Review and photo by Jack Barten
Westfort Village is truly one of the great boroughs of Thunder Bay. With a great sense of community and a diverse roster of businesses, Westfort is truly one of the happening places in the city. With that being said, here’s an idea for our adventurous readers out there: go to Westfort, exit your vehicle, and just say out loud: “What’s The Sal?” The result of this action (I would imagine) would be every resident of Westfort Village descending upon you and forcing you into their hallowed Sal for good eats and a history lesson. Opening way back in 1964, The Sal is Westfort’s beloved diner-style restaurant, serving lunch, dinner, and all-day breakfast. This brings us to the appropriately titled Westfort Wonder.
The Westfort Wonder is The Sal’s take on the classic Monte Cristo sandwich. Starting with egg-battered white bread infused with local maple syrup, the artisans of The Sal then melt both cheddar and Swiss into this glorious base. After this sweet alchemy, ham, bacon, and over-medium eggs are all assembled to make the finished Westfort Wonder. When one bites into it, the flavour that first jumps out at you is the sweetness of the bread from the previously mentioned local maple syrup, which combines really well with the savoury cheese and meat. Speaking of the cheese, the combination of cheddar and Swiss lends itself perfectly to a sweeter bread base, as neither cheese is sharp enough to overwhelm the delicate maple flavours.
After your brain is done fawning over the cheese and bread, you process the bacon, ham, and egg. Each of these three elevates the other aspects of the sandwich: the bacon adds salt and texture, the ham combines with the sweet flavours, and then the egg brings home the show, adding moisture and texture to every bite. Everything really does come together Wonder-fully (get it?). But after all that, if this sandwich isn’t enough for you, there’s also the home fries. Perfectly salty and crispy, these are the final word in breakfast side dishes, and pair fantastically with the sweeter flavours present in our beloved breakfast sandwich.
The Westfort Wonder is truly one of the wonders of Westfort, and makes the journey to the village worth it any day of the week.
