You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

The last time I visited Vancouver, I made sure to include a stop into La Grotta del Formaggio , an Italian grocery store on Commercial drive that does this monster sandwiches. It's hard to find a good sandwich in that town, but this place kept me satiated, which is no easy task. Pictured above is a mountain of capicola with roasted red peppers, eggplant, red onion, and provolone on whole wheat. Expect long line-ups, but that time is best used to think about which meat and cheese and toppings you want. Do you really want a whole focaccia, or just half? (I got a whole loaf). I was happy to see they even offer whole wheat focaccia bread that is as tasty and fluffy as white bread, as it's a slightly healthier option, because it's still Vancouver.

What can I say? A short stop over in Vancouver led to a lot of scheduled eats to hit up all the key sushi, ramen, dim sum consumption possibly in 48 hours, but one unscheduled visit led me back to Duffin's Donuts. Lacking options in the downtown core, we actually took a cab to Duffin's to maw down a couple pieces of spicy fried chicken before getting into a chicken banh mi sub. The buns are super fresh and soft, and the carrot to the rest ratio is out of control. The woman behind the counter said it was her favorite, and I can see why. My dining companion ate everything, and I only manged to eat half a sub after the chicken appetizer, which was originally meant as a snack for later. That chicken never lasts for later. Like other sandwiches I have loved , the thin wrapping paper is somehow essential to my overall enjoyment of its contents.

I can't remember which trip this was from, but it was in an airport, I even think the Vancouver airport. Probably this was eaten en route to Edmonton, unless this was the last sandwich I ate before I left the West coast, I can't remember anymore. I do know that this was better than I expected, with the bacon extra crispy and the egg very fluffy. Simply sliced brown bread. If they put it on a foccacia they could have doubled the price. I am glad they didn't.

  In my persistent hunt for a good Italian sandwich in Vancouver, I was repeatedly referred to Cioffi's , which lies just outside of Vancouver boundary, literally on the otherside of Boundary Road in Burnaby. By and by, I ended up having my last sandwich in Vancouver in a moving van, helping another friend move (albeit move furniture from my home to hers), and we ended up driving up Burnaby Mountain to drop off one of the handy movers. On the way, with empty bellies and a sofa bed safely tucked away, I ran into Cioffi's for three sandwiches and san pellegrinos while they maneuvered the cube van in the hostile parking lot.  For some reason, I thought I was getting a big hoagie style sandwich, and not a grilled panini, but that's all they were offering. With a few premade numbers and fresh grilled, I perused the aisles of oils and dry goods and meat and cheese selections, and was largely non plussed. There is a more than decent selection, but I'm glad I didn't ...

Before I moved from Vancouver, I ate almost every meal out, as my kitchen had been packed up and I had to say my farewells via shared meals. At one of these meetings, I downed cans of Lucky at The Whip as some degenerate form of good-bye, and grew hungry. After a few cans, I needed something to eat, and so this happened: A Beef Dip. West Coast style. That is a healthy salad and a splash of jus for the dipping. The bread was pretty good, fresh and crispy, but the beef was a bit slim and chewy. A beef dip, in my perfect world, is stacked with melt in your mouth slices of beef, a real offensive amount of jus and blood soaking through the bread. This was not it, and I ate it, and never looked back.

Having stayed clear of the infamous chip butty while living in Scotland, I felt somewhat nostalgic, or just hungry after too many pints at The Fat Badger , this somewhat British inspired pub in downtown Vancouver. So, I ordered their chip butty. I also tried their Scotch egg, which didn't feel unhealthy at all in this Vancouver reincarnation, but this, this was definitely something I must have made when I was either very young or very drunk. Thick cut chips, not too fresh, not too soggy, stacked between to slices of miniature plain white bread. I have only ever see it in a soft bun, as covered here by one of our correspondents, which with its overflow of chips, seemed more like the honest representation of why people order it: to soak up the excess alcohol. This wee thing was filling, how could it not be, but seemed a bit too prim and proper for my cravings.

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...

With a line up out the door on a Friday afternoon and a full on BBQ set up bringing in the Gastown business drifters, I went for the pork sandwich, which turned out to be a very filling option of a banh mi with roasted pork tenderloin. I've been to Railtown cafe a number of times before, but being way out of the way, and only open on weekdays until 6, it's never a priority. They don't have much in the way of competition, and their food is fresh and flavourful, but they are missing a certain something that keeps me from being too excited. Everything looks good, and tastes good, but there is no wow. For a city like Vancouver, you would think there would be half a dozen of these places, in Gastown alone, but Railtown's anomaly to do a decent lunch is what brings in the hoards, and lining up to get an average lunch is just not good enough for me.

I am on a full on city-wide search for a decent reuben, and so far, I am pretty disappointed in what passes for a smoked meat sandwich in this town. Having lunch at Paul's Omelettery , where I have only ever had an omelette, I opted for the reuben as how else will I ever know. Scanning the menu to see that they do indeed offer a corned beef hash, I figured the meat will have to be at least half way decent if they are double downing its usage. Listed as a grilled sandwich option, I asked not to grill the bread, but it came toasted anyways. I am guessing the rye bread is not so fresh, and the reuben? Disappointing because no one here cares.

Never much for the sweets, I somehow find myself hauling ass to Thierry's for their macarons time and time again. Using more salt than sugar is perhaps this chocolaterie's secret, and having tried most of their desserts and even one of their ham and cheese croissants ( documented here ), I finally sat down for lunch with a guest to sample their baguettes proper. Going for the jambon blanc and gruyère with a touch a dijon fromage frais, the winner was my companion's selection of the cold smoked wild sockeye salmon with the caper cream cheese, which also happened to have just the perfect amount of fresh dill blended in. Overflowing from an aromatic and densely chewy baguette with just the right amount of crust, it's the type of sandwich that leaves you with a tinge of flour on your fingertips and a yearning for more. Of course, the baby gherkins were the perfect finisher, along with a few macarons to share. Oh, Thierry!

Downtown sandwich options in Vancouver have consistently been dire, but I keep trying. One of the newest additions is Saj & Co, which opened up inside of Urban Deli on Davie, and features an assortment of freshly prepared Lebanese sandwiches. From vegetarian to meat options, I needed to know what this meant, as the woman from Urban described it more like a crepe. From what I understand, this is more about making fresh Lebanese flat bread and adding a few ingredients for a quick bite to go than about making the large Saj breads its namesake offers. Made in store, each Saj bread is made fresh to order. This was a few months back, but if I recall correctly, he said they were gluten free, which would explain why I didn't really like the texture very much on top of ordering a vegetarian option. I would have preferred a larger piece of fresh, chewy flat bread with nothing in it than this concoction, but curiosity got the best of me. I am also not sure this constitutes a sa...

 As the new kid on the block in the perpetually dined out West End, Greenhorn has fast become a favorite for espresso lovers and geeks. While their brew is really good, my curiosity swayed towards the sandwiches, and so far, it's a hit and a miss. First up is this roast chicken sandwich I grabbed to go. At a heavy price, the sandwich fit cozily into the palm of my small hands, which was a disappointing and expensive lunch. The flavours of the chicken were overpowered by the balsamic and cherry tomato mix, and the bread was a skinny baguette that tasted a bit underdone to my taste. However, as it goes, I tried their grilled cheese sandwich for a sit in meeting shortly there after, and the experience was a far better one. Certainly not the best grilled cheese I've ever had, their use of a softer cheese yielded a more melt in your mouth experience than the stringy chewy bite one expects of a grilled cheese. Good bread crunch, and if in a bind, I would order it ...

My first venture to Duffin's will only lead towards a downward spiral. So much more than just a donut shop, Duffin's has possibly everything I could ever want at any time of day, and that's great, because they are open 24 hours. So whether I want a donut, or fried chicken, or any kind of sandwich I can think of, one only needs to go to Duffin's. Coming from the North Shore after an extended dog walk/hike with someone who had a car, our mission was actually to get a donut, but as soon as we stepped foot in we were ordering almost everything else. Not ordering fried chicken was hard, so I ate a jelly donut while I waited for my carne azada sandwich, the first on an extensive menu list. As slices of flank steak with a lot of salad, the sandwich was actually pretty damn tasty on a chewy little bun, all for a fiver. 

I've walked by The Dirty Apron countless times, and you think I would have walked in at the mere hint of SANDWICHES so prominently written across its chalkboard, but something kept me away, perhaps because I felt the sandwiches would be made by those taking the cooking classes, and well, I don't want an amateur. On the suggestion of someone who was briefly in town and ate their take out sandwiches for a week, I thought I would try it out en route to a meeting. Offering both baguettes and paninis, I opted for the baguette to see what they're really made of. Choosing the roast chicken sandwich that comes with chipotle mayo, roast tomato, parmesan, and watercress and a few anchovies, I agree with Young Elvis's recent observation that watercress is a damn fine complement in a sandwich. That said, I had a few issues with this sandwich. While the chicken was fine and accented by the anchovy, there seemed to be more chipotle mayo than chicken, and the baguette t...

