This Friday's sandwich treat

I blogged about sandwiches recently, but it has been a while since I did not blog about my Friday sandwich treat. Remember them? You can read about this tradition on this post from November 2011. Anyway, instead of going for chicken mayo in a baguette, which I usually do, I decided to vary a bit and settled for smoked salmon with horseradish sauce. The rest was the same: lettuce, onions, tomatoes... and green olives. And as for every Friday I had a Coke to gulp it down. I threw the staff off guard with this change as I am a man of habits. But anyway, the mix of smoked salmon, horseradish sauce and green olives is I think even better than my usual choice. Friday being the day to eat fish, it might become my new Friday treat for a while.

Getting tired of Friday treats

There I said it. I just don't enjoy my sandwich as much. I didn't enjoy it today anyway. I had almost the usual: smoked salmon baguette with horseradish sauce, Coca Cola and cashew on the side. Except that there was not enough smoked salmon so I got my baguette filled with what was left of shrimps, or prawns as they call it here. So Smoked salmon, prawns, horseradish sauce, red onion, tomatoes, salad... And it did nothing to me. I mean yes, I enjoyed it, but it barely registered. And I don't feel like a special customer anymore and I don't feel like it is special either. So I need to change my treats, maybe even change my Friday blog posts topics altogether.

Friday treat with a (slight) twist

Sometimes circumstances change your usual treat. Like today. I had made my own salmon sandwich with horseradish sauce on... Monday, as I had made it myself. It was not as good really, but anyway. So I decided to have the usual, but with Philadelphia cheese instead of horseradish sauce. The guys at the sandwich shop know me well enough, so they know exactly what I will ask, minus one or two details. I had the usual Coca Cola on the side, however, as they didn't have cashew nuts, I had chilli flavoured roasted peanuts instead.

And on my way back home, I stopped at one of the local wine shops to taste some samples. On an empty stomach and tired, it is a sure way to get to your head quickly, but it was so pleasant. I won't mind the headache later.

Sandwich treat for Friday the 13th

It was (is still) Friday the 13th. I don't think I am superstitious, but maybe this is why I decided to play it safe with the sandwich treat: smoked salmon baguette, horseradish sauce, the usual trimming, Coca Cola and cashew nuts on the side... I am not being original. And the funny thing is that I had smoked salmon bagels earlier on this week, so it's not like I was craving something I didn't have for a long time. But expected pleasures are no less pleasurable. Not much to say, then, except one thing: this Friday the 13th didn't jinx my lunch. It was still delicious.

Friday treats (the usual)

Quick blog post about what I had for lunch, because it is now a weekly tradition. I am not being very original here or very adventurous. But I go for what is safe, especially since it was a rough Friday (end of the week, end of the month), so I needed tried and trusted comfort food. I had the usual, like every single working Friday: smoked salmon baguette, horseradish sauce, lettuce, red onion, tomatoes, salt and pepper, lemon juice of course. On the side, cashew nuts and Coca Cola. This Friday was busy, tiresome, the day was sunny but cooler than this week, enough to feel it. I really enjoyed my lunch.

The usual treat

Tomorrow I have Friday off again. So I will take it easy again and try to finally get over that cold. But this means that my end of week sandwich treat was, this week again, on a Thursday. So I had the usual: smoked salmon baguette with horseradish sauce and all the trimming, cashew nuts and Coca Cola. Nothing spectacular, but it was needed as my working day was exhausting. So the sandwich was good. I am not sure I enjoy the sandwich shop as much as I used to. They used to be all serviceable and friendly. They used to call me "sir". Now I am just a usual client.

Early sandwich treat

Today is the Ides of March, but I am all obsessed about my nasty cold and about ways to forget about it until it goes. Thankfully, I am on holiday tomorrow and Monday. Not on sick leave, just on holiday. I intend to rest. It was about time: today as I was coughing like crazy, a colleague told me: "I won't get any near you, I don't want your germs". To which I replied: "And I thought you could borrow them for a while". This is I think another great unknown line, and the third one in a row that is related to my cold. I need to change topic soon.

Anyway, this holiday means that my week was ending today, so instead of my Friday treat, I had a Thursday sandwich treat. But it was the usual: smoked salmon baguette, salad, tomatoes, red onion and horseradish sauce. With cashew nuts and Coca Cola. I thought the horseradish sauce would be easier to taste with the cold. I was right. That I managed to taste something was an enjoyment in itself. I enjoyed it even more that I snearly didn't have it: as I was working late into my morning, I thought I could only take my lunch break when the sandwich shop was closing (it happened before). In the end I just made it. And it tasted oh so much nicer because obtaining it seemed so uncertain. For the everyman, small victories over minor adversity can be epic. I survived a cold, hunger and a tasteless job. I survived the Ides of March.

