Just looking out on the day
of another dream
Where you can't get what you want
but you can get me
So let's set out to sea, love
Cause you are my medicine
when you're close to me
Another Tuesday... another Taste.
This week we're back into the world of egg drop sandwiches, an East Asian cuisine import that was a smashing success when we checked out Bad Egg a few weeks back. This time we're exploring a similar style of sandwich, only with Japanese milk bread instead. Time to join the Egg Club I guess.
The backstory, which as you know if you've read my work before, I like to give a little dive into... with Egg Club it's vague as hell. All I can find is how a trio of dudes named Jason, Tim and Jun, who after an underwhelming expensive brunch somewhere in Toronto (fair enough) created Egg Club as their own attempt to both shift the breakfast culture and create a trend among egg sandwiches within the Toronto breakfast scene. In autumn 2020, the first Egg Club opened up near Dundas Square in downtown Toronto... they've since expanded to ten locations throughout the city (and in Ottawa) with several more planned in the immediate future.
In yet another episode of having too much time to kill in Union Station before work, back into the food hall I went and to Egg Club's little stall there.
Throughout their short history, Egg Club have seemingly kept their menu tight: the same eight egg sandwiches, a couple of breakfast bowl options (which I'm not sure the Union Station location offers), coffee, some juices, their special hash brown and that's pretty much all there is. As such, I got their bacon and cheese egg sandwich with one of those very hash browns.
One absolutely key component of what Egg Club is doing is in their bread they're using. While the founders of Egg Club are secretive about their exact recipes (more on that later) they do reveal this is shokupan, a Japanese type of milk bread that is known for it's fluffy and milky-sweetness.
I can indeed vouch for the gentle softness of this bread: it's lightly toasted and quite squeezable despite those thick slices. That milk-sweet taste is quite subtle but also very welcome next to the heavier elements within the sandwich.
As for those fillings? You've got cheese, bacon, folded scrambled eggs and their Egg Club sauce. Also, notice how the bottom of this sandwich is still together, much like a hot dog bun? Strange construction, especially when it results in the final couple bites becoming just bread... fortunate how that bread is delicious on its own.
First off, we've got very generic processed American cheese here that is barely melted... a serious misstep. Considering the strong quality of the bread, using such a cheap plasticy cheese just seems really out of place... like using McCain frozen french fries for your AAA level steak frites. Slices of American cheese like this have their times and places (melted all over a burger, on a grilled cheese sandwich etc) but this is not one of them. I ended up picking off a lot of this lame cheese, frankly... that distinct processed taste was disrupting and detracting from the other flavours.
Fortunately, the rest of the sandwich overcomes that swing-and-a-miss, coming together (right now... over me) to be quite tasty. These folded over scrambled eggs indeed nail that sweet spot of fluffiness while mostly holding together... incredibly enjoyable. Meanwhile the bacon is cooked somewhere in the medium range: not loose and greasy, nor crispy and dry. You get some fattier bits, some firmer parts... it's entirely fine although could've been much more of a presence on here (I suspect their "Meat Lover's" sandwich, basically this exact same thing plus a sausage patty, evens out that egg-to-meat imbalance).
Finally, the Egg Club sauce. Definitely more of a savoury addition to this sandwich. I got a hint of a herby garlicy type of creamy mayo-sauce to it, which matches really nicely with that light, slightly sweet bread (and another reason why that processed cheese slice just doesn't fit in here at all... some sharp old cheddar would've been perfect).
Finishing off with the Egg Club hash brown. You can clearly see this is no ordinary hash brown: it being folded over is strange enough, but then you have this potato filling in the centre of it... honestly it looks like a fried potato taco or something. Do fried potato tacos exist? That sounds delicious.
The hash brown part of this item is very on point. Some light seasoning, the crispiness is just perfect (endlessly enjoyable crunch) and surprisingly not insanely oily either. The shredded potato within has a full, fresh taste as well... none of that distinct tingling flat flavour you get from pre-frozen stuff.
If that were all, this would be a terrific hash brown. However, there's that filling in the middle as well... with texture much like an ice cream scoop of soft mashed potato. The flavour of it is rich and creamy as well, with an almost maple-syrup-like hint. This is straight up delicious, and I'd eat these mashed potatoes as their own stand alone item as is. Squeezed between a crispy hash brown? That, my dear friends and readers, is pure genius. Whoever thought of this (Egg Club themselves or borrowed from somewhere else) truly must love potatoes in all their most delicious forms and I wholeheartedly approve of this ingenuity.
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Overall! I'd say this "Egg" Club is a club worth joining... assuming that's the kind of 'club' we're referring to here. Is it instead some kind of egg golf club? (that must be one messy fairway). Or maybe a playing card reference, their egg sandwiches are akin to the king of clubs? Perhaps it's 'club' as a verb, wherein these eggs are clubbing you over the head because they're so good! Or these eggs are hitting King West on a Saturday night for some night-clubbing.
However you want to interpret it (I'm imagining a golf club made of eggs myself), Egg Club is legitimately very good and I recommend checking them out. A high quality local chain! I did find this sandwich somewhat basic at points, to its slight detriment... but that delicious Japanese milk bread really helps lighten those duller moments in the sandwich. Meanwhile, that hash brown alone is worth checking them out as soon as possible. Next level stuff, that one.
Anyhow... among breakfast-y chains here in Toronto, this one is without a doubt one of the higher end ones. Check em out.
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Pizza Grab Bag
In case you missed it, I recently published a super-review wherein I checked out three(!) different pizza spots, taking a shorter look at each one. The link is right here, within this very sentence... give it a read if you please.
Tuesday Tune
These be times for melancholy and hills.
That's it for another week! Until next time, stay safe, take care of yourselves and don't spill that mustard.
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