tasty in a very conventional sense. Nothing fancy

Sandwich No 2:

Their Turkey Cubano was a 21st century take on a 20th century product of Sandwich social history classic.
The Sandwich derogated from Sandwich norms by featuring Roast turkey Breast instead of roast pork/ham, pickled daikon instead of pickled cucumber, Chinese Mustard instead of Gweilo/Laowai Mustard but managed to avoid blasphemy by sticking with Swiss

The Turkey was surprisingly juicy and well balanced against the condiments. I would have appreciated a little smokiness in the Turkey, but with a turnover as intense as this during off hours, I was surprised the Turkey even came pre-plucked.

Other Impressions:

Could have used more Daikon
Bread remains fantastic
Overall a pretty flavorful re-imagining of a tasty, if occasionally bland, classic

Overall Impression of No 7 Sub:

What really struck me about this place is that it confirmed what that pigheaded Esquire article suggested about it's Brooklyn sister. This place has got serious balls. Some of the Fusions probably work fantastically, others not as much. But you gotta love em for trying

Judgment: 8.25/10 Opas.

The Sandwich Times - Volume 7

2010-06-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

1. In a major coup for Subway Sandwich/math perfectionists (mathfectionists if you will) every where, Subway has finally started to tesselate its cheese distribution:

According to a leaked Aussie subway directive, the days of overlapping cheese at Subway are over:

(source: theconsumerist.org)

2. Here's an excellent treatise on proper sandwich construction:

http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/sandwiches/66297/

Great tips include: even meat/cheese distribution, keeping the tomato as far possible from the bread and keep any green in the middle.

If any of my readers should happen themselves to be the next great Sandwich designer, they ought to click profusely on this link and you could become $25,000 richer! It's even open to Canadian residents, but unfortunately is restricted to the two people from Portugal who have visited my blog (I'm got my eye on you Porto)

3. In the quirky Sandwich news file, a robber was recently reported to have left the cash, but stolen the sandwich at, you guessed it, a Subway

4. For those into barely-legal Sandwich porn, Grub Street recently posted a top 101 NYC Sandwich list (and reviews of several locations are coming soon to a Sandwich visual box aka computer/smartphone/ipad/isandwich screen soon!)

And if a thoroughly biting move (see http://canwiches.blogspot.com/2010/03/great-canadian-sandwich-map-beta.html ) an enthusiastic reader seems to have created his own version of the Great American Sandwich Map, NYC Style

5. Chick Fil-A recently began promoting the unveiling of its anticipated new spicy Chicken Sandwich in a rather unusual way:

MANDATORY SANDWICH RESERVATIONS

6. Attack of the Killer Sandwiches?

Until next time, I'll continue to keep my finger to the Sandwich pulse.

Obscur-itto w/ Oscarito- The Burrito that doth fuse too much?!?

2010-05-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

I'm all for a mixing of flavours, traditions, cultures, in Sandwiches. Canwiches devotees will recall one of the first posts on Canwiches started with a rant about my support of fusion in Sandwiches and en-masse:

"Fusion, whether it be a theoretical concept of energy creation, a women's football team, or a process of accultaration and bilateral cultural exchange, is usually seen as a positive (but don't get me started on the Cleveland Fusions' weak secondary and non-existent d-line)."

In fact, an American chain even took the Indian Burrito concept and franchised it. To me this begs the question, where will the fusion burrito concept end?

This all serves as a partial segue to a recent trip with a spicy Latin-american friend of mine to an east-end Burrito Shop called (improper spanish grammar notwithstanding) Chinos Locos at 4 Greenwood avenue.

Chinos Locos has been open for just over a year and recently added a 2nd location on Church st. Their approach is to meld the Burrito concept with Chinese influences (with the added of some Asian Luchador iconography). Instead of the usual white rice stuffing opted for in the classic San Francisco "mission-style burrito, Chinos gives you an option of either a tripartite gathering of rice grains or chow mein with sprouts or scallions. Sounds like good old fashioned carb lovin to me. As well the proteins also have an asian kick to them: General Tao chicken, Korean Beef etc while others feel more Mexican like Chicken Tinga and sauteed white Basa fish. It feels like the only thing that hasn't been fuzed in the process is the Tortilla:

I had the "sweeeeeeeet" (not sure if that's enough e's) it contained: slow roast pork, guacamole, tomatoes, edamame beans, red onions, black beans, green peppers, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, chipotle sauce and for novelties sake I obviosuly opted for the chow mein.

