Tag Archives: pulled pork sandwich

TORONTO’S TOP TAKEOUT: Killer chilaquiles from San Cosme

Now, I was pretty bummed out when Torteria San Cosme, a local Mexican sandwich institution in Kensington Market, shut down during the pandemic. But when I heard that they stopped, dropped and opened up a pop-up shop in the Entertainment District, I was all over that like salsa on a tortilla, hermana! And when I saw that they were serving up chilaquiles, a Guy Fieri favourite, you KNOW I had to get me some!!!

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These chilaquiles rojos were fuera del campo, bro! You’ve got tortilla chips covered in roasted chicken, topped with a tomato-chipotle salsa, crumbled cheese and two scoops of crema. Now, like any dish involving nachos, this didn’t hold up well to delivery — most of the chips were pretty soggy by the time they arrived at my piehole. But while the soggy chips were still tasty, the best bites were the ones that still had a bit of crunch to ’em.

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Of course, you can’t order from a Torteria and not get a torta, cabron! This here’s their torta de cochinita, with tangy pulled pork, refried beans and pickled onions on a well-toasted roll. The chilaquiles were a pretty decent-sized meal on their own…but throw in this killer sammy, and it’s a Flavourtown double down, bro!!!!!!!!!

PATIO LIT EATS: Mac ‘n cheese poutine, pulled pork grilled cheese, total cheesefest!!!

York Region started reopening a few days before Toronto, so they’ve had a little more time to get their patio scene up and running. That’s why we’re headed up to Unionville to check out a funky little joint that’s been voted best patio in town 16 years running — this is Jake’s on Main.

And, when looking at their menu of funkalicious pub grub, I couldn’t decide between the mac ‘n cheese poutine and the BBQ pulled pork grilled cheese…so I just ordered both!

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Now, I did make mac ‘n cheese nachos before, in one of my drunken stupors, but I never would have thought to put the mac on top of poutine. So I gotta give my brother Jake his props — this dish was freaky, deeky, eat-it-any-day-of-the-weeky! Noodles are cooked perfectly, with a nice creaminess, and then that extra layer of cheese from the poutine really kicks it up a notch!

OK, so maybe it’s not a proper poutine — there’s no gravy, or Quebec cheese curds here — but I don’t really think gravy would make this dish taste better. Now, if you poured some queso on me, that’s a whole nother ballgame, bro!!!!

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And then, I was hoping that this festival of funk in Flavourtown would continue onto the grilled cheese sammy, but as you can probably see, it wasn’t equal parts cheesy and porky — more like a pulled pork sandwich with a slice of cheddar on top. And the pork wasn’t bad, or anything, but it just didn’t quite knock it outta the park. Maybe I’ll just hafta order two poutines next time! 😛

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Now, you KNOW this blog isn’t Burgers, Bacon and Long Island Iced Tea — so we’re totally slamming some patio beers, bro! And nothing screams patio beer like this Big Tiki Tropical Punch Blonde from the hopheads at Hop City. Packed with passionfruit, pineapple, mango and papaya, it tastes more like fruit punch than beer — and at 4.5%, I can pound these until the sun goes down, son!!!

AYCE BBQ @ Broadview Hotel

On Sunday, it was finally starting to feel like summer, so we’re hanging out on the patio at the Broadview Hotel for their Ultimate Summer BBQ Series, where they’re serving up all the meat you can eat for 25 bucks, bro! And they’ve got all the backyard classics — burgers, sausage, ribs, chicken legs, pulled pork, and even mac ‘n cheese!!!

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With so much meat and such little time (they only give you 90 minutes), I didn’t know where to start… So I piled some pulled pork, onions and pickles into a sammy. It was maybe a little dry — needs some sauce, boss! — but still quite tasty.

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Now, I’m not a guy who likes a lotta stuff on his sausage — gimme some onions, maybe a little sauerkraut, and I’m happy. But this place was all aut of kraut, and the non-diced onions weren’t optimized for maximum sausage delivery…but that didn’t make this smokie any less tasty!!!

