sandwiches Archives

In Chinatown

Finch’s Market: This Place Be Hipster

April 17, 2013

If you have ever heard of Finch’s in Downtown Vancouver, you will love their sister restaurant – Finch’s Market. They have been open since December 2012 serving up their delicious sandwiches and salads. It’s located on East Georgia and Jackson Avenue in the heart of Strathcona. It is literally in a residential area, so it can be a tad difficult to navigate from Chinatown if you don’t have a map.

I came here with my coworker and we were so amazed by the neighbourhood. The houses are quite beautiful and reminded us of houses we would see in San Francisco. If you are going to Finch’s Market, do take the time and look around the area.

Given the location is quite out of the ordinary, the vibe of the restaurant is quite calm and enjoyable for lunch. What is so unique about Finch’s Market is the small selection of local produce and ingredients. You can find spices and baking ingredients. You can enjoy lunch and also grab some ingredients for dinner, whether it be milk, cinnamon sticks or some cane sugar.

You will definitely notice their large shelf full of items too. From pasta to hot sauce. There is a lot of the out of the ordinary items you won’t find at larger grocery stores.

They have baked goods too but we were here for the sandwiches and salads. muhahahaha.

They also have this weird coffee contraption too.

Water in mason jars.

Pear Baguette has prosciutto, roasted walnuts, oil, vinegar and blue brie. My coworker loved it! You wouldn’t normally think these ingredients go well together, but they do!

Avocado and Walnut Salad comes with tomatoes, cucumbers with a balsamic dressing. It also comes with bread. The salad was very filling and held up to the same standard as the other Finch’s.

Overall, we both left full and happy. It was a lovely surprise to see such a restaurant in Strathcona. The prices are a bit pricey, closer to the $10 mark, but it’s good food.

We Rate Finch’s Market:

Address:
501 E. Georgia St
Vancouver, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=501+E.+Georgia+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=501+E+Georgia+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6A+3E1&gl=ca&t=m&z=14 “]

In Bakery

The Baker & The Chef: A Sandwich Cafe

November 7, 2012

A few month ago a heard much hype from The Baker & The Chef that opened near Hastings and Cambie. They have items like sandwiches, soups, and of course baked goods.

The interior isn’t too large, but has lots of seating for singles or pairs of customers.

The Capilano Panini(Full- $8) has foccacia bread, grilled chicken breast, brie, mixed greens, and pesto. There are sticks of carrots and celery on the side, which is a nice touch. The sandwich was just average and nothing too impressive. It was just disappointing how little chicken there was in the sandwich. As you can see from the picture, it’s all in the center, so when you take your first bite, you won’t get chicken.

Overall, my friend and I thought this place was ok, but with a lot of other sandwich shops in close proximity, it’s hard to compete. It’s cool to get sandwiches named after cool Vancouver streets. Quite creative.

We Rate The Baker & The Chef:

Address:
320 Cambie St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.thebakerandthechef.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=320+Cambie+St+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=320+Cambie+St,+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+2N3&gl=ca&t=m&z=16″]

In Cafe

Brioche: Soup, Sandwiches, and Lasagna in Gastown

November 6, 2012

Brioche is located in the Gastown close to both SFU Vancouver and Woodwards. They are known for their yummy comfort foods like soups, sandwiches, and pasta. M and I came here since it half way between both our offices. My last visit was about 2 years ago, so I wanted to see if there were any improvements.

The space is great for chats with friends over coffee and food.

Latte was OK. Couldn’t have been a bit stronger.

Grilled NY Striploin w/ Wild Mushroom Sauce is also served with soup. There are so many different ways of eating this. You can eat it like a sandwich, or eat it like an open-faced sandwich. This item is on the special board usually and is quite pricey when you decide to order it. The menu doesn’t specify price, so it’s really going to hurt your wallet since it’s just lunch.

I tend to order this item when I go to Brioche because it’s filling and the mushroom sauce and the tender striploin is super delicious.

Seafood Bisque was very watery and had more of a lemony tang to the flavour profile. The seafood taste wasn’t as prominent.

Bolognese Lasagna w/ 8 Layer Sauce and contains Bechamel, Salsiccia, Mushroom, and Bolognese. M did enjoy the dish, but for $18 was not worth it. He wouldn’t have ordered this if he knew the price before hand.

