sandwich – Page 12 – Michael Eats

Unique Sandwiches at Fattoush Sandwich Club

Published on July 9, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 253 Gerrard Street East, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/fattoushtoronto/

Fattoush Sandwich Club serves a bunch of Middle Eastern-inspired sandwiches (though, oddly enough, fattoush is a salad and not a sandwich, and does not feature in any of their sandwich offerings).

I tried a couple of sandwiches, and they were both quite tasty.

The first was the Smashed Beef: “Beef Mix, Pomegranate Molasses, Tahini.” This is sort of burger-esque, though the meat tastes more like kofta than like a burger patty (this is not a bad thing). The pomegranate molasses adds some sweet zippiness, and the tahini adds richness. It’s a solid sandwich.

I think I liked the Crispy Eggplant even better: “Eggplant, Siracha Toum, Tomato Confit.” As you can see from the photo, this is a substantially sloppier sandwich, with a whole bunch of lettuce and tasty sauces. But the real star of the show is the eggplant itself; when they say it’s crispy, it’s crispy. It’s breaded and fried, and it has a very pronounced crunchiness that holds up even to the very saucy sandwich. The contrast between the crunchy exterior and the creamy interior is thoroughly delicious.

Chinese Fast Food at Bingz Crispy Burger

Published on June 28, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3401 Dufferin Street, North York (inside Yorkdale Mall)
Website: https://www.bingzcanada.com/

Bingz is a Chinese chain that sells a variety of sandwiches made with a crispy, flaky bun, along with a handful of side dishes.

I went with the signature pork, and it’s delightfully simple — it’s just braised pork shoulder on a bun. That’s it. Want any condiments? Go somewhere else!

It’s quite good. It’s very no-frills, but the pork is meaty, flavourful, and super tender. The crispy bun is a good mix of flaky/crispy and chewy, and suits the pork perfectly.

(Also, this probably goes without saying, but this thing is absolutely not a burger in any appreciable way, making the name a bit of a head-scratcher.)

And it’s only six bucks, which is actually a pretty great deal; they manage to cram a decent amount of meat into that thing. For something from a food court in a mall, it’s way better than it needs to be.

A Solid Sandwich at Banh Mi Boys

Published on June 24, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 392 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://banhmiboys.com/

Remember Banh Mi Boys? They opened back in 2011, and were thoroughly amazing. They were one of my favourite places for a quick bite downtown. But then they expanded and, like with so many places, the quality went downhill. After a couple of particularly iffy sandwiches, I stopped going altogether.

But it’s been a few years, and I figured it was time to give them another shot. And hey, what do you know — they’re pretty good again. I don’t know if they’ll ever hit the highs of their early days, but it was a really solid sandwich.

I had the five spice pork belly banh mi, and yeah, it was tasty. The pork was slightly tough and the flavours don’t quite pop like they used to (and the spice level was sadly anemic, despite asking for it hot), but this was otherwise a satisfying banh mi. The bread was nice and fresh, and the abundant pickled veggies do a good job of cutting through the richness of the pork.

Amazing Sandwiches at BEAR Steak Sandwiches

Published on June 20, 2024June 20, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 550A College Street, Toronto
Website: https://bearsteak.ca/

BEAR Steak started out small, serving sandwiches out of someone’s house — a pandemic-era pop-up that was popular enough to graduate to a real-deal restaurant (albeit a tiny one with just enough room to grab your sandwich and go).

The place has gotten an enormous amount of hype since it opened, and let me tell you: it’s all 100% deserved. The hype is real.

They only have a couple of sandwiches on the menu: roast pork, and their specialty, the original steak sandwich. The sandwich is beyond simple — it’s just thickly-sliced flank steak and chimichurri sauce on a Portuguese roll. It’s so good.

You have to be pretty confident in what you’re serving to slice the steak this thick; if the meat isn’t perfectly tender, you’re going to end up pulling it out of the sandwich after your first bite, and no one wants that. But the medium rare beef here somehow manages to be buttery tender while still having a satisfying meaty bite.

It’s also got a great beefy flavour that lets you know they’re using the good stuff. The zippy, garlicky chimichurri adds a nice brightness that complements the beef perfectly, and the lightly crusty bread has just enough substance to hold up to the meat without overwhelming. It’s one of the best sandwiches in the city.

Quick Bites: Union Chicken, Poke Poke, Bake Code

Published on June 16, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Nashville Lightning Hot sandwich from Union Chicken

I had the Buffalo chicken sandwich from Union back in 2019 and found it to be absolutely delightful; well, I recently tried the Nashville hot chicken sandwich, and yeah, it’s very, very good. It’s got that same addictive combo of exterior crunchiness and interior juiciness, and it’s really tasty, with a nice zippy flavour that cuts through the richness of the chicken. The toasted bread it comes on was a bit dry/boring, and I wish the sandwich were spicier (it’s barely hotter than mild), but overall it’s a superlative fried chicken sandwich.

Poke from Poke Poke

Poke Poke is thoroughly okay. I had the O.G. bowl (“classic salmon, seaweed salad,
avocado, corn, edamame, masago”) on white rice (brown rice, cauliflower rice, greens, and noodles are also choices), and it was perfectly tasty. Nothing about it particularly blew me away (it’s a bit overstuffed with toppings and understuffed with salmon — given that it came up to just over twenty bucks with tax, a more generous helping of fish would have been nice), but I’m not mad I ate it.

Salted Egg Yolk Croissant from Bake Code

I tried the PB&J croissant from Bake Code a few years ago and enjoyed it, though I found the croissant itself to be just okay. I have very similar thoughts about the salted egg yolk croissant, which features a generous amount of tasty, custardy filling, but is otherwise nothing too mind-blowing. I’m also not convinced that a croissant is a better vehicle for this particular filling than a more traditional bun, but I can’t deny that it’s tasty.