The usual Friday treats

I am seriously considering finding something else to blog about on Friday than my sandwich treat, as it is getting awfully repetitive. Last week circumstances had me have something different, but this week I had the safe lunch: smoked salmon baguette with the usual trimming, horseradish sauce, Coca Cola and no cashew nuts because I thought I could keep myself some apetite for an afternoon dessert bought at Café2U. I was not lucky: I was busy when the van came.

And there is something else that is disappointing: Café2U didn't have enough customers on a daily basis anymore, so first they stopped coming in the morning. I seldom have time to stop to buy a hot chocolate and croissant anymore (I guess I am partially responsible for what is happening), but now I cannot have my impromptu decadent breakfasts. Then, because the customers were getting really spare, they decided to come only on Wednesday and Friday afternoon. And I am usually busy around the time the van shows up. So now I cannot have desserts and hot chocolates in the afternoon either. I need to find myself new Friday treats.

This Friday's sandwich treat: the usual

I played it safe this Friday for the sandwich treat. I ordered the usual: smoked salmon baguette, tomatoes, lettuce, red onions, horseradish sauce, salt, pepper, a bit of lemon juice. Coca Cola and cashew nuts on the side. It was nice, enjoyable even, but I felt underwhelmed. A week and and a day ago I was eating smoked salmon bagels from St-Viateur. Now that is a though act to follow. I couldn't help but compare. Sure, the Brits know where to get good salmon. No question about it. I cannot honestly say if Canadian salmon is better than the Scottish one. I am not that much of a connoisseur. But a plain baguette sure is no bagel from St-Viateur. I mean neither the bagels nor the baguettes here can compete with a bagel from St-Viateur! I mean a wrap from Folie en Vrac would have been better too, but eating a salmon baguette a few days after a salmon bagel from St-Viateur is simply a recipe for an attack of homesickness. I guess I asked for it.

The Sandwich treat (lukewarm results)

Maybe it was because of Friday the 13th, maybe simply because I was tired or because I tried to be creative/different too much, but my sandwich treat today for lunch was uninspired: a hot sausages baguette with ketchup (I thought it was HP sauce) and horseradish sauce. With salad. I mean, really, salad. Obviously I had in mind the hot dogs of William Walter in Montreal. I forgot that you cannot recreate it here (real, quality sausage, Dijon mustard, sauerkraut, sliced gherkins). I mean I ate it all right, I was hungry, but it was lacking. I downed it with Coke Zero (bad idea), because I could have a pint of the thing for the price of a can (50% free). At least I had cashew nuts. Oh well, I wanted to try their sort of hot dogs. I cannot get it right all the time. I was also served by one of the less inspired members of the staff. My favourite employee, the most enthusiastic who gets it right all the time as if he knew my stomach, was busy with a lady client, incidentally a coworker.

 What else to say about the experience? Well, I am called alternatively "sir" and "mate". They are always friendly with me, at least. But next time I go with a safe choice.

Another Friday's sandwich treat

I don't know if I bore my readers with it, but I know some will enjoy this post, so here it is, for those who are interested, the weekly post about my usual Friday's sandwich treat. I was worried I couldn't get there before closing time because I was stuck on the phone at the last minute. But I managed to get there in time.

So this time I had a salmon baguette sandwich, but with a twist: one half was with horseradish sauce, the other one with cream cheese. Both sides had salt, pepper, tomatoes, lettuce, red onions and lemon juice. On the side: cashew nuts. To drink: Coca Cola. I went for a safe choice, maybe because it was the first Friday's sandwich treat of the week. Next Friday I will be more daring. You'll see.

One last observation: they don't call me "sir" anymore. Now it's "man", "mate" and "my friend". I think it is because I am now a regular...

This Friday's sandwich treat

This is another post about sandwiches, more precisely about the sandwiches I have every Friday. I am turning this non event that is my Friday lunch into a food chronicle. But I discovered that I look forward to my Friday lunch almost as much as I look forward to the weekend since I discovered that sandwich shop.

So last week I couldn't enjoy my weekly sandwich. But this week I got there on time, early enough in the afternoon so the shop was still open but late enough so I could be hungry. On the menu: smoked salmon baguette, with horseradish sauce (something that has been recommended when I first ordered smoked salmon baguette), salad (lettuce, tomaties, cucumber, red onion), a bit of lemon juice, salt, pepper. On the side: salted cashew nuts. To drink: Coca Cola. So the lunch was a nice mix of predictable and unorthodox.

I will not do a critique, only make a few observations: horseradish sauce is actuallty delicious, who would have thought. After a decade in this country, I am always happily surprised to discover that the food can be so good here. I think a part of me keeps a prejudice against British food just to get it crushed by a new gastronomical discovery. The staff was friendly enough, although the guys I saw were not as outstandingly nice like the first time I went. And what a treat in the end! It has become a Friday necessity.