A Tale of Two Sandwiches

[Keith Talent]

Both yesterday and today the missus and I have met over lunch to continue our perpetual task of buying a table and sex...err...six chairs. (<---Clear Freudian slip, I'm not editing it out, I kinda like it.) Anyway, yesterday we went to the Koolhaus Warehouse, sorry Warehaus off Clarke. On the way back to work we stopped at a Banh Mi shop on Clarke, southwest corner of Kingsway. Vietnamese Deli I beleive it was called. And it was a real deli, if I had even the vaguest notion what they were selling, I might have bought something. Anyway, sandwiches were two fifty each. Best Bank Mi I've ever had, with the exception of being light on mayo. Pate, lots of veg, (could have been slightly more pickled), killer bread. Ate it in the car, got crumbs everywhere. Three (big) sandwichs for seven fifty.

Today we went to some antique store across the street from Meinhardt that specializes in mid century modern furniture. Sadly the chairs we wanted were far more attractive in the website than in person, the search continues. Parked right in front of Picnic, went in for lunch. I had roast beef, blue cheese and onion, wife had turkey and roast peppers. ten bucks each, comes with a side salad. Okay, that's pricey but you come to the big city, get ready to pay.

No one is there except for us. I order. The clerk tells we I need to move to the end of the counter to order, never mind the fact that the place is empty, rules and procedures must be followed. They ask if we'd like our sandwiches grilled. Hell yes. All sandwiches should be grilled. Get our order and get in the car. Get to King Edward and Granville, pull out lunch and take a bite. WTF? SPROUTS? WHO THE HELL PUTS SPROUTS ON A PANINI? Sprouts, no lie. No blue cheese, rather generic provolone. The ten dollar sandwich is about the size of an I-pod. Side salad consists of brown at the edges generic baby field green mix served in a 250 ml. plastic container. I have no idea what it tasted like, as they forgot to throw a fork in the bag. Or maybe it was incumbent on me to fetch my own fork. I hate when takeout places don't provide cutlery, and neglect to mention it's serve yourself. Scratch that, I plain hate takeout places that are so effiecent, the make you get your own plastic spork. Thanks for that. I'll bet the labour saving there adds up to at least three dollars a year. Spiffy takeout bag though. If were were grading places based on their chic takeout bags in this city, Rangoli would be first, Picnic second, and Wendy's third. If we were judging takeout, Rangoli would be first still, and Wendy's and Picnic would be battling it out too, probably not for second and third though.

I'm still amazed that I received sprouts on a roast beef sandwich. The chairs we were looking at were circa '73, who knew my sandwich was going to be too.

[Sam Salmon]

Picnic does have the air of a not-too-thoroughly-thought-through idea about the place -give it a year it'll be gone/reworked/made back into the broom closet it once was.

[*Deborah*]

They made an inferior sandwich for the wrong guy...provolone instead of blue? Shocking!

[nwyles]

Do they have any idea who they just screwed over !! Rant on !

Tell me more about the place on Kingsway - is it the place on the corner, yellow awning - north west side ? Is that it ? Best you ever had ? I can walk there ( halfway between house and White Spot where we are serious regulars )

[BCinBC]

That's pretty bad, subbing provolone in for blue without even asking you first. Picnic has learned pricing technique from Meinhardt's, and people pay so why not. I have been a couple times, and I will say that the staff has been friendly and competent each time. Maybe we got lucky or Keith got unlucky.

Re: roast beef and sprouts - personally I like it, but in a regular sandwich. Sprouts in a pannini is weird. (Or is that pannino? Probably. Sorry Italian-Canadians.)

I am waiting for the day that Subway catches the bahn mi wave and proceeds to bastardize everything the dollar-per-pound-king-of-sandwiches has to offer. Maybe combine it with the ridiculous Atkins fad, and create the Vietnamese Wrap. Find some formerly-large Vietnamese dude with a name phonetically similar to Jered and make him an icon for the unwashed masses. Actually I'm just posting this here so that when it does happen, I have a date and time stamped copy of my idea so I can sue Subway and retire. So c'mon Subway think tank, read this and make me rich!

[shelora]

Sprouts - ewww! With roast beef and blue? - just not right!

Speaking of Subway, what is that smell that they produce? Its kinda of like fresh baked bread with an undertone of chemicals.

I guess its supposed to entice customers, but I find the odour alarming.

