You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

While a roll is a sandwich in the UK, I've never had a sandwich in China, though I've had many tasty meaty morsels tucked between freshly made dough-based pockets. The issue once again of what makes a sandwich reared its ugly head as I ate this western-style (or alternately, "Beijing-influenced") Xin-Jiang cumin beef roll. The sesame covered pan-breads are the best thing about this dish, and they themselves are often ordered to eat, as they are flaky on the inside and crispy on the outside, and go with anything that you put into it. Sounds like a sandwich, but is it? One of the best dining experiences I repeat whenever I visit Hong Kong is at a Beijing restaurant with hands-down the BEST lamb dish ever. They come as separate dishes, but they go together always as you stuff the lamb into these little sesame rolls that comes with a sharp spicy sauce to ladle over the whole mess. I want to buy a plane ticket right now just to have one. Are they sandwiches? No, because th...

I noticed this joint almost immediately as I moved into the neighborhood. In the first few days of settling in, I had an empty fridge and an empty belly, and wandering by with an arm full of bags, I got the "Fat Tony" (two types of prosciutto, marinated peppers, and provolone) along with a cherry soda and some nice olive oil and other small things to go. The bread was just okay, but the fillings were ample, and while it's a place I should love at first sight, there was just something slightly missing for me to order this one again. Their sandwich menu runs a full sheet, offering both hot and cold options, and I do wonder about the muffuletta, so I will probably return.

A quick soujourn through Finland to visit one of their smaller cities for a disappointing art festival had me pass through Helsinki's international airport, a major gateway between Eastern Europe and Asia. Lots of goods were for sale, primarily Finland's seafood delicacies from caviar to smoked fish, with some land rarities like reindeer and bear salami (which, by the way, is damn delicious in its fatty tenderness). Chowing down for this simple smoked salmon on their hard rye, filled with sliced boiled eggs and fresh dill, there was nothing to note, except for how awesomely expensive it all was. By far the most pricey sandwich I've ever had, I cannot justify that it was worth it.

The evergreen backdrop of the Gordon tartan sure offers a contrast to the bright yellow filling of the coronation chicken sandwich wedge. Dined during a private presentation at the Gordon Highlanders Museum a wee while back, this would be my first taste of the extra mayonnaisey chicken filling popularly known as the mixture that celebrated Queen Elizabeth the Second's coronation. A heavy hand of dry curry powder seems to be the base of this concoction, which in a bite, is bland, barbaric, and colonially tasteless.

Yikes. Presentation was never their strong suit, but these clear plastic AND paper bags kept the sandwich visible while it started to sog up as I raced for the train. Those days are now over, but I will never forget that tin foil is still the best sandwich wrapper invented. I believe this was a bacon and brie with cranberry sauce panini.

A damn fine Croque Madame can be found at Word of Mouth Cafe , an incredibly comfortable and chic cafe I was taken to walking up from Leith. From the well oiled dark stained wooden tables to the soaps in the loo, the overall aesthetic of the cafe was incredibly convivial to a certain tempo in how I like to enjoy my meals and conversations. The food was also exceptional, beginning with a very berry smoothie that reminds me of home, classic crispy frites which I never knew I missed until being only offered chunky rubbery chips, a light vinaigrette over the mixed salad, and a very well done croque madame, with the right saltiness of ham to cheese, with the egg seemingly embedded into the top of the really good thick slice of bread. The clincher was the liberal use of dried parsley, which is a sight for sore eyes, dashed over everything hot and visually tied it all into the salad. Maybe the food in Scotland has just been really bad, but I went really wild for this meal as it's fresh an...

This is more about memory and nostalgia than the savoury quality of this meatball panini from Costa. My first bite in Scotland was sitting at a Costa, in Glasgow at Queen Street eating a breakfast sandwich. I really had no clue where I was or where I was heading, just that I had ten minutes to eat this thing, be surrounded by my luggage I've carried across all of North America, Iceland, and now the UK, and enjoy the bit of heat in this meal as I did not know when or where my next one would be. Every time I passed a Costa, I remembered it as my first tangible experience in Scotland, and I had actually not returned until this past weekend, four months later, when I played host for the first time. It's not that Costa is amazing, it's not bad, especially for transit food, for food you eat while you're waiting in the inbetween, as another homogenous coffee shop in another anywhere space . . . but it's your personal associations and the value you give to ordinary things ...