With such an interesting mish-mash of items, each bite of the burrito gave very different tastes and flavour-combos. Frankly some were on the verge of spooky-good, others just flat out didn't work for me. I bite mostly made up of sour cream, cheese and chow mein comes to mind as part of the latter. Next time I go i'll probably skip the dairy products if I elect for the chow mein.

The pork was succulent despite it almost being closing time, though I was hoping it would closer to a traditional HK Char Siu with a little bit more sweetness/crispyness.

The veggies were fresh and tasty. The only one I would've dropped from the roster would be the edamame which give me a slightly unpleasent mouth-feel of a sudden snap whenever I encountered one in an otherwise soft texture.

My overall impression is that a lot about this place works! The owners manning the grill certainly put a lot of love and effort into each of these. I'd recommend this place if you're : a) looking to carbo-load before a marathon b) are a fan of burritos and looking for the next taste sensation c) are half mexican, half chinese d) are not c) but have the feelings of B.

Overall Judgment: 7.5 Opas/10

"Veal Meat Again": Jesse's Guide to Toronto's Veal Sandwiches - Little Italy Version

2010-05-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

Without too much of my usual irreverent introduction to a post where I detail the history, cultural significance, and general fountains of esoteric knowledge about Sandwiches, I feel it appropriate to get right into the reviews on this one after one quick note... Toronto's best Sandwiches might be of the veal variety. I'll leave you to chew the fat on that one.

(source: southparkstudios)

California Sandwiches

California Sandwiches is perhaps one of the most misleading titles for an Italian Sandwich shop. The shop, the name California came because the Family started the original Sandwich shop in 1967 on 244 Claremont Ave. in Little Italy after a family vacation to California. Under this formula my yet unnamed Deli might be named the Burmese-Thai-Vietnamese Golden Triangle Delicatessen

If you are going to this place looking for a Spinach, Black Bean, Avocado and Wheat-Germ Wrap, you're gonna be a bit S.O.L here. The name of the game at California Sandwiches is MEAT. The Veal is by far the most popular probably followed by Chicken, Steak, Meatball, Sausage in no particular order (I cite no less an authority than the proprietor of the Laser-Tag decor-ed Chesswood location)

Despite the ubiquitous locations, California Sandwiches is not a Franchise but more of a Rothschild-esque Sandwich empire. The parralels are eerie: Both have divided up the corporation into various 'houses' which run operations in various strategic enclaves, and both have occasionally been charged with controlling the world through a New World Order government in collusion with Masons, the Illimuniati and Jeff Hyslop (the guy from Today's Special

Like most of the Italian Sandwich shops (though based on age, California may have been the first) its comes with the choice of Sweet, Medium or Hot Peppers. To quote the website: "Sweet means no hot peppers. Medium means a few hot peppers and hot means a good amount of hot peppers. You may also order extra hot if you like to sweat."

Subtle Sandwich note: notice how the Veal is JUST larger than the Bun. This ensures an excellent good meat-bread-condiment ratio without bordering on the sublimely ridiculous.

The Bread was very similar to previous entries in the veal challenge, a fresh crusty Italian roll. The bread provides sufficient crunch on the outside without being too structurally unwieldy as to force the contents of the Sandwich out towards the end of the Sandwich, a common grievance for Sandwich Eaters in-the-know.

As well, for an extra Loonie, fried Mushrooms can (and should be done as seen below) as they add another layer of nutty taste and sharpness to an already stellar sandwich.

The Veal was tender on the inside and had a bit of a crunch to it but I felt that it didn't have that contrast of crisp exterior and tender chewiness that I crave in a Veal Sandwich.

California Sandwiches probably has the best Marinara sauce of the Toronto Veal Shops offering alternating flavors of sweetness and savory with a TINGE of smoke (Paprika?) which perfectly complimented the meat and heat from the peppers.

If you still want to eat Veal, but want it in Meatball form (Toothless Gus <3's Sandwiches as much as the next guy) , Calfornia's got you covered offering an awesome Veal Meatball Sandwich. Lacking the crispness of the fried cutlet, the Meatball offers a much mushier and messier Sandwich but one which still has lots of the great taste as described above.

Judgement: 9/10 OPA (Claremont Location).

As noted above, all of the different locations are owned by different parts of the family. As such each Sandwich shop offers the same general product but with different decor and in some cases a full menu (like at the newest Dufferin location)

My experiences have always been BY FAR the best at the Claremont location. I would rate the single Veal I had from the Dufferin location closer to the 8.5 OPA range with the Chesswood location barely registering 8/10 OPAs.

San Francesco Foods (website of a Mississauga location, but same adorable logo)

San Francesco has been engaged in a bitter rivalry with California Sandwiches for Little Italy Sandwich supremacy since time immemorial (more likely the early 70's). The largely take out counter is expedient, full of interesting deli meats and seemingly ancient canned goods, and offers a short list of Sandwiches not unlike California's. I recall from my youth they are being several downtown locations. A quick google maps search suggests that they have locations in many of the same Italian-Canadian enclaves as California Sandwiches such as Finch and Dufferin, East York and Mississauga.

The major difference between San Francesco and the other veal Sandwiches reviewed is that this rendering chooses to avoid thick breading of the cutlet:

The resulting veal gave the Sandwich a much chewier texture, forcing me to really wrestle with the Sandwich to enjoy its melange of flavors from the tangy marinara. The veal also tasted extremely fresh and had a much more prominent meaty flavor (perhaps the lack of breading allowed for more focus on the taste of the veal itself). medium pepper at San Francesco felt noticeably tamer than those at Vinny's or California.

The bun was rounder than many of the other offerings, resulting in a need to really stretch the mouth out for this one and this effect plus the chewiness of the meat left me a little sore after a major jaw workout (not unlike my recent freestyle cipher with Twista and several members of Bone Thugs n Harmony)

An interesting aspect of the Sandwich experience at the Clinton St location of San Francesco's is the lack of seating. Often many customers take their Sandwich next door to the classic Monarch tavern, a local haunt and former home of past reviewee' Caplansky's. Great place to get a pint to wash down the Sandwich with and apparently an equally great place to get into an intense conversation about prescription drug plans for the elderly (based on the one conversation I have had there with a regular last time I was here).

While I understand while this Sandwich has a loyal fan-base amongst Toronto veal enthusiasts, for me it paled in comparison to nearby California's and did not come close to a fresh off the grill from Vinny's. While I enjoyed the flavor of the meat, I found the texture less appetizing then the more schnitzel-like version, coupled with a lack of spiciness and the sandwich:mouth difficulties, there was clearly a bunch to be left desired.

The person I was with also found their Salami and Provolone to be inferior to that of N'ino D'aversa'.

Overall Judgment: 7.25/10 OPAs

Next up I begin my lengthy perambulation through my nearly fatal NYC SANDWICH TOUR!!!!!

The Great Canadian Sandwich Blog

Bakerbots Ice Cream Sandwiches

The Clubhouse Sandwich Shop

Brock Sandwich

Vanwiches

On a (Lobster) Roll

Sibwiches

Steeltown Sandwiching

Just Sandwich Reviews - straight, no chaser

The Rally to Restore Sandwiches

Investing in Pastrami Futures at the Deli Duel and the Stockyards

Law-Wiches Volume 2: Amici Sandwichicius (friend of the Sandwich)

Sandwich Times - Volume 10

The Dutch Sandwich

Sandwich Times - Volume 9 - National Sandwich Day, Sand-tube and A meal to tickle your McRibs

Grand Slamming the Double Down

Scrambled Eggs Sausage Bacon Ham (therefore it contains the Pig Trifecta) Gobs of Mayonnaise Processed cheese

All between two pieces of maple-glazed thick toast.

Law-Wiches Volume 1

Canwiches' New York Trip Vol 4(1) - Cleaning out my Sandwich Closet

Canwiches' New York Trip Vol 3 - SCHTICKWICHES!

Canwiches' New York Trip Vol 2 - Putting the Sang in Italian Sang-wiches

The Sandwich Times - Volume 8

Canwiches' New York Trip: the Sandwich Shop that Never Sleeps. Vol 1

The Sandwich Times - Volume 7

Obscur-itto w/ Oscarito- The Burrito that doth fuse too much?!?

"Veal Meat Again": Jesse's Guide to Toronto's Veal Sandwiches - Little Italy Version

Scrambled Eggs

Sausage

Bacon

Ham (therefore it contains the Pig Trifecta)

Gobs of Mayonnaise

Processed cheese