A Great Breakfast Sandwich at Kitten and the Bear

Kitten and the Bear
Location
: 1414 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.kittenandthebear.com/

You wouldn’t think that Kitten and the Bear — an unassuming little bakery that specializes in scones — would serve one of the best breakfast sandwiches in the city, but hey, what do you know?  They do.

They’re actually one block over from the breakfast sandwich amazingness of Dad’s Breakfast & Coffee, and they serve a breakfast sandwich that’s pretty much just as good (but with substantially less hype).

Kitten and the Bear

There’s just the one breakfast sandwich on the menu, the Egg & Cheese on a Scone: “Fluffy egg and aged cheddar on a fresh herb scone.  Add peach & red pepper savoury jam or hot honey!”  I went with the jam, which they make in-house.

Everything here just works: the sharp, gooey cheddar; the silky egg; the nice contrasting sweet and savoury punch of the jam; and especially, the amazing scone.

Kitten and the Bear

I mean, the place specializes in the stuff, so I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that the scone is stellar, but it really is.  It’s delightfully buttery, with a nice crispy exterior, and an interior that really nails the fluffiness and substance that you want from a scone.

The quality of the egg, cheese, and jam is high enough that this would be a great sandwich even on lesser bread, but that scone really takes it over the top.

Quick Bites: Heirloom Food Truck, Sleepy Pete’s, Han Kki

General Tao Pork Belly Sandwich from Heirloom Food Truck
General Tao Pork Belly Sandwich from Heirloom Food Truck

I’m sure there are people out there who can say no to a crispy pork belly sandwich; I am not one of those people. The General Tao Pork Belly Sandwich, as per Heirloom’s menu: “crispy pork belly, homemade General Tao sauce, pickled sesame cabbage slaw, cilantro, chipotle aioli, brioche bun.” It’s a ridiculously messy sandwich (it’s a bit overstuffed), but the combo of the sweet sauce and the zippy slaw is a tasty one, that’s for sure. The pork belly wasn’t particularly crispy and was a bit tough, but otherwise this was a solid sandwich (figuratively — it was kinda falling apart as I ate it).

Biscuits and Gravy from Sleepy Pete's
Biscuits and Gravy from Sleepy Pete’s

When I ordered the biscuits and gravy at Sleepy Pete’s (“Chicken sausage & bacon gravy, chives”), I wasn’t sure what it was. A sandwich? Or a biscuit with gravy on the side? It turns out: neither! It’s a biscuit covered in gravy, and it’s so abundantly doused that it’s basically gravy soup. Please note: I’m complaining. When I got this, I was like, well, there’s no way I’m eating all this gravy. Spoiler alert: I ate all the gravy. It was maybe the best sausage gravy I’ve ever had, with a seriously rich flavour and a generous amount of tasty sausage and bacon interspersed throughout. I got it with the jalapeno biscuit, which has a nice spicy pop that stands up nicely to the deluge of gravy.

Pork Bone Soup from Han Kki
Pork Bone Soup from Han Kki

Mostly, nothing about the bowl of pork bone soup I had at Han Kki particularly stands out — it was thoroughly tasty, but nothing mind-blowing. I will say, however, that the pork they used might have been the meatiest I’ve ever seen in this dish. And it was all perfectly cooked and super tender. Every time I thought I must have depleted all the pork in the bowl, I found some more. It was quite delightful.

Quick Bites: Slow Jams, Cotolet, Bakerbots Baking

Smoked pork sandwich from Slow Jams
Smoked pork sandwich from Slow Jams

Slow Jams is a Filipino pop-up shop that you can find at various street festivals.  I previously tried their fried chicken sandwich, and between that one and the smoked pork sandwich (“tamarind & sweet soy sauce, spicy pickled cabbage”), they clearly need to get their own location ASAP.  The sandwich features a very generous amount of pork that’s meaty, tender, and satisfyingly smoky.  The slightly sweet, squishy bun suits it perfectly.  Between the strong vinegary punch of the sauce and the cabbage, it’s kinda acid overload, but the pork is tasty enough that this is only a minor complaint.

Pork loin katsu with brown demi-glace sauce from Cotolet
Pork loin katsu with brown demi-glace sauce from Cotolet

You can’t go wrong with a good pork katsu.  I mean, you can’t go wrong with basically anything that’s breaded and fried, but there’s something about katsu that’s particularly magical.  And the version at Cotolet?  Quite good!  The pork was maybe a bit on the dry side, but the panko-breaded exterior was perfectly crispy, and the brown demi-glace sauce (“made with various fruits and vegetables”) has a very nicely balanced fruity sweetness that’s a bit different from any katsu sauce I’ve had before.

Pecan sticky bun from Bakerbots Baking
Pecan sticky bun from Bakerbots Baking

Yep, Bakerbots is still chugging along, serving some of the tastiest baked goods in the city.  I’ve written about them a few times before, so I don’t need to dwell here, but I do feel like it’s my duty to tell you that their sticky bun is very good.  Sweet but not too sweet, nice texture on the bun itself, gooey but not complete mush like certain national chains that sell sickly sweet cinnamon buns… it’s very tasty.  But then I’ve never had anything that was less than delicious here, so I guess that goes without saying.

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.

Tasty Sandwiches at Dear Grain

Dear Grain
Location
: 48 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://deargrain.com/

Mostly, Dear Grain is a bakery that sells some seriously tasty sourdough loaves.  But they also have a variety of sandwiches and pastries, and yeah, those are quite good, too.

Dear Grain

I had the roasted turkey sandwich (“brie, brown butter and chutney”), and it was very tasty.

Dear Grain

They toast the sandwich until the bread is crispy and the brie is melty, and the combo of that creamy, slightly nutty cheese and the meaty turkey works very well.  The chutney is cranberry-sauce-esque, which works for obvious reasons.  And, of course, the bread is great.  It’s a stellar sandwich.

Dear Grain

I also tried a sesame cookie; I found the texture to be a bit cakier than I normally want in a cookie, but it’s not too sweet and has a very pronounced roasted sesame seed flavour.  It’s quite good.