Top 10

Best Meals to Eat on Your Feet

By Chris Johns

Stand up and be counted. No longer just for bachelors and impatient kids, eating on your feet is now a legitimate and tasty alternative to sitting on your duff. Here, from west to east, are some of our favourite places across the country to dig in while standing up.

Qualicum Beach Scallop Sandwich

Red Fish Blue Fish, Victoria
 If you haven’t tried the albacore tuna tacones here, you’re still just eating fish tacos. At this simple harbourside shack in downtown Victoria, tender, locally caught tuna is rolled up in a cone-shaped flour tortilla that is grilled and seasoned with pea shoots, lemon-pickled onions and spicy spot prawn mayo.

Go Fish, Vancouver
The best place to stand and eat the Qualicum Beach Scallop Sandwich – thinly sliced local scallops served on a potato bun with caramelized onions and sweet chili mayo – is right in front of the takeout counter facing the harbour and the very ships that brought in your lunch.

Japa Dog, Vancouver
This is fusion food at its finest: American hot dogs with Japanese condiments, available only in Canada… for now. Owner Noriki Tamura plans to take the concept worldwide. Don’t miss the Misomayo dog, with turkey sausage, radish sprouts, sesame miso and Japanese mayo on a toasted bun.

Tubby Dog, Calgary
You better be standing up when you dig into Sherman’s Ultimate Gripper, a hot dog wrapped in bacon that’s deep fried, topped with ham, homemade chili, cheese, mustard, more bacon, hot peppers, onion and, of course, a fried egg. In fact, maybe it’s best consumed while jogging.

BeaverTail stands
Canada’s greatest gift to the world of fried dough can be found here. (Doughnuts are a Dutch invention.) Whole-wheat pastry stretched to resemble its namesake, the flat dough is fried to a crispy gold finish and topped with butter and your choice of toppings. We like the classic cinnamon and sugar version the best. Get them everywhere from sea to shining sea, from the slopes of Whistler to the Cavendish Boardwalk in PEI.

Gandhi Roti
A roti's blistered, doughy shell suggests infinite possibilities. What lurks beneath its soft wrapping? South Asian varieties tend toward chunky, spicy fillings best exemplified by chicken tikka masala, while Caribbean versions skew stewier, relying on split peas and cumin. The exemplary roti at Toronto's Gandhi is not exactly fast food (waits for the popular wrap can be long) but the classic Indian fillings (saag paneer, lamb curry) are among the best in the city. It takes dexterity to eat one standing up, though, so consider this a challenge.

Madras Pantry, Toronto
Don’t let the circus-themed decor fool you; there are no corn dogs or cotton candy here, only South Indian dosas (ground brown rice and lentil flour crepes) upgraded with a handy burrito-like form factor. Grab one stuffed with tandoor-cooked shrimp, coriander-mint sauce and spicy potatoes for a global picnic.

Nguyen Huong, Toronto
Combining French baking techniques with Vietnamese street food savvy results in banh mi, a sandwich of sublime excellence. The ingenious combination of pâté, roast pork, cilantro, cucumber, mayo and chilies may be colonialism’s tastiest legacy. Toronto has no shortage of banh mi restaurants, but Nguyen Huong has the longest lines for the quickest turnover and guaranteed deliciousness.

MUVBOX, Montreal
Brilliant from an engineering standpoint alone, this former shipping container automatically folds itself open and closed each night. Clever as it is, such a trick would be a gimmick if it didn’t serve some of the best lobster rolls this side of New Brunswick. The soft, squared-off bun has just enough mayonnaise to bind the large chunks of lobster. It’s seasonal, though, so you’ll have to wait until the spring.

Bud the Spud, Halifax
Get them while you can. Halifax’s most famous chip wagon is up for sale, but until owners Bud and Nancy True find a buyer, they’ll keep selling their superb French fries, just like they’ve been doing for the past 32 years. Using only the best PEI-grown potatoes is the secret to Bud’s crisp, delectable spuds.

Useful information

Bud the Spud, facing the Spring Garden Rd. library, Halifax
Gandhi Roti, 554 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-504-8155
Go Fish, 1505 1st Ave. W., Vancouver, 604-730-5040
Madras Pantry, 877 Queen St. W., Toronto, 416-777-0026
Nguyen Huong, 322 Spadina Ave., Toronto, 416-599-4625

(Chris Johns writes about food and travel for a variety of English, French and Spanish publications.)

TOP IMAGE: KAREN HO
RED FISH BLUE FISH: ANDREW WILKINSON
JAPADOG: STEWART BUTTERFIELD 
MADRAS PANTRY: COURTESY MADRAS PANTRY
MUVBOX: REBAR ART COLLECTIVE