Get With The Times

The Free Times Cafe is one of those long-standing Toronto eatery where you go for the classic and the familiar. I have eaten there numerous times. But when I ordered the Montreal smoked meat sandwich this Saturday, I noticed that even they have slowly updated their menu.

The smoked meat was as rich as fatty as always, and still a bit too salty. But there was chopped parsley on the rye. More noticeably, the coleslaw has evolved from standard pickled cabbage. The tartness has been reduced, though there was still enough to pleasantly counter the saltiness of the sandwich. It was more of a marinated salad with bits of carrots, celery, parsley, raw red onions and scallions. This was definitely an improvement over the traditional preparation, which could become a bit overwhelmingly sour after a while.