You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

Stopping through Ottawa for 12 hours en route to the Yukon, I was taken to the new Elgin location of Morning Owl , a coffee house that specializes in sandwiches. Behind a glass case of fresh sandwiches, I was torn between the breakfast sandwich and a sandwich for later. Unwilling to choose between the two, I chose both. First up was the breakfast sandwich, a standard layering of fresh egg, bacon and cheese on a toasted crumpet. Standing alone, it is fine and good, but what pushes it to form is the homemade tomato jam on the side, which arguably is more of a jelly. A perfect texture to complement the hot and crusty sandwich.  Next up was the oven roasted tofu* with marinated artichoke hearts (jalapeño cheddar). The scone-like bread also had jalapeno embedded, and each bite was hot, fluffy, and heat-inducing.  While I had meant to save this sandwich for later, it arrived warm, ready to go, and so, I went to town, and had the best plane nap afterwards. *My fellow d...

Here it is, the toasted baguette banh mi, which has been sorely missed in this town so far. Baguette & Co. has been on my radar, if not because people keep telling me how they keep trying to go for a sandwich, but they always sell out. A sign of fresh bread! Having an early meeting nearby one day, my co-worker and I stopped in for a sit down lunch. She got the tofu and I got the chicken, and we ended up splitting half and half. The bread is what I remember, as the crunch is so essential to what I consider a banh mi. The owner agreed, and she went on a rant about the colonial history of the banh mi by the French and the necessity of toasting a fresh baguette to make it an actual banh mi. I was into it. 

So apparently for years now I've been calling this anarchist book store/cafe "Moon Dragon" until finally, someone with some decency informed me that it's actually called Mondragón . I doubt I will stop calling this place Moon Dragon, being a total hippie hang out and all, with power carob balls and always plenty of lentils on the menu. But holy damn, is their Southwestern Fried Tofu Sandwich a treat. I'm not sure what type of tofu they're using or how they're making it crisp up without losing the tofu texture, but served with what can only be described as a salad between a bun, it's a great little snack to push you along whether you're about to defy order or uphold it.

It's no secret I'm a fan of the Vietnamese sub. Hell, they've prevented my vegetarianism . But I do enjoy the vegetarian option now and again, especially when it's warm marinated soft tofu rather than the shredded fake meat variety. In Calgary one weekend, a friend and I found ourselves stranded in the city due to a snow storm, so lounging around 17th Avenue, cold, tired, hungry, and near broke, we popped our heads into Kim Anh Subs where he had ventured once before. Offering a whole wheat sub bun option, Kim Anh's subs were a bit more expensive than what I'm used to for a sub of this style ($3.50 is my price range), but it's Calgary, so what can you expect.