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Unlike pulled pork, I don’t actually need a lotta sauce on my ribs. These ones were just about right…and I can’t complain about the meat ratio on this one, either!

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These chicken legs mighta been the best thing at the BBQ. Hot, meaty, with just enough Cajun seasoning… I could slam, like, 17 of these!!!

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Of course, it wouldn’t be a backyard BBQ without burgers. Tomato, onion, pickles — I’ll leave the leafy green stuff for the cows, bro!

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Now, you KNOW I’m not just having one burger, bro! For round two, I’m talking beef, topped with pulled pork, topped with sliced sausage, on a bed of pickles, onions and coleslaw — it’s a Flavourtown Triple Play, times two!!!

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Hey, you can’t have a BBQ patio party without beer, bro! These ice-cold brewskis came from Eastbound Brewing Co, just a couple blocks down the street. Their Hidden Lake Hefeweizen was light and refreshing, but surprisingly strong at 5.7% — it’s probably outlawed in at least a few States. 😉

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Now, that 25 bucks (plus tax) only gets you one drink ticket, but the last time I only had one beer at a backyard BBQ was that time I sharted on the slip ‘n slide after a bad batch of baked beans. So paying five bucks for another brew was a no-brainer, bro! This Nerve Tonic saison has a nice hint of juniper berries at the end, and it doesn’t seem like 6.1% — I could totally crush a ton of these!!!!

 

Demolishing The Pint Tower Burger…double cheeseburger with bacon, pulled pork and a grilled cheese sammy!!!

So, we’re hanging out at The Pint Public House, this massive sports bar just steps from the CN Tower. Last time we were here, I destroyed four orders of 40-cent wings…but this time, I’ve got an even bigger challenge ahead of me. It seems this joint is serving up a tower of it’s own. This is The Pint Tower Burger:

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OK, now let’s break it down. You’ve got a thick ‘n juicy bacon double cheeseburger, topped with pulled pork, with a grilled cheese sandwich in the middle. It might not be as friggin’ huge as the Go Chuck Yourself, as deadly as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, or as messy as the 20 Napkin Burger, but it’s still gotta be the most outta-bounds, honky-tonk redonkadonk bacon burger I’ve conquered in the last six months:

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Man, I can barely wrap my hand around this thing–nevermind my jaw! But the meat is super-tender, you’ve got some nice bites of bacon, and a whole pile of tangy pulled pork. The grilled cheese would still be pretty tasty even if it wasn’t being crushed by all that beef, and the bun is about as soggy as a wet nap under all that juicy, meaty goodness… Dude, this is probably enough food to feed a family of four–or just another light snack in Flavourtown:

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(I didn’t even need 20 napkins for this one, son!!!!)

Gone Country @ the ballpark with a pulled pork, cheese curd, waffle sammy!!!

Yesterday was Country Day at the Rogers Centre, which means I showed up bright and early…at 2 pm. You had a plaid-sleeved, long-sleeve Blue Jays t-shirt giveaway, my Alberta bros in High Valley bustin’ out some Alan Jackson and Joe Diffie tunes, and all the cheerleaders were dressed up like rootin’, tootin’ cowgirls. For a minute there, I almost forgot I was in Toronto!

Of course, I wasn’t just there to hoedown, bro! When I heard they were serving up some new culinary creations for the 2018 season, you KNOW I was gonna dive right in. And while the beef brisket sandwich and the Korean BBQ tacos sounded tasty, I knew there was only one Flavourtown rockstar headed straight down my piehole–the Log Cabin Sandwich:

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This gay Republican’s wet dream comes fully loaded with pulled pork, baked beans and cheese curds on a savoury rosemary waffle. Now, the waffle was nice and fluffy, and the pulled pork was on point…but the beans had no flavour and the cheese curds were cold as ice, ice baby. There was no gravy or sauce on this sammy, but once the pulled pork warmed the cheese up a bit, it came together pretty good. So, I wouldn’t call this dish a home run, but it was more like a Teoscar Hernandez triple off the top of the wall, maybe?

