the fish store.

Sometimes a good sandwich is hard to come by.

Some things that throw me off? When the bun/fillings ratio is off, when the bun is too hard and when the fillings are mediocre. Any of the above just leaves me wondering why I didn't stay home and make these.

The Fish Store, however, does sandwiches preetttty darn well.

Tucked away in Little Italy - but not to be overlooked, the shop is bright turquoise - it truly does feel like you've stepped into a small-town, coastal fish shop rather than a downtown Toronto establishment. Trinkets and plaques cover the walls, and the two tiny tables are covered in checkered plastic tablecloth.

A counter behind the counter displays the fish to order on ice - fresh, never frozen. And there's a huge variety to choose your sandwich stuffer from from: scallops, shrimp and calamari too.

After some deliberation, my dining companions and I decided on calamari and scallop sandwiches (them) and a tuna sandwich (me). The owners started grilling our pieces up right away.

Our sandwiches arrived quickly, masterpieces to behold. For around ten bucks you get a sandwich that is literally stuffed with fresh seafood. The calamari sandwich was a handsome explosion of grilled octopus and the scallop sandwich below was juicy and tender.

The generous slabs of succulent tuna in my sandwich were grilled-to-perfection and rubbed with a spice mix that was flavourful without taking away the focus of the fresh tuna. Oh, and did I mention the buns are out of this world? Perfect ratio and like biting into a soft, fluffy cloud. If only every sandwich in the world was forced to have a bun like this.
With the addition of fresh avocado slices for an extra dollar (they came seperately on a plate and once I attempted to add them to my already-bursting sandwich it was game-over for photo ops) it was a heavenly, hearty and healthy meal.

Speaking of healthy, you may have noticed a lack of mayo in this post. 

I know.

I was equally thrown off when I realized they had none on the premises at the Fish Store. What was I going to do? Thoughts of dashing down the street to a corner store and grabbing my own tub flashed across my panic-stricken mind. It was a struggle to quell them. But you know what? With ingredients this good, I barely missed it.

...barely.

The Fish Store

657 College Street, Toronto, ON

416-533-2822.

P.S. As per usual, my friend Vanessa was cooler than me and hit this place way before I did. Check out her post and some more yummy pics here (she had much more success in getting the avocado to sit pretty!)