[*Deborah*]

Sprouts - ewww! With roast beef and blue? - just not right!

Speaking of Subway, what is that smell that they produce? Its kinda of like fresh baked bread with an undertone of chemicals.

I guess its supposed to entice customers, but I find the odour alarming.

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I can't eat there for that very reason, the aroma simply turns my stomach.

[Badiane]

Sprouts - ewww! With roast beef and blue? - just not right!

Speaking of Subway, what is that smell that they produce? Its kinda of like fresh baked bread with an undertone of chemicals.

I guess its supposed to entice customers, but I find the odour alarming.

←

I always think if it as fresh baked chemicals with a hint of decomposition...reminds me that the morgue at Shaughnessy was WAY too close to the cafteria.

Creeps me out.

[Ducky]

I agree that Picnic is crap. It's quite convenient for us, so we regularly give them the benefit of the doubt - but are always disappointed.

For Panini's we have recently taken to heading to the Parthenon on West Broadway - and these are always brilliant - particularly if you can get the old guy behind the counter to make them for you from scratch. Mortadella with manchego cheese is our current favourite.

Four bucks.

[peppyre]

I much preferred Picnic when it was Meinhardt's florist.

[Ling]

Sprouts - ewww! With roast beef and blue? - just not right!

Speaking of Subway, what is that smell that they produce? Its kinda of like fresh baked bread with an undertone of chemicals.

I guess its supposed to entice customers, but I find the odour alarming.

←

I always think if it as fresh baked chemicals with a hint of decomposition...reminds me that the morgue at Shaughnessy was WAY too close to the cafteria.

Creeps me out.

←

Aw man...one of the guys I'm dating eats Subway twice a day. A footlong meatball sub for lunch and a footlong tuna sub for dinner. Should I stop seeing him?

[canucklehead]

Yes.

[the g-man]

What about the fine sandwiches at Duffin's Donuts at Main and 33rd?

Those tasty little guys deserve their own thread. They call them tortas, which are apparently Mexican, but the proprietors are from Cambodia. Some of the sandwiches are basically bahn mi (such as the "viet-chicken", aka #10), they also have a very tasty one with pork and sliced avocado. Three bucks and change. Maybe I will start a thread: "Luncheon at Duffin's: The Appreciation Thread". Review a different sandwich every day.

They also serve bubble tea, fried chicken and some of the nicest donuts I have met. I haven't even had the coffee but it probably kicks ass because the clientele looks like they clearly know their way around a good cup of coffee. It is the kind of place where undercover cops hang out and union guys plot ways to stick it to the management.

A donut shop run by a Cambodian family selling Mexican sandwiches and bubble tea. A true Vancouver moment. Douglas Coupland should write a coffee table book about this place.

[Lynn Dinwoodie]

I tried Duffins ..once ..was a little underwhelmed...thought the sandwhich was a wee bit wee..but it was certainly cheap tho..I was surprised at the amazing selection..a lot of choice..perhaps I'll try it again..what would you suggest

[jackandjill]

Could it have been The Kingsway Deli you had the banh mi at?

Check out the Banh Mi in Vancouver forum for some good Banh Mi references: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=7513&hl=banh

I think I just like saying Banh Mi.

[jamiemaw]

Aw man...one of the guys I'm dating eats Subway twice a day. A footlong meatball sub for lunch and a footlong tuna sub for dinner. Should I stop seeing him? 

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Chief clue: If The Subway Poster Boy operates under the pretense of both losing weight and tucking his foot-long into his sock you shuld run immediately in the opposite direction, Ling. On the other hand, the meatballs, as you might have gathered by now, are probably superfluous.

As always in tuna salad,

Keith Talent and Johnny Wadd.

Edited July 13, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[Chef Fowke]

Sprouts - ewww! With roast beef and blue? - just not right!

Speaking of Subway, what is that smell that they produce? Its kinda of like fresh baked bread with an undertone of chemicals.

I guess its supposed to entice customers, but I find the odour alarming.

←

I always think if it as fresh baked chemicals with a hint of decomposition...reminds me that the morgue at Shaughnessy was WAY too close to the cafteria.

Creeps me out.

←

Aw man...one of the guys I'm dating eats Subway twice a day. A footlong meatball sub for lunch and a footlong tuna sub for dinner. Should I stop seeing him?

←

My GOD! I am a chef...

