Posted by Renée Suen in prepared foods, products, sandwiches on May 7, 2008 at 7:37 am
As the weather warms, many choose to celebrate the season of fun in the sun and outdoors by taking their meals outside. Portable and delicious, the sandwich is an excellent food choice for such outings. My search for an ideal balance between a wheat-based shell and its glorious fillings has resulted in many noteworthy finds that would make any man (or woman) swoon. Sample any of the treats below for complete satisfaction.
The tender and moist slow roasted beef brisket ($6.50) takes 5 days to prepare at Black Camel (Rosedale Location: 4 Crescent Road). Choose to pair it with the house made Black Camel BBQ sauce, and/or any additional toppings (i.e. roasted sweet red peppers) for an extra $0.75.
MBCo (Toronto Yorkville: 100 Bloor Street West, Unit #7) serves up many delicious treats that are available to dine in or take out, such as the oven roasted breaded chicken & brie sandwich, which has a generous chicken cutlet, fresh herbs, spinach, and braised leeks stuffed inside lightly toasted bread.
Turkey lovers should check out Pusateri's (57 Yorkville Avenue) for a large croissantwich or ciabatta filled with turkey, blueberry cream cheese, bacon and mixed greens.
Even heartier still are the massive hot sandwiches that can be ordered at California Sandwiches (244 Claremont Street), where two breaded pieces of chicken or veal may be topped with hot peppers, roasted peppers, mushrooms or even fried eggplant! Dunked in a bath of marinara sauce the golden beasts are a little messy to eat but extremely delicious.
A trip to T&T Supermarket may resulting in some "fill"-ing sandwich finds. Specialty buns may have a heart of BBQ pork, tuna fish or even pork floss with preserved mustard greens. These cheap finds are maybe a little pricier than the standard Asian bun, however they are packed full of intense fillings which make it well worth the extra 50 cents.
Can anything be more delightful than a puff pastry topped Chinese bun filled with pork floss like those found at Jin Cheng Bakery Ltd. (various locations)? Mmmmmm.
Turkey is reincarnated at Easy Restaurant (1645 Queen Street West) as the turkey club on toasted baguette ($10.50). Perfectly cooked (neither too crispy nor soggy) bacon is piled on top of fresh sliced tomatoes, smoky lean deli turkey, and peppery baby greens. The later is supported by both the chipotle mayo and the chili oil-spiked rosemary roasted potatoes which brings this sandwich to another level. Delish!
The Gyros pita ($4.05) at Messini Authentic Gyros (445 Danforth Avenue) features pork meat shaved from a spit and served in a pita topped with onions, tomatoes, Tzatziki and freshly cut French fries.
Renée Suen is a graduate student at the University of Toronto, specializing in cardiovascular sciences. She has an insatiable appetite and can often be found with her camera, searching for something tasty to eat. Many of these culinary discoveries can be found on her Flickr site.
These look great but are there no veggie options worth mentioning?
Shaun, if you're searching for vegetarian options I would suggest heading to Urban Herbivore (www.fressenrestaurant.com; 64 Oxford Street) where surprisingly filling and tasty sandwiches using homemade vegetable juice flavoured breads are made to order. I wasn't able to capture an image of the sandwich for this post but I do frequent UH for their hearty eats (including great soups, refreshing drinks and giant muffins).
These sandwiches darlings look absolutely delicious! Such great finds, I shall put these on my to-try list! Another place I adore is Carousel Bakery's - peameal bacon breakfast sandwiches OR Musatchio's - Veal and Eggplant sandwiches both located in St. Lawrence Mkt.
On a similar note of the 'wich family, any suggestions for wraps? Thanks!
btw it's C from GL :D
Hi C,
Glad you stopped by! St. Lawrence Market does have a treasure trove of good finds. Thanks for adding those to the mix mentioned above. I can't say I've had many cravings for wraps (as they're too frequent a find on catered platters), but I do enjoy the pitas sold at Pita Break Inc. (565 Yonge Street) - it's probably because of their fresh pitas. :) If we're along that topic, I do get my cravings for the sweet potato burrito from Big Fat Burritos (285 Augusta Avenue), or the halibut ones from Burrito Boyz (120 Peter Street) - cheap and super filling. Do these count as they're wrapped around fillings. ;)
If we're going with that mentality, then might as well head out for five spiced beef wrapped by a green onion pancake (from any Northern Chinese Cuisine place). The suggestions are endless!
LOL exactly, i wanted to ask b/c i don't see many varities of wraps around town or those specialty wraps for that matter. The ones you mentioned are great choices, i def. give two thumbs up to burrrito boys :) The sweet potato burrito sounds enticing, mmMMM glad you brought it up i'm going to try it this weekend! Thanks again!!