Between Two Buns

*Restaurant is now closed*

Viv says I have selective hearing, much like many other men on this Earth (I might add). I admit that certain catch phrases or words deserve my full attention. After all, there must be something interesting within the long-winded story she is often trying to tell me. Therefore, "between two buns" was what I picked out from Mijune's constant yakking during dinner the other night. Say what? What's between two buns? Italian sausage? Keilbasa? Lap cheun? All I got were dirty looks from Mijune and Viv. Yikes, that's a bit uncomfortable. Hey, I have a one-track mind! Wait, I have a male mind, don't hate me. What she was really referring to was a new sandwich shop out in Yaletown named Between Two Buns. Oh okay, that makes sense - a play on words I see.

Since I had to meet up with Snake Eyes for lunch anyways, we (actually it was me...) decided to hit up the new sandwich joint. We ended up sharing 3 sandwiches and a Poutine. The poutine was made with Kennebec potatoes which resulted in some crispy fresh cut fries. So far so good. The gravy wasn't salty per se, but it did get a sodium kick from the random bacon bits. It was smoky and meaty as per its description on the menu. We felt there was enough of the thick gravy for the amount of fries. As for the cheese curds, they were fantastic. The first sandwich we tried was the Cheeky (another play on words...) which was a combination of braised pork cheek, smoked Emmental cheese, coleslaw and caramelized bacon aioli. This was our favourite sandwich of the 3 we had. There was a medley of flavours which kissed our taste buds in layers. First it was the meat, then the coleslaw and finally finished with the smoky cheese. The only thing that would've put this over the top would be more acidity from the coleslaw.

Next up was the Jerk It (yes, my mind was in the gutter when I saw this...), which consisted of jerk chicken, crispy yam and coleslaw. We liked the crispy yam as it provided a nice crunch and sweetness to the sandwich. However, the jerk chicken (as moist as it was) did not have much impact. There were spices, but they were muted with no kick. Moreover, we didn't understand why there was coleslaw, it really didn't go with the rest of the ingredients. Our last sandwich was the Strip'n (again, our minds were in the gutter) which had AAA striploin, red pepper, onion, crispy mushrooms and horseradish & bluecheese aioli. This had all the components of a great sandwich: tender beef, crispy Earthy mushrooms and in theory, a great tasting sauce. However, the flavours were once again mild. A sprinkle of salt and a stronger aioli would've made this sandwich rock. In the end, we both felt this place has potential and we would gladly return to try their upcoming shortrib (which they featured before) and fish sandwiches. There are some really good ideas and with a few tweaks, I think we'll have a winner.

The Good:
- Interesting ingredients such as the crispy yam and crispy mushroom
- Fair pricing since sandwiches at Quizno's and Subway are not cheap either (I'd rather have the ones here)

The Bad:
- Flavours are muted, need more impact
- Need a few tweaks with the ingredient combinations