Grilled cheese, two ways, Toronto

Recently I ordered two grilled cheese sandwiches in the same week. I didn't take photos for either, because they were eaten and ordered so quickly that I forgot everything that led up to the last crumb consumed.

But I will say that each sandwich determined something for me. Determined whether I would return to these establishments and how their kitchen was operating.

As a happenstance run in catch up get together, I ran into a friend at one place and bicycled over to the Wallflower back patio on her recommendation to have a proper catch up and to get some food in me. Ordering a grilled cheese immediately before my friend even arrived, her deviled eggs still arrived before my sandwich was delivered. But the wait was worth it. A hot crispy buttery sandwich with a good cheesy stretch and a side of firm ruffage, I would definitely return to try more menu items from what I always thought was just a drinking hole.

Later that week, hearing that Skyline diner had been bought up by owners of several popular bar and restaurant establishments around the West End who have spruced up the menu with fresh ingredients, I ventured in to try the new fare. While decor appearances look basically the same with a bit of fixing up, the greasy spoon menu has been also only lightly touched up. Ordering their grilled cheese with fries, a very basic soppy sandwich on bad bread came out with over burnt fries. Disappointed in their treatment of the classic grilled cheese, I expressed my regret of ordering fries over salad, but the server just waved it off saying people crave fries at a diner. Yes, so I would have hoped that the fries and greasy spoon classics would have been better.

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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 (...

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