Skip to main content

Dépanneur le Pick Up, Montreal


So I have to admit, I had never been to Le Pick Up before. I tried once, many years ago, but it was too busy. Waiting in line for a sandwich is outrageous. It turns out the owners feel the same, as since those heydays, Le Pick Up has also closed on Sundays because it was just too busy. They consciously decided to close shop on their busiest day, because sandwiches are not about rushing.

So sauntering down one day with Mille Burger leading the way, we had the mission to try as many sandwiches as possible in one go. Standing in line with Jaime Lannister behind us, we ordered a breakfast sandwich, a grilled haloumi, and a faux pulled pork to share with a spruce pine soda as a chaser.

First: the breakfast sandwich/dep dej. Hearty multigrain bread to start the day, a fresh fried egg sits on top of bacon and some ruffage. The kicker is the chipotle mayo, a move I have only ever seen out East, where of course a bit of spicy mayo is what every morning bite needs. While we were suppose to share, I ate the lion's share of this sandwich.

Second: grilled haloumi. A soft dark bread holds and soaks a crunchy vinegar-based slaw and a generous slab of grilled haloumi. The squeakiness of the haloumi is not compromised in anyway. I love grilled haloumi so much. It's a type of undying love that knows no bounds. I knew MB is lactose intolerant, so save a bite to taste, I once again ate the lion's share of this sandwich.

Third: faux pulled pork. Described to me as better than the meat version, with a good spring to each bite, we opted for this version because how often is a vegetarian option described as BETTER? I am thankful for this inside scoop, as the one bite I managed was truly a overflowing mouthful of sweet and spicy tofu skins that did not have the heft of a pulled pork. No meat sweats. No sandwich coma. The big crusty bun to filling ration was excellent, and while I regret not having a second mouthful, I guess it was only fair.

Now that I know about Le Pick Up's sandwich game, I will be back, line up or no line up. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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 (...