Overall, the food is great, but the price is way too much for a lunch. You can end up paying $20 for a dish and a drink.

Words of Wisdom:

Food is a pricey and no visible pricing on dishes
Best in small groups
Panini’s are really good
Parking garage across the street. Discounted parking for SFU students after 6pm.

We rate Broioche:

Website:
http://www.brioche.ca/

Address:
401 West Cordova Street
Vancouver BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=401+West+Cordova+Street+Vancouver+BC&hnear=401+W+Cordova+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V6B+1E5&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Cafe

DD Mau: Banh Mi Vietnamese Sandwiches in Yaletown

October 28, 2012

DD Mau is a modern Vietnamese Banh Mi Sandwich shop. It’s located close to the Yaletown Skytrain. They sell drinks, salads, vermicelli bowls, and sandwiches.

Avocado Smoothie ($4.50) is made with fresh avocados and almond milk. It’s my all time favorite smoothie! The texture is great and the taste of avocado goes so well with the almond milk.

Thai Tea Latte is a new item they just introduced. I’ve never had anything like it, but it had an array of different spices and flavours. It was refreshing and delicious.

DD Mau Iced Coffee ($3.50) has espresso, sweet condensed milk, and Ice. M said it was the best iced coffee he has had so far. The owner said there is a secret ingredient inside! She wouldn’t tell us, but it was yummy!

Braised Sate Short Rib with Caramelized Onions and Watercress ($12) . This was their special feature when we were there. It’s more expensive than their regular Banh Mi Sandwiches, but M really enjoyed the flavours inside.

The sandwich is cut in half, so its easier to eat. The short ribs were very tender and went well with the pickled vegetables . M liked how the bread was a bit softer than most of the other Vietnamese sandwich places, so it doesn’t hurt the top of your mouth.

Crispy Roasted Pork ($8.80) has loads of duck and the addictive crackling! Kind like Meat & Bread, but with a Vietnamese twist.

Overall, M and I enjoyed the items that we had there. Some items can be expensive like their special sandwiches, but their regular sandwiches are still yummy.

Words of Wisdom:

Limited Seating
All of the sandwiches are good, you can’t go wrong

We Rate DD Mau:

Address:
1239 Pacific Blvd
Vancouver, BC

Website:
ddmau.ca

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1239+Pacific+Blvd+Vancouver,+BC&hnear=1239+Pacific+Blvd,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V6Z+2V2&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Downtown

Beentoo Sandwiches and BBQ: Where have you beentoo?

May 6, 2011

A new restaurant – Beentoo just popped up across the street from where I work. My coworker and I wanted to go try it out. We thought it would be Japanese food since the name is very close to bento. Clearly it was not since it is a Sandwich and BBQ restaurant.

Once you walk inside, it kinda resembles McDonalds…Long narrow interior with ordering counter at the very end. Once you look at the menu, it is not anything like McDonalds! Sure they have a usual burger but what got me intrigued were their variety of burgers – Korean Spicy chicken, lemon grass chicken, pulled pork… etc. There are also wraps and other healthy alternatives.

I ordered the Korean Spicy Chicken combo ($6.79). You get your sandwich with a pop/coffee and a choice of side. There were good sides to choose from – yam fries, Caesar salad, garden greens or chicken corn chowder.

I was curious about the chicken corn chowder, so I ordered that. It was your average chowder.

The Korean Spicy Chicken Sandwich is really good! The chicken steak is very moist and not too spicy. Just a little bit of a kick, but it will not overwhelm your taste buds. The chicken seemed very fresh but the main key thing is moist.

When I went, they were having promotions of giving free drinks with purchase. Today I looked over and there is no tax. They are really doing a huge push to tap into the market of catering to international students. On the 3 blocks of Seymour, there are tons and tons of international students.

Overall, I did like their burgers. Even the lemongrass was pretty good!

Words of Wisdom:

Has promotional deals going on ….No Tax, Free drink
Lemongrass chicken burger + Korean Spicy chicken burger!
Under $10
Closest Skytrain – Granville
Limited seating

We Rate Beentoo:

Address:

552 Seymour Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.beentoo.ca

In Cafe

Meat & Bread: The Power of Twitter

March 28, 2011

When I’m in Downtown in the office, I love looking for places to eat for lunch. I do rely on twitter for deals or even new cool items a restaurant has for that day. I was looking up and down my twitter feed and Meat & Bread had some new items on the menu, even secret ones too…so I just had to go!

