You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

Husband and I were invited to have Tea with the Queen. The annual Garden Party is held for all those who have contributed to Scottish culture, and husband has most certainly done that recently. I accompanied as a doting spouse. It was my finest hour. I even wore clean underwear and everything.  The party is held in the manicured grounds of the Palace of Holyrood, the Queen’s Edinburgh Residence and the gardens are framed by an ancient ruined Abbey and the even more ancient hill of Arthur’s Seat. On arrival, we sauntered in and amongst the invited guests, watching Queenie and Phillip bestow royal glances to simpering Royalists. We got bored and wandered off to the refreshment tent.  We’d been told the tea is the best cup of tea you’ll ever have. It wasn’t. Luke warm and anaemic, it felt like a Cup Of Tea’s dying, pathetic, younger sibling, so I moved on to other items on the menu - cold mocha drinks, passionfruit tarts, eclairs, raspberry topped cakes, e...

A hot tip came my way via Jenny W, who re-introduced to herself by way of, "Hi, you may not remember me, but we once talked about sandwiches." Truth. I definitely remembered the conversation about the yet to be visited Lady of the Lake Cafe in Brandon, Manitoba, but unfortunately faces are not my strong point. Now with the recommendation of Fitzroy , a relatively new place down on Sherbrook, I will never forget you, JW! Highly recommended was the smoked goldeye, a Manitoba favorite fish, paired with creamy scrambled eggs and topped with caviar and scallions. I don't remember the sandwich part, I guess it came on toast, which in fact was delicious fried bread that I could eat for days and days until I explode. It was in fact so good that my dining companion (who ordered the cheeseburger) and I split a salt beef sandwich, which was a steamie served on thick cut Winnipeg Rye with a splatter of sweet heat mustard. With the morsels of salt beef breaking...

Craving a corned beef sandwich like you wouldn't believe, my last meal in Winnipeg ended up at Bernstein's Deli , but not before a trip to Danali's for a pair of high end denim. Turns out the most knowledgable denim salesman I have ever met just also happens to be married to the head chef at Bernstein's, and along with raw denim, he also highly recommended the Reuben burger and the house corned beef. A classic looking joint attached to a strip mall, Bernstein's was a hopping place on a Saturday morning and everyone looked really happy to be there. Going for half a corned beef sandwich on Winnipeg rye so that I could save room for the Reuben burger, I am aware that I could have just ordered the Reuben sandwich. However, I needed to taste the pure corned beef before it got mixed in with bison ground meat to make the said Reuben burger. First, the sandwich was just okay. Nothing amazing, could have used more flavours in my opinion and a spicier...

Having already eaten first dinner, a late stop into Rae and Jerry's resulted in ordering off their bar menu and a splitting of their jumbo shrimp cocktail and this, a Hot Roast Prime Rib of Beef Sandwich. Now one can very well argue this is no sandwich. I would not disagree, as the bread was all but present as a mild texture that had been soaked through and through with the jus of the prime rib and slathered further by the hot gravy. A thin slice of white bread could not hold even an eighth of that weight.  Described to me as "the finest truck stop version of a hot beef sandwich", I really can't say I have much to compare it to as I have never had a hot beef sandwich at a truck stop before. I also don't know if you can get the best martini's around at just any ol' truck stop. Just one more thing to find out, I guess. All in all, it was good, but I wouldn't crave it. If I want prime rib, I just want the prime rib, sandwich not necessary.

I often avoided A Bread Affair on Granville Island due to the perpetual pan flute didgeridoo jam going on directly outside its doors, but hungry and not feeling like heading into the market, I slipped in during a musical break to see what was on offer. As a go to bakery first introduced to me over a decade ago, I have never taken note of their sandwich display. It makes perfect sense to offer sandwiches as the freshest market ingredients are right across the way and they are already home to some of the best bread in the city. Going for the pickles and porchetta option, I was extremely pleased to find generous spreads of fine butter visible on the bread, pairing well with the tartness of the pickles and the salty and not at all too fatty porchetta inside a perfect torpedo bun. The real winner was the mix of spicy fresh greens, whose leaves I could not all identify, but had the body texture of baby kale and the after burn of Japanese mustard leaves. I was unfortunately in a...