The whole keep-it-simple concept of Vancouver sandwich joint Meat & Bread made perfect sense when we discovered two of the owners met at Dublin restaurant Gruel, a meat-and-potatoes joint. The back-to-basics approach at the now-closed Gruel is all over Meat & Bread, where canteen-style get-in-line-and-wait is part of its charm. There are daily specials (today it’s beef brisket) as well as staples such as rolled porchetta, a grilled cheese and soups and salads. Sliced and assembled in front of you, the sandwich is lobbed onto a board with a dollop each of mustard and ketchup, you pay and find a seat at the communal table or counter. Are the sandwiches all that? Yes. And so was our dessert – a maple ice cream made on premises with chunks of bacon between waffle wafers. That salty-sweet thing took us to a whole new level with meat and ice cream IN ONE. Naturally we had to try their cashew, caramel, nougat and smoked salt chocolate bar also, made for the restaurant by a local confectioner. If you’re feeling their salt rub and hot sauce you can grab a jar for purchase as you leave. Subway tiled walls, taxidermy and rustic accessories give a butchers shop vibe without the blood. Recommended.
370 Cambie St., Gastown, Vancouver, BC V6B 2N3 Meatandbread.ca
Thanks to Cathay Pacific and the Shangri-La Hotel
-- Fiona Byrne
tags: brisket, grilled cheese, Meat & Bread, roast, rustic, sandwich, soup
[...] not fly with us, and stuff like green tea, we believe is better when in an actual teapot. However, we once had maple ice cream with bacon bits and that was beyond delicious, so you know… it’s just a [...]