I must be British now as these BLT's in the greenhouse were dished up with a heavy dose of homemade raisin chutney. A great acidic accompaniment to the greasy salty bacon and the blandess of the spinach (playing substitute here for lettuce) and chunky tomato slices. I added a dollop to the inside of the sandwich, and I must say it's actually better as a dipper than a spread. Thanks to R.G. for this very hearty breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

I grew up with Marks and Spencer as an exclusively high end clothing store, so it was to my great surprise that you can get all sorts of sandwiches and jaffa cakes en masse at any M&S store along with cheap tees and anything else you would need. This selection of bite size rolls including British ham salad, British chicken salad, and egg salad, was a nice little treat on a busy travel day, and their other snacks and wraps have been not so bad. The packaging is simple, though not ideal for travel. (A side note: A Glaswegian told me that she finds it comforting when she sees a M&S, to know one is nearby, and I can only possibly relay the same affection for Shopper's Drug Mar ts, though their sandwich selection is nowhere sufficient.) There are boxed sandwiches everywhere you go, especially in Edinburgh, and this lemon chicken salad concoction was from the cafe at the Royal Botanical Gardens , which paired with their homemade soup, was a bit of a disappointment. I've had ...

I am a full convert to the breakfast roll, starting with the classic bacon roll, which can be altered with an egg (see above), or with additional meats from black budding to lorne sausage to treats like cranberry and brie. The Hyndland Cafe in the west end of Glasgow serves up a fantastic breakfast and I mauwed down several different breakfast rolls while I stayed a weekend nearby. I wanted to stay a full week just to eat here every morning, which a sunny little street side patio and a solid americano. This is the most civilized of the experiences, but I do enjoy the feel of the greasy paper bag. The west end is considerably quite posh compared to the rest of Glasgow, and for a more local flavour, I smelled Crumbs from around the corner of Glasgow Central Station, where for less than the price of one roll at Hyndland, you got two sausage rolls. The bread wasn't as good, and they slathered butter inside each roll, which wasn't necessary as it was already quite salty, but I co...

Finnegans Sandwich Bar and Club Sandwich. There were more! Proving a city on the go has more sandwich options?

Sometimes you find a pub and all you want to do is stay for the rest of the afternoon, taking in the full atmosphere from the fixture in the corner to the full list of speciality ciders to the view overlooking Newcastle. Cumberland Arms is such a place, and while I would have loved to have stayed for the rest of the day, if not the weekend, my travel companion had other plans, and so I stayed for a pint of the darkness along with this brie and sun blushed tomato toasted ciabatta. A healthy proportion with a nicely understated goat cheese and melody of olives over fresh baby spinach, they were also quite known for their Sunday suppers, which was heavier dose of gravy and puddings. A side of chips with spicy mayo was also light and substantial, and discovering now that Cumberland Arms is also a B&B, I will fully take in their extensive chalkboard menu of ciders on my next visit.

The Chip Butty is an institution I am not sure I want to admit membership of, but in support of true scientific research, I shall admit - though, only once - to consuming this monochromatic staple of British diet. You would think Britain, with its history of Sandwiches (think "The Earl of...") would be more inventive with their bread-based food products, but therein lies the genius of the Chip Butty - it is so classically simple, understated and unexpected: who would have thought that you could get so much starch and empty carbohydrates into such a small, compact space? That its nutritional content hovers somewhere between zero and minus 20 makes the perfect base (or cap) of a night's heavy drinking, and this is part of its success, particularly in Scotland and working class cities across the UK. Its single colour and single taste could only be described as "unexpected" - in that when you eat something, you would expect it to taste of something...