Just an update, I've been back to Cafe Phin a few times since a little recon work a month back, and I'm slowly making my way down the menu after a strong start. The pho and stews are all right, but I'm just here for the baguettes. If the laws of deductive reasoning are put into play, the sandwiches will increasingly get more amazing as pork belly was superior to the assorted meats, and this lemongrass chicken banh mi is so far the best. Perfectly grilled juicy and tender chicken inside of the toasted baguettes makes me want one RIGHT NOW, but my quandary is do I double down? Do I continue down the baguette menu to dare their lemongrass tofu and meatball to be even better, or do I simply revisit the chicken, whose flavours I think about at night? I think the choice has kept me away, but I will sooner or later have to make this decision.

I have only just began visiting this paradise on Alberni Street, and while I remain dumbstruck for their incredible macarons (I don't even have a sweet tooth, they are that good), I did notice a little croissant au jambon on display. Now upon further investigation, their cafe offers a range of sandwiches and even soups , and I will have to research further if I ever stop feeling flustered around the macarons. However, I did manage to pick up this croissant au jambon recently for documentation. Now a croissant itself is not a sandwich (see this for a fine croissant sandwich ), but what if a pile of fine ham was baked within with a crusty swiss cheese top? I am not sure I can convince myself, but each buttery salty mouthful made me wonder if this was not the next level of sandwiches. I know, this is a savoury baked good, but it's one of the best I have had the privilege of having. 

Since complaining about not having a decent sandwich deli around, I've been told to check out La Grotta Del Formaggio across town. As I have a rule about not visiting delis if I can help it on a weekend and as I work a day job, La Grotta has eluded me, until now. Breaking for the holidays a week early and going nowhere, I finally stopped into this deli on Commercial Drive between visits with a baby and out of town guests. A healthy sized line up for a late Friday afternoon only encouraged me to join, even if I wasn't hungry at all. I opted for the small crusty bun rather than the long bun or round focaccia, and went with a medley of dijon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, provolone, marinated eggplants, olives, purple onion, and salami. Non grilled. The bun was a classic pagnotta, hard crusty shell with soft fluffy insides. Absorbed the vinegar and oil extremely well and one of my favorite sandwich breads always. This one holds up and they did not shy on the fillings, whi...

I was literally lying awake yesterday morning, thinking, reminiscing abut a good banh mi. The best one in Vancouver, Truong Giang, has been sold to new owners, and the sandwiches are now a bitter disappointment. I thought about heading over to Kingsway or Victoria Drive which would take up the better part of my afternoon, but I wasn't going to cross town for a sandwich, not today, as I had too many errands to run. The pho places around here had okay sandwiches (Angkor Express to a degree, and Pho Goodness does have a good baguette), but I feel those places privilege the pho, and the sandwich is just an after thought. I pulled it together and headed out the door, but before I could even hit my first of five stops, a "Grand Opening" sign caught my eye. A tasteful sandwich board had words like "aroma" and "Vietnam" and "flavours" and looking up into the window, also had banh mi. I walked in like a zombie to Cafe Phin and ordered their tradi...

A friend and I bumped into each other one sunny afternoon and instead of going to get that raw vegan power shake we've been texting about, we headed for Meat &Bread , which I have been to a few times . We had both been getting over different forms of illnesses, and while a power shake would have been great, life is short. However, I abstained from their meaty meat goodness and tried their grilled cheese, which I've always eyed, but never made a priority. Using crumbled aged cheddar with freshly shaved purple onion, it could have used another 60 seconds under the press. With bits of cheese unmelted and the onion not doing its job of bringing that sweetness to the mix, I only blame myself for getting the vegetarian option at a place called Meat & Bread. On the side was some form of bacon pea soup with kale. It was good.

This place seems to get better with each visit. Located on a street that I have no reason to walk on unless it's to go get some of this Railtown Cafe has no problem filling up their seats and handling endless line ups out the door. Doing made to order sandwiches, soups, and salad bowls, it's the kind of casual eatery I never knew I missed until it showed up in my life. It's in the set up: up front as you order is the presentation of its daily meat specials including slabs of moist braised brisket, a Jenga-style tower of thick cut "72 hour" bacon, and perfectly roasted brown chicken breasts on display in enviable cookware. I don't even know what happens between the time of payment and the arrival of sandwiches, though I recall some form of self service involved, but I would have stood in a corner to eat this melt in your mouth reuben, a sandwichland classic that I rarely indulge, but here, makes me trust in the classics once again.