Gastown Eats - Meat and Bread

Years ago, I recall going to something called The Sandwich Tree. Goodness, how far have I come since those days. I reviewed Meat and Bread for Vancity Buzz and here is my short post of the visit there, but on my own blog, I can get a bit more in depth!

When we arrived, we were herded quickly into the growing lineup, and the menu and "order-pay-sit" system was explained to us. We saw the giant porchetta and could not stop staring...we were clearly going to have one of those.

This is what you get when you ask for the Meatball Sandwich. It's not really meatballs, more like meat blobs, large meaty pieces. Topped with marinara sauce and healthy squirts of sambal sauce. 

They're ready! Love the casual serving style with some kitchen paper and a wooden cutting board. They have a large selection of knives in the back and if you're going to share your sammies, as for one to slice them up yourself.

The meatball sammy is served simply with a dollop of mustard. The flakes of parmesan are added right at the end...just wish there were a few more of those slices. 

Okay - take a close look at the bad boy...the cheese is just starting to melt and you can see, the meat is not really ball-shaped...more like a messy meatloaf. The heat from the sambal is a good complement to the marinara sauce. Served slightly warm, we devoured this one first. Soft untoasted ciabatta bread make this sandwich squishable enough to get it all into your mouth. 

Here is a bird's eye view of the porchetta sandwich, open-faced. Generous slices of porchetta, sprinkled with herbs and salsa verde. The taste of this is definitely milder than the meatball sub. But then again, that one had sambal chili sauce in it. Had I thought about it, I probably would have eaten this one first, but then again the meatball sammy was warm and just begged to be eaten that way. 

Okay - here is the thing  that really won me over on the sandwich...slices of crackling. Oh baby, crispy pork skin. I think any sandwich would benefit with a few crackling bits...they should bottle this stuff and sell it along with their other sauces.
I would like to return and try their dessert ice cream sandwich and any other sandwich of the day. If you're a vegetarian and want to check out this place...they do have Grilled Cheese (I think it's made with gruyere) but served panini style.

A shorter review of Meat and Bread can also be found on...