The newest specialty sandwich shop to hit downtown is Hubbub Sandwiches on Hornby and Smithe. I found out about Hubbub through the Urbanspoon Vancouver Restaurant Tweet Feed found on the bottom of the home page. They did and excellent job with tweeting their impending opening and then daily tweets about their food.
I couldn't wait and ended up going 3 times last week! The first because I was excited about sandwiches, the second because I "forgot" to take a picture of the outside so I HAD to go back again and then the third because Adele wanted to try the sandwiches and being such a good friend, I could not let her walk all the way there on her own. I had to go back again. Because of this, Hubbub Sandwiches is my most researched posting yet!
I love the decor of the restaurant. Their design really appeals to my aesthetic being clean and hip, mostly wood and tile, with some booths on the side, bar seating at the window and some more stool seating opposite of the booths.
Their concept, which you can read about on their excellent website, is a sandwich base that you choose your protein for to create "sandwich bliss". They are serious about the base of the sandwich and will charge you for any substitutions that you want to make. They offer 5 protein choices: pork, chicken, turkey sausage, prawn and vegetable. They also have a nice selection of interesting and healthy sides: corn, quinoa salad, potato chips and slaw. If, for some crazy reason, sandwiches are not your thing, you can get the protein in a salad bowl instead. They are also licenced and you can get draft, Red Stripe or Pabst Blue Ribbon.
On my first visit I asked one of the owners, who was greeting everyone in the line and explaining how to eat the sandwiches what he thought the best one was and he did not hesitate to say "pork". Great! Pork it was for $8.49. I decided to pair it with a quinoa salad for $2.99.
I love the metal tray and bowl! As I was picking up my order I was told that the sandwich can be messy to eat so it is best to peel down the paper and keep it wrapped. Good advice.
The bun was fantastic. I liked that it was a submarine sized bun but a much better quality of bread. I was worried about how I would handle the jalapenos but they were pickled which made them much milder and not to hard on my delicate stomach. The pork was amazing. I liked that it was a slow cooked pork but not BBQ pork. It was tender and very flavorful. I can see why they would be proud of this sandwich. The salad was also really fresh with big chunks of corn, beans and peppers in the quinoa. A very good sandwich.
On my second visit I decided to try the chicken and the salad bowl for $8.99. I was proud of myself for ordering the salad so I ordered a side of potato chips for $1.99.
The salad was excellent. As with the quinoa salad, it was made with corn, beans and peppers. The jalapenos were a bit harder for me to eat in this way than in the sandwich. The chicken has been marinated in coconut milk and it was really moist. I liked the salad but really missed the bread...
So on the third visit (can you stalk a restaurant?) I went back to the sandwich form and went with the turkey sausage ($9.49) and for fun I chose the elote corn side ($2.49).
I loved the sausage! It is a locally made chorizo and was delicious. I liked that it was served sliced as it was easier to eat. This is the most expensive of the sandwich options. I would order it again.
The corn was my favorite of the sides. So much fun to eat as it reminded me of summer and the fair.
They describe the corn as being brushed with a "creamy, tangy sauce". I am not sure what that is, but it tasted good. I loved the stick. They said that when summer comes they will be using locally sourced corn.
Adele ordered the Veggie sandwich.
I am glad she ordered this because one of the main ingredients is zucchini- the vegetable of the devil. She really liked it. This is apparently the most messy of the sandwich options and they serve it with a fork.
I am, quite obviously, a fan. I like restaurant that focus on one thing and then do that really well. I also like the decor. My favorite thing, weird as this is, is the fluorescent light in the bathroom. I want one.
Right now they are on the outside edge of my lunch time comfort zone but will be just down the block when my office moves later this summer. Dangerous. They do offer online ordering from their website in the meantime to help with the time frame. That will be handy because I have a feeling that Hubbub is going to get very busy, very soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment