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| - *Minus 1/2-star because I was cheated on the fries and the sandwich didn't live up to the hype.*
The Good: awesome tomatoes in the pickle platter; homemade grainy mustard; the font on the menu (I'm a details person); black cherry soda; our sweet-as-pie waitress
The Bad: the fries (somehow managed to be soggy AND burnt at the same time); the slaw
The Mediocre: the smoked meat; the rye
Maybe it was the excess of spilt review ink, or the former mayor of Toronto gushing shamelessly about Caplansky's on TVO, or because I grew up in the Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn and was practically weaned on corned beef on rye...but I don't get what all the fuss is about.
My 7-oz. smoked meat sandwich with "medium" fattiness was fine, if a little on the dry/shreddy side. I so wanted the meat to be transcendent, something approaching the magic of Katz's Deli in NYC. Heck, when I consume something that's gonna clog up my arteries that much, it better be pretty friggin' spectacular. Sadly, Caplansky's smoked meat was just all right, and the insipid rye that came with it was not helping matters.
The S.O. and I agreed that the fries were an abomination. After a few bites, I looked carefully at the basket of mangled ropes of tater and wondered, "Are these regular fries or sweet potato fries?" Shame on the fry cook; that's no way to treat a potato.
What really made our meal was our waitress. She was exuberant without being annoying, and attentive without being effusive. If they made a movie about Caplansky's the role of our waitress would be played by Amy Adams.
I dunno. Maybe my Montreal-transplant friend was right: You can't get good smoked meat in Toronto.
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