When do you have time to date, you eat and enjoy more then I do.

Good on you...

Lets talk Mar's Bar Kolachy; it will make your current obsession...by order only, 24 hours notice.

…maybe a ginger bread and caramel sauce Kolachy; I think I may have a recipe somewhere.

[Keith Talent]

A little help for us sheltered members. I'd guess that exactly zero of the links are worksafe.

The sandwich place was next door to the Kensington Library branch.. Next to the sandwich shop was a pho shop. West side of Clarke Drive, south of Kingsway.

And yes, Subway has a strange odour wafting from them. And did you know that the quality of a Subway is in direct proportion to how long the maker has resided in Canada? If you can get a recent immigrant to make a Subway, you'll be pleasntly suprised. It seems time in Canada dulls ones ability to determine what "a hell of a lot of peppers" means. Natives of the Indian subcontinent make the best sandwich artists, moreso if their grasp of english is rudimentary.

[Keith Talent]

Oh, and Clarke Drive = Knight Street.

[nwyles]

Gingerbread Kolachy = Broken leg !!!!!

[Badiane]

[Aw man...one of the guys I'm dating eats Subway twice a day. A footlong meatball sub for lunch and a footlong tuna sub for dinner. Should I stop seeing him? 

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Actually, I would ask him this question: Do you eat there because you think it is good food? If he says yes, kick him to the curb. If he says no, it's crap, but it's next door and I have to eat, well, benefit of the doubt Maybe he is saving money eating at Subway so he can afford to wine and dine you in the manner to which you have become accustomed.

But who am I to say...my husband was the king of the 5 day'er...and he loves a good meatball sub from Subway! But since I got ahold of him, he also has an appreciation for a lot of fine foods he never would have tried without me.

Speaking of sandwiches If you ever go to Bellingham, rock down to Electric Avenue and visit DaVinci Subs...it's in the back of a Mini Mart, next to a donut shop. Best sandwich I've ever had...

[inanimate]

Gonna second the duffin's recommendation. Great sandwiches!

The pork and chicken in particular. So cheap and wonderful. easily one of my favourites in the city.

[chef jeff]

I just have to add my 2 cents here. I freakin' love Duffins. Not for the doughnuts, not for the bubble tea, not for the truckstop gas station grade fried chicken, but for the tortas. They do have Vietnamese subs there as well, but it is the hot Machaca and chorizo and egg tortas that I love. They are a little small, so buy 2. For the price of one poor excuse for a panini, you can have two beautiful sandwiches. A good sandwich is defined by a few things:

1.Good bread/bun/bagel (no wraps)

2.Proportionate amount of filling to bread

3.Made fresh

4.Moist (juices dripping down your arm is a good thing)

5.Flavour!!!!!!

6.Value (not neccesary, but nice)

Duffins meets all of these criterium. Not a lot of other sandwiches do.

So if you see me driving down Main street with a sandwich in my face, it's Duffins, and I'm as happy as a pig in shit.

[chef jeff]

Sorry, the Machaca is a nicely spiced pulled pork sandwich that comes with fresh lettuce, ripe tomato, ripe avacado and onion.

My mouth is waterin all over the keyboard!

[Ling]

[Aw man...one of the guys I'm dating eats Subway twice a day. A footlong meatball sub for lunch and a footlong tuna sub for dinner. Should I stop seeing him? 

←

Actually, I would ask him this question: Do you eat there because you think it is good food? If he says yes, kick him to the curb. If he says no, it's crap, but it's next door and I have to eat, well, benefit of the doubt Maybe he is saving money eating at Subway so he can afford to wine and dine you in the manner to which you have become accustomed.

But who am I to say...my husband was the king of the 5 day'er...and he loves a good meatball sub from Subway! But since I got ahold of him, he also has an appreciation for a lot of fine foods he never would have tried without me.

←

When I read your post about the 5 day-er, my stomach turned...especially when I got to the part about the ingredients...

He says he eats there b/c it's convenient. But he did take me to Morton's on our first date and polished off the entire porterhouse by himself! And he did order it rare!

Chef Fowke: The Mars bar kolachy sounds good. Nougat-y, chocolate-y bread...Mmmm. Gingerbread kolachy not so much--I wouldn't want the dough (delicious as it is) diluting the taste of the warm caramel and heady spices in the dessert.

Edited July 13, 2005 by Ling (log)