roast beef – Michael Eats

Tasty Dipped Sandwiches at Hot Dip

Published on June 27, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1186 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/hotdiptoronto/

Hot Dip is a new sandwich shop on Queen Street that specializes in meaty sandwiches you can dip into things, and yeah, gimme that. That’s a genius idea.

They actually only have four sandwiches on the menu (at the moment, at least), which I appreciate. I always freeze like a deer in headlights when I see a menu with dozens of things on it — I know that everything on this huge menu cannot possibly be great, so just tell me what the good stuff is and what I can ignore.

Focusing on only a few things solves this problem entirely.

I ordered the Hot Dip (because you should always get the menu item that shares a name with the restaurant) which is a roast beef sandwich with horseradish mayo topped with crispy onions and served on a pretzel roll. The dip, in this case, is sharp cheddar.

It’s a very good sandwich. The thinly-sliced roast beef is super tender with a nice beefy flavour, and there’s a generous amount of it — the menu says eight ounces (i.e. half a pound, i.e. a lot of beef), and based on how substantial the sandwich is, I have no reason to believe they’re skimping on the meat.

The pretzel roll is just as good as the beef. Sometimes pretzel bread can be a bit on the dense side, but this struck a great balance between softness and heft, with a lightly crispy exterior.

As for the dip, weirdly enough it’s the weakest part of the sandwich. Despite being called “sharp cheddar” it has a thoroughly mild flavour — it basically has the taste and texture of watered-down Cheez Whiz. It mostly just adds moisture to the sandwich, but between the fresh bread and the tender meat, it doesn’t particularly need it.

My other big issue: it’s an incredibly heavy sandwich, and it really needs something acidic to cut through the overwhelming richness. I guess the horseradish mayo is supposed to fill this role? But it’s completely overwhelmed by all the beef; you can barely even tell that it’s there. It’s certainly not a deal-killer (it’s still very tasty), but it makes the sandwich feel a bit one-note rich, which is a shame.

Roast Beef Perfection at Donna’s

Published on July 10, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 827 Landsdowne Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://donnas.ca/

Yep, another sandwich from Toronto Life’s top 25. Another damn good one, too, so clearly this list is not to be trifled with. These sandwiches aren’t kidding around.

Donna’s serves a roast beef sandwich that’s topped with parsnip, horseradish sauce, crispy fried onions (or shallots?), and watercress. As per Toronto Life, the meat is marinated in beef fat and honey. It’s superb.

The sandwich is awash with flavour, but everything works so well together — it never feels too assertive or busy. First and foremost is the very healthy pile of thinly-sliced roast beef. It’s beefy, tender, and just a little bit sweet from the honey. It’s great.

The horseradish sauce is creamy and zingy, with a nice even burn that makes its presence known, but doesn’t overwhelm. The parsnip is kind of ingenious. It’s thinly sliced, and on first glance it looks like cheese. But it’s soft and creamy, and adds a bit of a starchy heft.

It’s all on a soft, fresh, slightly chewy roll that compliments it perfectly. Toronto Life calls it the fifth best sandwich in the city; that sounds about right to me. It’s really, really good.

Amazing Roast Beef at Woodfire Sandwich Co.

Published on August 1, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3797 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.woodfiresandwich.com/

You can’t go wrong with a really good sandwich. And the folks at Woodfire Sandwich Co. certainly seem to know their stuff.

In particular, the First Date — a roast beef sandwich with crispy onions, arugula, gorgonzola, sauteed mushrooms, and mayo — was something special.

The sandwich is crammed with an absolutely absurd amount of rare roast beef; this would be overwhelming with lesser quality beef, but here it’s amazing. The meat is perfectly tender, with a really satisfying beefy flavour that’s only amplified by the fact that they serve it cold.

Beef and mushrooms are best friends, so I don’t need to tell you that this combination was great. The cheese and the mayo add a nice amount of creaminess, and the peppery arugula does a great job of keeping the sandwich’s richer flavours in check.

It’s served in a sesame seed roll that perfectly straddles the line between lightness and heft; it makes its presence known and holds up well to the onslaught of beef and mushrooms, but it never overwhelms. It’s a great roll for a great sandwich.

I also tried the fried chicken sandwich, which was less great (or more accurately: not great at all). It was fine, but nothing about it stands out. The exterior didn’t really have the crisp factor that you’re looking for in a great fried chicken sandwich, and the seasoning was ho-hum. Plus, the chicken itself (white meat, sadly) was slightly overcooked and a bit dry. It was a perfectly acceptable sandwich, but nothing about it stood out like the amazing roast beef.