They had 2 specials that day – the Chicken Hot Wing and the goat sandwich. When do you ever get to go to a restaurant and give them a secret code to get a secret sandwich that only tweeters know. (GASP!)

I took Mandu with me to try these sandwiches! It was close to both our offices so we didn’t trek too much out of the way.

Mandu ordered the Chicken Hot Wing ($8). It has chicken, hot sauce, celery, carrots and blue cheese. Mandu really liked the taste of it! The only issue she had with it was that the sauce was a bit watery, so when she ate it, the sauce would leak out.

I went up and told one of the staff “Gimme the Goat“. He was surprised that the tweet actually worked! They had enough ingredients to make 10 sandwiches and I was the first one to sink my teeth into it! When I took my sandwich to the table, the table beside us kept looking at our food and tried to identify what they were. Clearly, they could not identify the goat sandwich. It was super awkward attempting to eat the sandwich when people are clearly staring at you. I had to intrude on their conversation and tell them about what we ordered so it would give them a clear idea of what to order and give them recommendations. After a few giggles here and there, they totally ordered the same thing as us. (The power of influence!)

If you are into the whole internet ‘meme’ thing, you will understand what I’m trying to say. I had to remove the inappropriate words just in case there were children reading this.

OK, anyways, back to the sandwich! The taste was super amazing! I had no idea what was in it. If I tried to guess the ingredients, I will probably trick you into thinking things….honestly I have no idea what I ate. I probably should have asked but I was too hungry. (Having no allergies is awesome FYI). The goat was really nice, tender, and super flavourful. There was also some type of greens and this purple spread. Trust me it was good!

I also got a soda! They have several types of sodas but I chose the Dandelion & Burdock Soda. Apparently it is the most popular soda they have. You will not find any Coke or 7up at Meat & Bread. The soda did not taste too strange or earthy.

It is infused with Dandelion leaves and Burdock root, sweetened with pear juice and spiced with a touch of ginger and anise. Apparently its a popular British type of soda. It may sound gross since dandelion are weeds….but delicious!

Words of Wisdom:

Best to go early to ensure nothing is sold out
Porchetta is the most popular but the other sandwiches are also delicious
The sauces are a must try

We rate Meat & Bread:

Check out their website: http://meatandbread.ca/

In Cafe

Finch’s Tea & Coffee House

March 27, 2011

On the last lunch with MedicalGiraffe, she took me to Finch’s Tea & Coffee House. She always finds the coolest places to go to. Sometimes I have no idea how she finds these places.

Finch’s is famous for the amazing baguette sandwiches.

My first impressions of this place is that it is a very hipster place. The ceilings and the walls are quite rustic. Their entire menu is written on the black chalk boards. There are not a lot of seats, so you may need to share a table or take out.

I ordered Green Tea and MedicalGiraffe ordered a type of Riboos Tea. The teas around about $2.50 and you can always ask them for more hot water if you finish your tea.

MedicalGiraffe had the pear baguette ($8.95). It contains blue brie, prosciutto, roasted walnuts, oil, vingar, salt & pepper and also pears! These are made of high quality ingredients and they don’t skimp on any of the ingredients.

I had a bit of this and I never knew how good pears and prosciutto could be! YUM!

I ordered the prosciutto Baguette ($7.95). It contains edam cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, oil, vinegar, salt, papper and of course prosciutto. I also loved it. The baguette was nice and fluffy with amazing ingredients inside. All the ingredients work well together and you will leave Finch’s satisfied!

Even a week after since having this sandwich, its always on my mind. If any type of food has left such an impression on you, you know it was amazing.

After the sandwiches, we wanted to try other items on the menu. I looked at the cheese plates and I spotted the Applewood Smoked Cheddar Cheese Plate ($9.25) . This was a simple cheese plate that included wheat crackers, fresh whole apple, cerignola olives, roasted walnuts, grapes and applewood smoked cheddar cheese.

The apple was indeed prepared on the spot! You can tell this by the color of the apple. If it was left out for a bit, it would have oxidized and turning brown.

The plate was a bit expensive and it was not too amazing.

Words of Wisdom: