Beyond Bánh Mì, Toronto — Better Than Bloor Street?

I went with Alan, which is the right way to do this. Two people means you can sample more of the menu without regrets. We got a grilled chicken and an egg, and cut both in half.

Full disclosure: I used to be a chicken person. Reliable, familiar, hard to mess up — the safe order. But I've drifted into an egg phase lately and this one cemented the transition. The chicken half was good, properly grilled and well seasoned, but the egg is the one I'm still thinking about.

The bread at Beyond Bánh Mì is warm and light and has actual flavour — not just a delivery vehicle for the filling but a real participant in the sandwich. You notice it on its own. The pâté is subtle, never overpowering, laying down a smooth richness underneath everything that you'd absolutely miss if it were gone. The fried egg is thick and generous, crispy around the edges, soft in the center. It's really the perfect mouth feel, I didn't want it to end. The pickled carrots are plentiful.

The one gap: not much cilantro. For me that's a real absence — cilantro is half of what makes the first bite feel fresh and exhilerating — and it's the one missing piece on an otherwise complete sandwich. Noted, and held against it.

It's decision time. Is this sandwich better than you can get on Bloor Street? Yes, Beyond Bánh Mì edges out Bloor Street. Not by much. But I'm not going to pretend otherwise just to protect the title.

It's also a nice place to sit and eat. A bánh mì eaten standing on a sidewalk and the same sandwich eaten at an actual table are not quite the same experience, and the table does this one a quiet favour. You're not eating over a garbage can with one hand; you can actually slow down and pay attention to what's in front of you.

So the benchmark has been beaten — barely. I didn't expect to be writing that sentence when I sat down. It doesn't change the system: Bloor Street is still the reference point, the fixed thing I describe everything else against. It just means that, for now, there's something sitting one small notch above the line.

Verdict: Better Than Bloor Street.