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Of course, after pounding all that pork, you KNOW I still had room for dessert, bro! Now, this churro poutine has about as much in common with actual poutine as Guy Fieri does with Guy Lafleur…but if you wanna slam six churros with a scoop of ice cream, you definitely can’t go wrong here!

TORONTO BEER WEEK: Heeeere, piggy piggy!

Now, it’s been a little while since I’ve had some real-deal BBQ, so when I heard that Great Lakes Brewery was serving up some pulled pork and beef brisket, along with five-dollar craft beers, I took the subway almost all the way out to the end of the line, then got on a bus, son!

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The brewery is just north of the Gardiner, on the way out to the airport. And today they’ve got some BBQ, craft beers on tap, and a roots-rock cover band, to boot! Not that I needed an excuse to get afternoon drunk, or anything…

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I think I had at least one of all of these. Nice pumpkiny flavour on the Saison, the Chill was pretty chill, and the Canuck IPA was famously bitter. I will say that the Karma Citra tasted very similar to the Canuck, cept with a bit more citrus and a lot more alcohol. But of course, I’m mostly here for the food…

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Now, the pulled pork was pretty legit. Nice chewy tang, cooled off by the coleslaw, and the BBQ sauce was on point. But the hush puppies were definitely the star of the show. You take some deep-fried falafel balls and throw some tartar sauce on top, and that’s more country than Aaron Lewis, bro! Pretty sure I could eat eight or 10 of these, and hey, they’re serving ’em up till 6, so I just might go back for seconds…

Pulled pork and peameal and bacon, oh my!

So, we’re hanging out at Pig Out BBQ, this cozy neighbourhood joint at the corner of Harbord and Spadina. Now, when you think Harbord and Spadina, you probably think pizza—if you’ve ever stumbled home at 3 am after getting white-girl wasted on Bud Light Appletinis at a frat house rager, chances are, you stopped off at Cora or at Papa Ceo along the way. That corner might be known for two late-night pizzerias, but Pig Out is putting itself on the map with not one, not two, but three kinds of pork in its 3 Little Pigs Melt:

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This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, and this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way straight down my piehole, son! This is primarily a pulled pork sammy, but you’ve got a nice chew from the peameal, which also has a nice char to it. The bacon disappears after a coupla bites though, bro. I could definitely use some more bacon!

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Of course, a sandwich this legit doesn’t come with a side salad. These nacho fries have beef brisket, sour cream, onions, lettuce, banana peppers, baked beans and a whole buncha cheese sauce on top. The fries are super-crispy, and a few bites actually taste like eating nachos, but the beef-to-bean ratio is a little low. Now, I’m all for a heaping helping of beans and cornbread next to a nice beef brisket dinner, but putting them on nachos—even nacho fries—is like no way, Jose! Next time, I think I might go with the pulled pork poutine…with a side order of bacon.

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Next time, I think I’ll pass on the pulled-pork party…

(Originally written October 30, 2014)

Nowadays, it seems that the hottest trend in fast food is pulled pork.  Hell, even my local Longo’s grocery store is serving up pulled-pork pizza, and I’m pretty sure the second period of the last Flames game I watched was brought to you by Swanson’s Hungry-Man Pulled Pork Dinner.  Can I just say that I wouldn’t eat Hungry-Man Pulled Pork even if they were all out of Beer Battered Chicken & Cheese Fries.  But if you put it on a burger, well, I guess I’ll try it at least once.

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Wendy’s not only puts pulled pork in a sandwich, they also put it on poutine, and give you three different sauces to choose from.  To be honest, the pork sandwich wasn’t bad, despite the generic coleslaw glopped in on top.  The spicy sauce definitely gave it some kick!  But when you throw some pork atop fast-food grade poutine, and swirl in some BBQ sauce on top, well, it’s just about le bad trip du siècle.  And what’s with the red onions!?

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Do you even need to zoom in to tell that the pulled-pork product on top of this Harvey’s hamburger is definitely disgusting?  I dunno guy, but I’m pretty sure they only place they pulled this from was a plastic bag.  And I’ve even had better burgers at a food court–although, to be fair, I’m talkin’ bout the Urban Eatery.

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