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I had the opportunity to visit Soupson – a depanneur that’s not your regular porno mag, cigarettes and 3 year past the expiration-date cup noodle kind of Dep. This part-time luncheonette is doing something completely out of the ordinary. Soupson prepares wholesome and healthy lunches, salads and sandwiches of meats roasted in-store and flavour of the day soups… all the while selling really interesting products, local and imported as well as carefully selected fresh produce. Wait… Did I just say SANDWICHES?! Let it be known, I’m a big ho for sandwiches. With vocabulary that include words like BREAST,BUN, and SPREAD, how is it possible to not have a dirty mind when you think of one of the most practical lunch options… and when it’s done properly, who can blame me, I mean you, I mean “one”, for getting a little turned on about a sandwich?
Let’s get this straight… I don’t even like soup. Unless it’s filled with noodles and beef, thai basil, lime and makes me giggle every time I see it on a TSN ticker, I don’t really enjoy soup that isn’t PHO. Anything else you’d have to tie me down and funnel that stuff down my throat. I read that Soupson makes a different soup everyday of the week, so how do you go to a spot that advertises this and even has soup in their name and NOT have the soup? The soup of that particular day was squash, with carrots and quinoa.
… said the guy who “doesn’t like” soup. The hearty soup found a way to fill the bitter void I’ve had towards it and its counterparts. My thoughts on soup are why fill up on liquids when there is actual FOOD waiting to be eaten. This probably stems from not being allowed to have a beverage with my dinner when I was a kid and was FORCED to have soup instead. Who knew Soupson would have the ability to reverse the affects of a thirsty childhood dinner that’s been forever etched into my mind.
We started with the roast beef sandwich – which was told was a very popular sandwich, and I can tell why. Succulent medium roast on a whole wheat sesame bun slathered in a home-made herbed cream cheese. The bread was fresh and you can tell (even though the sandwich was taken from the fridge), the roast was tender and the cool cream cheese added to make a very rich bite.
The crispness of the lettuce was also nice and refreshing. They don’t make sandwiches to order, however, everything is made fresh daily and if the sandwiches were any fresher, there would be chickens clucking around the store.
We then split another one of Soupson’s big hits, the roasted chicken sandwich on egg bread. Home-roasted chicken with cheyenne, brie, lettuce, mayo and sliced pear snuck in there to throw me off. Normally I would have a great aversion to anything fruity in my food – I swear off any kind of fancy pants maki roll with strawberries or mango and something . The pear caught me off guard but I did not throw my arms in the air in disgust, the subdued sweetness and gritty texture added a nice contrast to bitter creaminess of the brie and softness of the challah. This sandwich was really tasty, however, just a bit small.
We were told that this was something new that they were trying out. A roasted turkey wrap with swiss cheese, almonds and dried cranberries. Almost a pseudo turkey dinner wrap, this “sandwich” was held together with a soft wholewheat tortilla. Again, roasted right in the store, the turkey was still juicy and full of flavour and was really nice with the nuttiness of the almonds and the sweetness of the cranberries. Third sandwich in, it was very apparent that Soupson’s sandwich and lunch vision is to provide really solid and simple meals – which is very commendable.
We were told about the bottled soups in the fridge which are the days leftovers and that they run a bottle return service where if you return the mason jar the soup is sold in, you’ll get a deposit back. Soupson is still a fully functional depanneur that sells smokes, chips and counter top candy, but they’re just offering people of the area an amazing healthy and fresh alternative to the fast food joints in the neighbourhood. Make sure to follow them on twitter as they tweet the soup of the day.
Marché Soupson
149 Jean Talon West
514.940.1030
www.soupson.ca
