White Spot - comfort food...

Earlier this month, my mom and my stepdad met me for lunch at my neighbourhood White Spot. It's one of my mom's favourite places and since she was heading to HK for a few months, she would be going through serious withdrawal for a while.

She tried out one of their new flatbreads, the Rustica. It's a flatbread with spinach, portobello mushrooms and grilled peppers, zucchini and onions, topped with an Arrabbiata sauce and Bleubrie cheese. Her only complaint was the Bleubrie that came with the dish - she finds Bleu cheese too pungent. We asked if they could make it with cheddar instead and they were very accommodating. Good to know that these weren't pre-made, frozen and just reheated when a customer placed the order.

She was really delighted with the dish...as you can see, it's truly loaded with vegetables but I didn't really see any portobello mushroom on there, do you?  Oh, and the whole thing comes with a side caesar salad, in case there isn't enough vegetables for you on the flatbread.

I decided to go with a Beef Dip, their au jus always gets me. I love how it comes nice and hot. I asked for the sandwich to be made without butter, and double-toasted, really, it's the only way to go. After all, the butter would just make it harder for the au jus to soak into the bread. The side salad was quite large, but not my focus today.

The bun didn't really seem to be double toasted, it's so pale, isn't it? But I can't complain about the stack of roast beef in between the bread. Once you dip it into the au jus, it's like a mini roast beef dinner in your mouth.
I've loved White Spot ever since growing up with their Pirate Paks, and would still recommend it to parents of young children. They have been revamping their menu, trying to bring themselves up to compete with the other "younger" chains, such as Earls, Joey's and Cactus Club. But their clientele seems to be an older crowd, so maybe they should just focus on upgrading their tried and true dishes such as the Nat Bailey's Hearty Breakfast, Shrimp Clubhouse, and their Double Double. How can you beat a 1/2 lb. beef burger with two patties, double cheese, lettuce, tomato, Triple “O” sauce & double dills? Oh, you can add their coleslaw and endless fries, now, there's a classic.