Throwback Subs at Lakeshore Super Submarine

Lakeshore Super Submarine
Location
: 2939 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: None

The best thing about Lakeshore Super Submarine is how delightfully old-school it is.  It’s apparently been around for over 50 years, and it looks like pretty much nothing has changed in that time (though it’s not dirty or run-down at all).

Lakeshore Super Submarine

It’s cash-only, and the prices — like everything else about the place — are a throwback.  I got the “mini” assorted sub (it’s smaller than the standard foot-long, but not by all that much), and it cost $6.75 exactly for a relatively hefty sandwich.

Lakeshore Super Submarine

There were a few other customers when I was there, and I think I was the only non-regular.  I can see why.

Lakeshore Super Submarine

No, there’s nothing all that exciting about it — it’s a pretty standard cold cut sub, dressed with mayo and sub sauce, and with the usual veggies.  But it’s a no-frills sub done well, and given what they’re charging for it, I can see why people come back.

Japanese Style Egg Salad Sandwich from 7-Eleven

Japanese Style Egg Salad Sandwich from 7-Eleven
Location
: 980 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.7-eleven.ca/

The egg salad sandwich at 7-Eleven in Japan has become somewhat legendary over the years, so now that it’s landed in Canada, it comes with a whole lot of hype.  The first time I attempted to buy one, it was sold out, and I overheard someone else in the store asking about it.

Japanese Style Egg Salad Sandwich from 7-Eleven

It’s a very simple sandwich; the package it comes in lists the ingredients as just “shokupan bread, eggs, mayonnaise (Kewpie), mustard, salt.”

I can’t claim to be an expert on the real deal in Japan — I’ve had it a couple of times, but generally speaking, if I’m looking for a quick bite in a Japanese 7-Eleven, I’m grabbing an onigiri — but it’s clear even to me that this just isn’t the same.

Japanese Style Egg Salad Sandwich from 7-Eleven

The egg salad itself is actually quite pleasant — it’s eggy and rich, and is somewhere in the ballpark of the Japanese version.  They’re a bit too stingy with it, however, with a lot of the sandwich having very little of the stuff.

Japanese Style Egg Salad Sandwich from 7-Eleven

The real deal-breaker here is the bread.  It’s dense, and not even remotely comparable to the pillowy ultra-fluffiness of the real deal version.

It’s so dense that it makes the thin amount of egg salad feel like an even worse problem than it is, with an unyielding texture that thoroughly overpowers the egg.

Japanese Style Egg Salad Sandwich from 7-Eleven

Overall, it’s a perfectly fine convenience store egg salad sandwich (especially for the current promotional price of five bucks), but if you’re hoping for a taste of Japan at home… not so much.

Tasty Slices at Revolver Pizza

Revolver Pizza
Location
: 388 Royal York Road, Etobicoke
Websitehttps://revolverpizza.com/

Revolver Pizza is clearly doing quite well.  They now have four locations, and when I visited on a weekday afternoon, the place was packed.

Revolver Pizza

And yeah, I get it.  I got the margherita (“sauce, fresh mozzarella, fior di latte, and basil”), and it was a solid slice of pizza.

I wish the slice had been a bit crispier on the bottom (or crispy at all — it had a softer texture, closer to Neapolitan than New York style), but otherwise, I quite enjoyed this.

Revolver Pizza

I think the prodigious amount of cheese might have something to do with the crust’s lack of texture — I’m certainly not going to say no to a lot of cheese on a pizza, but there probably could have been a bit less here.

Revolver Pizza

Still, the overall quality is pretty high, including a good amount of flavour and a nice chewiness on the crust.  I don’t know if it’s up there with the best in the city, but it’s a top-shelf slice of pizza, that’s for sure (bonus: it costs about five bucks for a pretty sizable slice).

A Tasty Veal Sandwich at Buon Giorno Caffe & Panini

Buon Giorno Cafe
Location
1134 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Websitehttps://www.buongiornocaffe.ca/

The last time I visited Buon Giorno Caffe, I was specifically there to try the veal, but was sidetracked by the cold cut sandwich (which was thoroughly delicious — I regret nothing).  I finally came back to try the veal sandwich, and yeah, it was worth the wait.

You can have the sandwich topped with mushrooms, onions, hot peppers, or sweet peppers (cheese is also available for a bit extra).  To me, all a good veal sandwich needs is some spice, so I went with the hot peppers and left it at that.

Buon Giorno Cafe

I used to have a pretty hardline opinion that the veal in this type of sandwich needs to be freshly fried and sauced on the spot so that it stays at least a little bit crispy.  But I’ve come around to the pleasures of the hot table version of this sandwich, which they serve here, where the sauce has had time to really soak into the nooks and crannies of the veal.

It gives you a soft, silky texture that you couldn’t get from a freshly-fried version.  It’s different, but if done right, still very tasty.

Buon Giorno Cafe

Spoiler alert: they did it right here, with a generous amount of tasty veal, a whole bunch of rich and flavourful sauce that really sings, and a nice kick from the hot peppers.

The texture of the veal was great; it wasn’t so tender that it was just mush — it still had some bite to it — but wasn’t tough at all.  And the hearty bread is the perfect match for the saucy sandwich, retaining its texture and chew even under the deluge of sauce.

Delicious Ukrainian Food at Barrel House Korchma

Barrel House Korchma
Location
: 2385 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.instagram.com/barrelhousekorchma/

I’m not sure if I’ve ever been to a Ukrainian restaurant before visiting Barrel House Korchma; even when I was still updating 196 Plates, the blog where I attempted to eat at one restaurant from each country in the world (without leaving the GTA), I never got around to that country.

Barrel House Korchma

Well, if Barrel House Korchma is anything to go by, I guess Ukrainian food is pretty tasty (if not that dissimilar from the cuisine in any number of Eastern European countries).

I tried a couple of things.  First up was the fried stuffed buns: “Two fried buns stuffed with potatoes and dill.”

Barrel House Korchma

I can’t say I’ve ever had anything quite like this; though the menu calls this a bun, it’s not really bun-like at all, with a thin exterior that’s crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and a fluffy mashed-potato interior that’s infused with dill.  It comes with a garlicky dill sauce on the side that complements it perfectly.  It’s a great dish.

Barrel House Korchma

Up next was the Chicken Kyiv: “Breaded chicken fillet with melted butter and herbs.”

Barrel House Korchma

This was a tasty version of a pretty well-known dish, with a delightfully crunchy exterior, and a buttery (but not overly greasy) interior that helps to compensate for the inherent dryness of the chicken breast.  It comes with a sweet, Thousand-Island-esque sauce that pairs nicely with the savoury chicken.

Barrel House Korchma

You can choose your side; the waitress recommended the roasted potato, which was a solid choice, with a lightly crispy exterior and a bit of a garlicky flavour that’s quite satisfying.