Repeat Offenders

Rock Lobster is hilariously bad in a way that I recognized all of the 90s music playing and wondered if they bought their decor at a Hard Rock Cafe closing out auction. Still, one night a group of loosely assembled friends and strangers wandered into one of Toronto's Rock Lobsters for a drink, and I ordered a lobster roll. A mess of cold mayonnaise and colder lobster meat, I was hoping for something more warm and buttery. I can't believe the guest of the evening agreed to come here as she doesn't even like seafood, but maybe she knew that this place wasn't about the seafood.

Banh Mi Boys is continually disappointing for its bread. If they had even a little bit better of a bun, these concoctions would be ace. But here you can see the bread can't even hold up to it five spice pork belly, and that is a shame. I have yet to try their baos, but I may have to go into burgerland along Queen Street West as I am feeling dismayed.

Le Gourmand's savoury treats are hit and miss. Thinking I had found a solid in the ham and cheese, another go at the simple sandwich made me sick to my stomach. Literally.

And while I will continue to return to Avenue Diner, I am sad to report this toasted tuna on white will not be a repeat order anytime soon. As a side, I ordered the mashed potatoes, which reminded me too much of a hospital cafeteria.

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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.

Haloum Grille, Depanneur Le Pick Up, Montreal

A friend and I agreed the personality of the sandwich changes with each person who prepares it, and today we felt something was a little less than parfait with our Haloum Grille. Folks at Le Pick Up seemed stressed . The longest wait ever, and our lunches sat around too long. Temperature of the cheese is important to experiencing haloumi’s firm the texture and the release of its saltiness, and I prefer when it’s grilled directly before entering the sandwich. Creamy spicy slaw of red cabbage, carrot, and kale soothes the major crust burn associated with the crispy multigrain toast. Ideally it’s the bread that should be soft and the haloumi that gets to shine as the crispy grilled champ that it is. Nevertheless, we stayed for hours at the back picnic tables, chatted with the servers, overheard some drama about the evening closing procedure, broke a dish, and spilled a coffee. A good day.

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 (...

You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

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