Kim Chau Deli and Kingsway Deli, Vancouver

Anyone who reads this blog with minor frequency will now how much I, J.D. Salami, loves the Vietnamese sandwich. Vancouver is staggering with possibilities, and that doesn't even include the area soon to be known as "Little Saigon." I have heard mixed feelings about renaming the stretch of Kingsway as such, from various sides of the argument, but I personally dislike the idea, especially in Vancouver where Asians are the population majority but still seen as a minority invasion.

Anyhow, I found myself wandering around Kingsway today, and picked up a few offerings to compare and contrast.

On the left is Kim Chau's assorted deli meats. A short wait accompanied the sandwich as it went through the toaster (albeit, the entire sandwich went through rather than before the contents were put in). Coming in at $3 and the lengthiest offering yet to be found in this town.

On the right is Kingsway Deli's assorted coming in at just over $3. Shorter and stout, it was assembled awful fast, but the bread is a soft chewy texture.

There are no losers in this game, but a better comparison strategy is to compare the contents, which will reveal Kingsway Deli (on the right) offers twice as much per bite. However, I am a sucker for the crusty bread Kim Chau's offers.

Someone was telling me about a website of a someone in Scandinavia who ate a Vietnamese sandwich everyday for lunch and scanned it. I want to see this site. Please leave the address as a reply if you know what I'm talking about. (It's not Scanwiches, though there have been some gorgeous specimens on there.)

Comments

Bill Cosby, Shopsy's Deli, Toronto

I did not know Shopsy's was such a thing, but getting there around 11am before the financial district regulars came in for a hot lunch and protips, I sat down to the Bill Cosby sandwich (hot corned beef AND hot pastrami with swiss cheese) and hot damn if it wasn't one of the best damn (and hilarious) sandwiches I have ever eaten. Very moist, possibly improvised, and incredibly flavourful pastrami and corned beef, both of which are hard to find out West, the double decker treatment makes me wonder why it's not always this way. The usual smoked meat stack a la Montreal style is sometimes obscene, or simply not enough, but here, it's the right combination of meat slope to rye bread softness that made me wonder if I should work in the financial district, because if I did, I would certainly order this sandwich again with an extra pickle.

Hen's Deli, Milwaukee

My mini midwest tour continued to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a place known more for breweries and deep fried cheese curds, but my timing was fortuitously aligned with the recent opening of Hen's Deli . Located in the neigbhorhood of Walker's Point, in a former hole in the wall soup shop, Hen's began at the local farmer's market under the name Clark Street Sausage Co. Establishing a fan base with unusual items (for Milwaukee) such as ramen and a pork pastrami sandwich, their brick and mortar location offered a small, but mighty menu of established favorites along with some new offerings on rotation. I was on my way out of town as I learned about Hen's, which is unfortunate timing for me. Stopping in with some locals in the morning, we got several breakfast bagel sandwiches to go on the everything bagel with sausage. Without a doubt, their house made sausage patties served as the foundation that held it all together. Tucked on top was a slippery little muffin tin egg (...

Egg Salad, Tate Modern Café

I’m not sure how my love of the British egg salad sandwich began, but it’s my go-to choice when visiting. There are some clear right and wrong preparations of this favorite, also common during catered lunches and funerals. After unwrapping the cello package, I fear my choice of gluten-free bread will doom this version. Soon though, I am waxing on the merits of the sandwich and my museum-going companion has asked for a bite, promptly commandeering half of the sandwich as we become distracted by the excellence of watercress. It is simply the only correct garnish here. Large chunks of celery and green onion are not, and they are thankfully included in a balanced proportion in Tate Modern’s version. We approve , though the salt and pepper needed a boost. After busily scooting around to choice artworks on floor two and three, we take another break, and guiltily scoff down a second. For round two we decide to give the gluten-free bread a pass and opt for what seems ...

You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

Search This Blog