You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

Rushing there before noon, a colleague and I each ordered a slab of sandwich from Roast , inside Victoria's downtown farmer's market. Bridging that whole farm to table mentality, I didn't need to know about any of that before ordering the porchetta, extra skin, and rushing back to my afternoon meeting. With some heft to it, the slab of provolone and several sprigs of broccoli rabe smothered in fresh pesto really gave that extra zing to the crispy, fatty porchetta. Having a rough morning, I felt alive again after downing this sandwich, and if I had to pick, I would choose Roast over Vancouver's Meat & Bread , I would. 

Yum. Breakfast sandwich with egg, gruyere, and sage sausage on a toasty sesame bun. The Clay Pigeon in Victoria would be one of my favorite breakfast places to go if I lived there, and after consistently good eats day in and day out, I wonder why I resist the island life. Sure, I'm not ready to retire quite just yet, but maybe it's the leisurely pace of life that makes these meals, especially breakfast, taste so good.* *Like, they serve breakfast sandwiches until 3pm everyday. C'mon. 

Artisan bakeries take themselves seriously, right? I am always a little surprised when I see premade sandwiches at these places, as don't they know what happens to their bread once they wrap it in plastic and throw it in the fridge display? I had this frittata sandwich with a bowl of lentil soup, and it was good, but you could tell it would have been great if it had been freshly made. For starts, the homemade focaccia left the plastic wrap so oily that no amount of paper napkins could render the situation better. The cheese had been put on the other side of the frittata, which in theory, should work for a cold sandwich, but somehow, it just didn't. The layer of frittata itself was also incredibly sparse and filled with almost entirely asparagus, which left me sort of sad. Next time, I would buy their bread and make a sandwich elsewhere.

This was a ham sandwich. If you look closely, you can see the ham beneath the medley of fresh carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and lettuce. Unfortunately, this sandwich was only an incidental experience. I can't for the life of me remember or find the name of this place, except that it was located in a large atrium in downtown Victoria in the same building as an amazing cookery store. I recall having had beer battered fish and chips the night before, and needing something green, I was told this place had really great salads and that you could order up to three different salads to try, like a flight of wine or whisky. Still, I saw a sandwich, so I got one, but I also tried their kale salad which blew my mind, and yes, I am talking salad here, not sandwiches, which is how good their salads were.

Oh yeah, I Instagramed this. The sun was shining, a sweet bicycle was outside, and I'm sure they were playing something local and indie. It seemed right. This was an early morning bacon, egg, and cheese on a toasty sesame bun with a pile of fruit that made me almost miss my seaplane back. While they did not peel the kiwi before they sliced it, or the oranges, which doubled the eating time, the presentation reminded me of homemade lunches on a back porch, with the bacon just a little too greasy and the cheese a little too thick. It was perfect, and I just wish I didn't have to rush off as I would have loved to have sampled their lunch baguettes.