The Tuesday Taste: Quizno's

 

We shared some ideas

All obsessed with fame

says we're all the same

Oh, I don't see it that way

I don't see it that way

 

Another Tuesday, another Taste. This week, if you're still feeling those Blue Jay blues, here's what you do: put down the news, take off your shoes and settle in, for this review.  

If you're somehow still with me, first off thank you. Second, you might see what the review is this week and immediately ask yourself: "Where the heck is there still a Quizno's in Toronto???"

The answer is... only one! They've strangely vanished in the night fog, where once upon a time there used to be several in downtown Toronto alone... now there's just that single outpost at Dufferin and King. The next closest Quizno's to the downtown T.O. core is at 5170 Dixie Road in Mississauga... you know, a completely different city (for anyone reading this not familiar with southern Ontario). 

I used to sneak off during my Drake Hotel shifts to this very same Quizno's (sorry, Drake friends) and re-entering it for this review, for the first time in likely 13 years, the entire layout had not changed one bit. The paint/design on the walls was different I'm sure, but the tables were all aligned the same way, the spots where you order and then pay exactly as they were. I wouldn't call it going back in time or anything, only that the process of it felt comfortably familiar. 

The sandwich itself though... I got the Monday special, a "Honey Bacon Club" which sounded agreeable enough. Something about Quizno's I'd completely forgotten (it'd been maybe 8 years since I've last been to one) is the conveyor belt toaster oven thing. Most sub places I've been to recently, which really isn't very many, employ a large panini press-like device to toast (and often over-flatten) certain sandwiches. The conveyor instead allows the main composition of the sandwich to be lightly baked by heat, enough to make bread crispy on the outside and for cheese to melt over, but still keeping the thing internally soft. 

Selecting the Parmesan Herb bread was not a regrettable choice. While this cheese baked in was far too cheddary to actually be Parmesan, it gave this sandwich a nice crunchy cheesiness and some sharpness to compliment the sweet sauce and the fattiness of the ham. That ham itself: surprisingly tender, sweetly flavourful and somewhat plentiful! You could taste it in each bite, and certain portions of the sandwich had a nice thick collection of slices. What also impressed was how unsalty it was, as heavy salt is definitely something commonly found among cheaper sandwich meats. 

So far, really darn good! Before I sound like a Quizno's revivalist or something, there are some weaker elements here. The bacon on here... rather bizarre. A bit like pre-fried bits of bacon ripped apart into smaller bits and degreased, something I imagine working wonders on nachos or especially a baked potato but a sandwich? It just crumbles out and really isn't able to add much to the overall product. As for the "herb" element of the bread, there's definitely some rosemary in there and that's a flavour that likes to cut in line at the movies. The cheese aspect definitely comes off more successfully in that duo, as this far more resembles a cheese bun you could buy at a bakery rather than a herby bread loaf.

Lets allow the sauce on here to decide, this final ingredient to make either a winner or a "not winner". Well it certainly falls into that first category, because this sauce (also the only sauce on the sandwich at all) really nails it. This fills in all the gaps: a maple syrup mixed with honey taste that doesn't insist upon itself, a thin texture that doesn't overly linger on the tongue, seeping into the bread without making it ever soggy... just like something you'd want to add into the best fried beans ever. I was genuinely worried this would be like an assertive BBQ sauce (sweet or smokey it doesn't matter) and swallow everything else between the buns. Instead... perfect compliment. 

Overall... seriously though why are there so few of these left and goddamn Subways still multiplying everywhere? Quizno's reminds me of a sandwich you can make at home when you're treating yourself to fancier bread and non generic toppings. I really liked this... even cold a few hours later it still balanced the line between stale and overly moist. One final complaint I suppose would be that I wasn't given the option to add cucumbers to it, which Mr. Sub and Subway would have. Otherwise... I'm damn impressed, especially considering how minimalist (just bread, ham, lettuce, bacon bits and one sauce) this actually was.        

Burnt Ends -- Wrote a lot of various "items of interest" in the past week! For Star Trek eyes, I wrote a little review of a terrific Next Generation episode called "The Most Toys". For food eyes, I checked out the chicken wings at Leslieville haunt The Queens Head. Finally for baseball eyes, I wrote an obituary covering the emotional and frustrating ride of the 2021 Blue Jays (this one is by far the gloomiest writing of the three, you've been warned). 

Probably won't be quite as pro-active this week as last, but stay tuned perhaps for another Trek mini-review.

Double Trouble -- So... it does seem here in Canada that KFC's Double Down sandwich is actually back. May whatever deity you worship and trust save you from this culinary carnage.

If you have been spared the knowledge of what the "Double Down" is, it is a chicken sandwich where the chicken has been replaced by bacon and cheese, while the buns have been replaced by fried chicken. It's two slabs of fried chicken with only processed cheese and goddamn bacon in the middle because apparently this wasn't greasy enough. The late great Norm Macdonald sums it up as only he could.

And oh yeah... I'll definitely review it. Not kidding. 

 

An Ocean of Noise -- Shoutout to my friend Neil for sharing this video: a really cool animation of how  deep various bodies of water go, with landmarks, shipwrecks and structures used to provide scale. Lets just say the bottom of the ocean sounds like a wondrous and terrifying place. 

Equally cool, and something I just discovered, are these underwater sculptures in various sea beds. The article and gallery are quite interesting while the photos... simply gorgeous.   

Tuesday Tune -- Lets jump back to one of my very favourite albums from high school ("Room On Fire" came out when I was in Grade 11, but listening to this one afterwards completely blew my mind). Got to see them live at work a couple years ago and beyond bringing back a million memories of the early 2000s, they were pretty darn good also. Here's a killer tune off that debut album.

 

 

That's it for another week! Take care all, pray that somehow the Red Sox and Yankees can both lose tonight (or do what I'm gonna do and not watch), treat each other well and don't spill that mustard.