Vietnamese sandwiches, Au Petit Café, Vancouver

Hearing about their fresh baked French baguettes, I headed down Main St. one rainy afternoon to meet some people and try out Au Petit Cafe's sandwiches.

One of the people I was meeting told me to order her a sandwich in advance, as they have been known to sell out. I get there at noon expecting a packed house, but it wasn't at all bad. The pink room was smaller than I expected, but I got a window table and promptly ordered the first three sandwiches on their menu (pictured starting from bottom counter clockwise).

#2 had the liver pate, which made it the best. I didn't wait for my fellow diners and dove right in. The place wasn't busy. They could order more. While the bread was indeed very fresh as every table seemed to have one, I wasn't super wowed. The homemade meatball was more a meat paste, which wasn't bad, but wasn't memorable either. I could have used more fresh cilantro and pickled sliced vegetables, as they were a bit heavy on the meats.

I will say their sandwiches were variations of the original as the classic assortment cold cuts was missing from the menu. So many places try to mimic the sandwich with no inspiration except for a substandard vegetarian option.

The search is still on though for the best Vietnamese sandwich in Vancouver. Stay tuned for more results.

Comments

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Kim Anh Subs, Calgary

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Madrid Sandwich, Trans-Europe Cafe, Glasgow

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.

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