Restaurant Review: Farrow
FARROW
8422 109th Street ~ farrowsandwiches.ca Instagram: @farrowsandwiches ~ Twitter: @FarrowSandwich Co-Diner: Tim Golem
SANDWICHES! Who doesn't love a good sandwich? Plus when you've got a sandwich shop that falls under the same umbrella as the likes of Three Boars, High Dough, and Wishbone... You know that they've gotta be good. VUE Weekly named Farrow as the #1 Best Sandwiches 2018 and Avenue Magazine awarded them Best Sandwiches 2019 and Best Quick Meal 2020. They started out as one small location in Garneau in 2014 but have since expanded to three different shops (all in pretty hip areas of the city). I am someone who loves to crush a good sandwich and have been very excited to try Farrow for a long time. I popped into their original location on a gorgeous Friday fall evening. It should be noted that the Garneau location is the only one of the three that stays open until 7pm, making dinnertime sandwiches possible. The rest operate more as breakfast or lunch spots. The shop is small, with a chalkboard menu, a counter to order at, and not much else. The colour scheme is a somewhat graphic-styled black and white. The focus is solely on sandwiches, coffee and baked goods. It completely embodies the idea of providing an easy place to grab a quick (yet delicious!) breakfast or lunch on the go. And that's exactly where Farrow stands out and apart from the rest: this place offers quality. The sandwich menu usually involves four different choices. Two of the sandwiches are always on the menu and are always available, while the other two rotate every few weeks. I figured that it would be a good idea to try a sandwich from each of these categories. The people working at the shop were wonderfully friendly. They were so happy to help accommodate and made sure that I had everything that I needed. I was planning to take my sandwiches to the park area just south of the restaurant and sit at a picnic table to eat them. This idea worked out perfectly and I highly recommend it! Once your order is placed, you exit the shop and wait outside by the pick-up window. Farrow has installed a sandwich slide and it's the most incredible thing ever. When your sandwich is ready they'll slide it down the chute and into your eager hands! I absolutely love this. My first sando selection was the Chief Beef ($10.50). This is one of the ones that is typically always available and I had to try it, especially if it's basically one of their signature sandwiches.
I loved this. It tasted super fresh and it was just a good, solid sandwich. The bread was grainy and tasted homemade. I loved the tender roast beef, slight tangy heat from the mayo, and hit of acidity from the red onions. But most of all, I loved the addition of the ruffle chips because they added such an incredible crunch to each bite. This thing is basically a lesson in exactly what a good, simple sandwich should be. Next I tried the Chili Ray Cyrus ($12.50) which is one of the ones that rotates on the menu.
This sandwich was different from the first one in the sense that the previous sando felt quite classic. Whereas this one tasted more like a flavour punch in the face. Both are excellent in their own way! I adored the bread on this one, so soft and fresh with a great crustiness. The flavours were big in a Tex-Mex sort of way. The pork was ultra savoury and delicious and there was a hit of heat. I found myself really enjoying the diced onion a lot (which surprised me!) because it added a great texture and flavour that worked. I barely noticed that there was any cheddar on the sandwich but there was a lot of (good) things going on and a lot of the flavours were kinda mashing together. I can definitely see a habit forming where I am going to need to try all of their rotating sandwiches all the time. I didn't order a coffee to drink because it was already pretty late in the day and I didn't want to be awake all night. However, I certainly did need to try some of their baked goods which are made in-house by their talented team of pastry magicians. These also rotate regularly, so I grabbed what was speaking to me at the moment: a Carrot Cake Donut and a Pumpkin Caramel Cronut.
Both of these were incredible. They felt perfectly seasonal and you had better believe that I enjoyed eating them as the leaves gently blew off the trees all around me. The carrot cake donut had a great yeast donut base that wasn't too sweet or greasy. The cream cheese icing was exactly what you would expect on carrot cake. Plus the chunks of actual carrot cake, candied sunflower seeds and raisins were truly delightful. The pumpkin caramel cronut was pretty next-level. If you've ever had a cronut before, you know that it's the sinful lovechild between a croissant and a donut. The sugary pastry is very croissant-esque except that this one was stuffed with spicy-sweet pumpkin filling, a very welcome discovery. The caramel glaze on top was the literal icing on the cake. I loved everything about Farrow. It's quick, it's easy, and most importantly, the food is delicious. I would rather grab a sandwich from them instead of some fast food place a million times over. I can't wait to try their breakfast sandwich and I will certainly be keeping an eye on their rotating offerings. This is the kind of shop that every neighbourhood needs.
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