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!
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