You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

Hangry and wandering the streets of Peterborough, my travel companion and I spotted a crowd outside of Sam's Deli . They looked sporty and satisfied, so that was a good a bet as any. With quite an extensive menu list, including gluten-free bread for my t.c., I settled on a Peterborough smoked meat while she had a turkey club on g.f. bread. I don't say this lightly, but this was one of the best dan sandwiches around! Even on g.f. bread it received two thumbs up! Fresh quality bread on the soft side makes such a luxurious sandwich, with all the remnants of a homemade sandwich, but superb quality cuts of meat folded inside. All meats were cured and smoked in house from locally sourced farms, and the difference is exceptional. I kind of wanted a second sandwich, but I did not want to ruin the experience by taking it on the road. Sam's alone is reason enough to go back to Peterborough, which didn't give me the best vibes, but great sandwiches. While the side potato ...

Absolutely no need for a face-off save my exhaustion at sandwich posting, there is a connection between these two clubs. As Bernie from Le Pick Up referred me to Lester's club offering one sandwich eating session last summer, I couldn't help but have my interest piqued from one sandwich fiend to another. I love a club sandwich. So classic. Not a lot of places do it anymore, and not a lot of them do it right. Lester's was pretty good. Sure, the turkey was a smidge on the dry side, but it tasted goooood. Below, Le Pick Up's club on the right, and never able to order just one sandwich there, it's probably the breakfast sandwich on the left. Love that little guy. The club at LPU is infinitely more substantial given entire slabs of grilled chicken breast, but while the shape of a club was there, the sandwich actually fell apart on me. Finding myself eating more chicken breast than bread, or lettuce, tomato, and bacon, it was tasty, but it was too much chicken, no...

  I always find it weird when rye is in this shape and not in the oblong shape. However, I won't hold it against this sandwich as it was substantial, even if there was no middle piece of bread. What kind of club is this? I almost wonder if I had ordered a BLT, but it's highly unlikely I would have ordered one on rye, and that there is a piece of chicken sticking out on the left. I must have been too hungry to notice at the time. As far as convenient sandwich salad bars goes, this place is pretty decent. I would return if I worked around the corner, but there didn't seem to be a lot of options or competition either. As a meal on the road, it felt healthy and hearty, almost making it feel like I wasn't traveling at home. Recommended by people who had been in Halifax for a few weeks already, this was a nice retreat from the seafood tourism I was on.  

I never order vegan. Ever. This is more Young Elvis territory, and yet, I found myself at a vegan restaurant, the Loving Hut,  which a colleague loves as it was his one saviour as he traveled through Indonesia. Ordering their tofu club that uses tempeh as the bacon substitute as well as tofu, I thought it would be at least edible. It was not. I had to take out all the slabs of tempeh as its marinade overpowered the entire sandwich. The tofu did not taste fresh, which is how I prefer tofu if I am to eat it, or lightly battered and fried. Their french fries were decent, and good ketchup, but having the tables turned, I should have just eaten fries as many of my vegetarian dining companions have had to do at BBQ joints.

There’s a lot going on here. Eating this in a taxi on the way to the airport, I swore to myself to remember the details of what made this creamy Sammie explode but it’s hazy. The 5-inch thick sandwich included the typical three slices of plain brown bread, and played host to many layered ingredients expected in the Club Sandwich genre. A roasted veggie tomato spread of some sort, lettuce, cucumber, turkey, a rather tasteless cheese I didn’t realize was there at first, perhaps avocado or some other greenery before a fantastic fried egg and the customary bacon. Lots of mayonnaise with unidentified green herbs or onions perhaps and butter, providing a deliciously slippery mess of a Club. From the brightly inviting storefront, the nice service, and cute-named breakfast plates, the ladies who work here also seem quite fun. 

  After passing up a $30 open-face sandwich toppling with an impressive vertical assortment of dilled shrimpies, caviar, and a generous lemon slice, I opted for this miserably flat $9 boxed sandwich. There’s not much to say here through the tears. So instead, I post a picture of the one that got away, as a reminder to all readers: if in doubt, spring for the real deal. Post Script: thankfully, our correspondent in Norway made good this summer and became well acquainted with the classic Scandi-sammie, the glorious open face piled high with various seafoods.

The new Winnipeg airport is jaw dropping. I honestly thought the plane had landed in another city, but my shock quickly subsided when I saw how many ladies were wearing fur. It was spring time. So where else could I possibly be. One of the best things about the new airport (even though I loved the old facade) is the presence of a Stella's right near the departure gates. This changes everything, because if I had to eat their rubbery Harvey's burgers one more time, I was going to lose it. Stopping in for a 4 p.m. dinner before my flight back to Vancouver, I got their club sandwich, which I actually never had before. I've their roast chicken , but the club is actually far superior. I have often eaten at Stella's as a last meal in Winnipeg as it's cheap and quick, but to have one right at the airport with all day breakfast service is really going the distance. Best airport sandwich, by far.

the worst part of the meal was not the salad dressing in a bag or the rubbery lettuce, or even the forgettable sandwich in an equally forgettable airport, but it was the high pitchy squeaky squeals of the chairs and tables being shuffled around all around me as I ate this mediocre sandwich as the staff tried to keep busy and clean the empty cafe. I've been on the other end of this service, sweeping up the amazing amount of dust and debris collected in a 5 hour shift, but sweeping all around a customer for the entire time they eat a bad sandwich is really just poor hospitality.

Hitting up the Tim Horton's drive through out of Saskatoon, I realized I had actually not eaten since the last club house at Broadway the afternoon before. About to be on the road for 5 hours, I thought it best I get the Large chicken club sandwich. Lo and behold, it was the size of two regular sandwiches. As I continued the club house sandwich conversation, updating of my experience the day before, and now seeing this giant monster on my lap, we accepted that the club house has never gone away, that it's far too classic to go anywhere, and here it is at its most consumable. I don't remember ever liking Tim Horton's sandwiches ever before, but this one was pretty good, especially with the honey mustard kick embedded within and fresh veggies. It kept me full for the whole ride home.

It was a cold and frosty weekend, and inadvertently house sitting for some old friends just off Broadway in the 'toon, I could only go as far as I could walk, having also hitched a ride in from a friend (traveling on a dime!). Having already ventured to Nino's and Sushiro, I returned to the Broadway Cafe, where I had ventured once last summer, and ate a messy slop of a sandwich. Taking a back seat by the chrome bar, I had thoughts swimming around in my head over a conversation held the previous night. Sitting in the Star Trek inspired lounge of The Cave bar and restaurant, my friend and I witnessed a man nearby devour a club house sandwich. Being at The Cave and all, we thought perhaps it was the environment that caused a time warp back to the days of people ordering club house sandwiches. Who orders a club house sandwich still? They are a classic staple of sandwich menus, but seemingly of yesteryears. Those little sandwich wedges of toasted bread that always hurt the top o...