A Scottish chain cafe that is a bit of a deli meets speciality gift and wine store, Peckhams has got locations all over the place, but the one I stopped in was the Union Square Mall in Aberdeen. With about 30 minutes in between transit changes, my travel companion and I stopped for a tea, and I ordered a roasted vegetable sandwich, asking if it'll be ready fast, while she ordered a bag of wasabi peas. The peas were all but eaten by the time I went up to see if the sandwich was ready, and I had to get it wrapped to go by then. In the short time span it took from wrapping to eating it en route, the heat of the roasted mushy vegetables had sogged up the underside of the bread. The vegetables, which mostly tasted of eggplant more than anything else, was rather bland, which always disappoints me in a hot sandwich. A poor panini appears popular in this country as I have yet to taste a good one. I may just have to have another go at the toastie , as at least my expectations are...

I had a cheese and onion chutney sandwich during a meeting a few weeks back in Aberdeen, and I wonder if this place had catered that meeting, as this is now the second time I've ever even seen a two cheese and onion chutney option for a sandwich, and hell, I like it. A twist on the cheese and pickle sandwich, with a bit more sweetness and caramelization action, there was a surprising bed of fresh mixed greens nestled between the cheese and chutney. A good preemptive move on the soggy factor, and texture factor, too. The cheese was your classic white and orange combo, a seeming mild combination or variant of cheddars, and the bread was a hefty seedy business that complimented the girth of a simple yet substantial sandwich. I came for the art, but like most cases, I stayed for the food. Check out their menu and philosophy . There's lots of original 'zines if you're into that sort of thing, and the usual art magazines, but then again it's not good for your digestion to...

Having poked my head into see their assortment of organic and gluten free fare, as well as a fair stock of Scottish treats like wild nettle cordial and real Scottish oats, I tried out their deli section with fresh ready when ordered sandwiches. Accompanying a mighty good parsnip soup, I went for the smoked ham, which I had plain with the grainy mustard as when prompted if I wanted "salad", I declined, thinking it was a side order. What they meant was all the fillings of lettuce, tomatoes and cheese that goes inside the sandwich. I don't regret my choice. It was a mighty tasty smoked ham, and while I have no sweet tooth, I was intrigued by Dovers Farm Organic ginger and brazil nut cookies made with stem ginger, and made without gluten, wheat, milk, salt, buckwheat, soya, eggs or hydrongenated fat. But like most gluten free products, they crumble in your mouth like dust, but albiet, a gingery tasting dust.

Nestled in the heart of Merchant City, the Trans-Europe Cafe is a quiet little spot that boasts a selection of classic gourmet European sandwiches. Stopping in after a meeting a few doors down I felt I needed a pick-me up, and so I went with what I thought would be the spiciest, the Madrid: chorizo with pesto and mozzarella. The sandwich was all right, but not classic or gourmet, though perhaps relatively so to the aforementioned toasties. The flavour was arguably more Italian than Spanish, or worse, it was sort of American, as it was still a hoagie bun, just sliced diagonally and pressed. The accompanying sides of coleslaw, argula salad (which they listed as spinach), and salted crisps were a nice touch, as was my spiced apple tea. Taking a quick look over their menu , I would return to see what Zurich is all about.

A classic Scottish fare, the toastie is basically a sandwich consisting of toasted white bread filled with some sort of mayonnaise-heavy melody. Ordering the cheese and tuna toastie one Saturday morning before I went to explore the river, my curiosity is satisfied, and need not be reminded again. The hot rolls, on the other hand, will be for another day, and probably another blog.

True to culinary fashion in queer circles, the grilled cheese sandwich at Montreal's Cagibi was accompanied by a mini salad with grated beet and pumpkin seeds. The soggy appearance of the side pickle, perhaps not so much, but a sign of things to come: from wholesome lesbionic salad to  crispy grilled  seedy bread, that bracketed an also soggy marriage of cheddar and mozza cheese, pesto and tomato. By soggy marriage don't mean to evoke anti-assimiliationist critiques of the institution, but I do mean complete integration into a unified and undistiguishable new flavour. This is probably satisfying, like porridge, or baby food, but not particularly refined or exciting. It does in a pinch, but other cooks, like my new fuck buddy, have revived this old standby far beyond the pleasure of easy and comforting.

My third meal in transit in 10 hours and I settled on something hot, but still, a sandwich, because it is the most convenient and perfect meal to eat on the go when you don't want to be bogged down by utensils or greasy fingers. A breakfast sandwich with sausage, ham and eggs (I am in Scotland now, no doubt), the heat of the sandwich was a warm welcome from the cold sandwiches I've been inhaling at every stop. A pretty good breakfast sandwich, if a bit on the heavy side, I savoured every bite of this hot griddle sammie and appreciated how the sausages were split horizontally down its side to accommodate the sandwich form.

A quick stopover in Manchester equaled a lap around the airport through security and its shops and this new spicy BLT that Soho Coffee had to offer. This would be the first meal I have in the UK and certainly I would be reminded that "spicy" means something entirely different here. More sweet than anything else, I bid farewell to flavour with each passing bite as the plane once again reloaded for my journey into the North of Scotland.

On the plane over to Reykjavik from Seattle, I watched "Horizons", a documentary on sculptor Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir . She said she enjoyed her public art piece at the Keflavik airport because every visitor is forced to see it. On my way out, and the beginning, or the middle, of a very long day of travel, I saluted my morning chicken sandwich to the four figures facing each direction of travel. And if you think a chicken sandwich is a strange choice for breakfast, it is not, as it wasn't really breakfast, though it was 8 a.m., but it was the 25th hour I would be awake in what would be 40 hours of semi consciousness.

I was brought to Sandholt, one of the oldest bakeries and restaurants in Reykjavik, to try the Kleiners, a sort of Icelandic doughnut that was apparently really good, but they had all sold out. Being hungry, but knowing we had a full day of eating ahead of us, my Icelandic/Winnipeg friend and I split a cheese and salami sandwich. It had a lot of soggy remoulade on it, like most things in Iceland, and it did not serve the brie or salami well at all.

The Blue Lagoon is one of the world's most spectacular geothermal spas. After six hours of wading in that silica mud, in a pool that overlaps two tectonic plates, my energy was renewed, but also completely drained. A simple lox and egg sandwich was had, and a bit of salt, or capers would have really elevated this sandwich to a whole new level, but for my state, it satiated my most immediate needs.

Long standing as the best gallery cafe across this fair land, the VAG cafe has the best atmosphere for relaxed chilled out coffee meetings, solo lunches, or something more formal. Ducking in on a rainy afternoon for a quick bite with my mum in the dwindling hours of the afternoon, we shared a perfectly grilled Mediterranean panini and kale salad. There was no skimping of artichokes either, which is possibly one of the most underrated sandwich ingredients out there. I hope when they move the gallery, that they'll keep the cafe in tact.

From the outside, the Cambie General Store Bakery and Cafe looked decent, if not downright cute. On a sunday afternoon as Gas Town was surprisingly dead, this was also the only place open for business as I was heading towards the seabus, so it was decided. The Cambie Club, which the girl behind the counter said was the most popular, was nothing to write home about. The roll on which it came on was straight from Safeway or something equivalent, and the sandwich was bland and loosely assembled as the tomatoes and cucumbers kept falling out. The service was also weak as my coffee was forgotten, and the soggy breadsticks sucked, and when asked to be retoasted a second time, the guy actually threatened my dining companion that it would be the last time he's doing this. No shit this would be the last time. Who would want to come back?

the worst part of the meal was not the salad dressing in a bag or the rubbery lettuce, or even the forgettable sandwich in an equally forgettable airport, but it was the high pitchy squeaky squeals of the chairs and tables being shuffled around all around me as I ate this mediocre sandwich as the staff tried to keep busy and clean the empty cafe. I've been on the other end of this service, sweeping up the amazing amount of dust and debris collected in a 5 hour shift, but sweeping all around a customer for the entire time they eat a bad sandwich is really just poor hospitality.

What I love most about getting a fresh sandwich from Van Loc in Edmonton is the simple paper bag it comes in. The bread is still warm when I rip the paper open, and it's the best present everytime!

These small prairie towns have always held a bright spot in my heart. These tiny hamlets, where main street is literally a museum and an ice cream shop, dot the many highways across the prairies, with a strong concentration in Saskatchewan. As it was an unusually mild afternoon and we were somewhat making good time, my driving companion and I pulled into the Hitching Post Cafe. We came upon a congregation of old men watching television, and being two ladies dressed sort of oddly and clearly interrupting something, we sat down and ordered two teas. The room was sort of a mixture of rumpus room meets Germanic cabin decor. I wasn't exactly hungry, but I felt we were the first customers they've had in a while, and it's not like we just popped our heads in as we were walking by. So I ordered a grilled cheese, sans fries, and it was your standard homemade grilled cheese. Nothing special, and yet, all together the total was about $10. More than expected, but in some ways, you kn...

A staple to any good Edmontonian, the Italian Centre Sandwiches (hot or mild) are the go-to meals for anyone who enjoys their cold cuts. As an assembly of everything from capicolli to mortadella, the real secret in my opinion is the slice of provolone and the thick spread of the red vegetable spread and an olive oil marinade they brush into their baguettes. There were the days when you had to order them at the deli, until they caught on and started premaking them. While that is certainly time saving, the option to change up the ingredients are now gone, which was always a crap shoot to substitute anyways from getting the most delicious concoctions to having someone yell at you for wanting to substitute. I often grab one with a bag of kettle chips and an orangina or limonata, some sort of citric acid to cut the sodium nitrate. Highly recommended.

Running errands downtown, I had heard the former owners of Il Portico reopened a new French bistro in the former Krua Wilai joint kitty corner to the former Arlington. That's a lot of the past trying to relive itself, but checking out The Marc's menu online , and with a dear friend working as the barkeep, I sat at the bar and enjoyed his recommendation of the short rib sandwich. I know, the McRib really ruined a generation of rib sandwiches with their aggressive branding. But rest assured, this rib sandwich is actually slowly braised beef ribs pulled and shredded topped off with crispy shallot rings. Served on a seemingly small bun, the sandwich is actually quite filling. Too filling. I couldn't even finish the good fries served with a side of aioli. I did however try their signature Marc martini, which contains an ounce of Balvenie, and ya know, I have wanted to go back ever since I left.

Okay, when we started this sandwich blog, there were questions like: is a falafel a sandwich? a calzone? and we said we would eventually get to those bridges when we crossed 'em. So here we go . . . I never believed a calzone was a sandwich. It's a pizza folded in a half prior to baking. It's more along the lines of a meat or veggie pie. However, this little number from Battistas in Edmonton makes me think otherwise. Branding itself as a pizza sandwich is one thing, but offering a calzone that stays perfectly in place like a sandwich, well, what is the difference between this and a panini? With only a handful of options from meatball to vegetarian (so far, a bite of a classico with roasted red peppers and capicolli is my favorite), these calzones open up the sandwich cloister for greater debate.

For years I would drive by Hap's Hungry House on Stony Plain and never step foot in. A friend who moved back to town after a number of years away suggested we go there, which was surprising a bit as she's sort of dainty, so away we went. Sort of like JBee's out in Beverly, but more quaint and less spiritual, I've been back, that's for sure. Curious about the McHap, which was more than suggested as being a bastardized McMuffin, they offer quite a different selection of meat choices beyond the usually expected. Beef sausage is an option, as is both back and side bacon, and while not on the option list for the McHap, you can get a side of pork chop with things, like your french toast.

Finding myself in Brandon, Manitoba, I was taken to The Kountry Kitchen, which off the bat, makes me uncomfortable. But the woman who took me there said there was great sentimental value, and the place was far more charming than the name suggests. It was nearly lunch time, but as I had been up and traveling since 4 a.m., I opted for the breakfast kaiser, which was your standard breakfast assemblage of eggs and bacon draped in processed cheese in a warm kaiser roll. I went somewhere else too while in town that featured the kaiser. Not sure if there's some sort of civic history attached, but regardless, it seemed like a regular bun to me.