Mancini's Cafe and Eatery - Veal on a Bun

A recent opening in Whitby is Mancini's Cafe and Eatery (223 Brock St N). It occupies and old donut shop which has been tastefully redecorated.

Honestly, at first I was a little confused, they advertize sandwiches and paninis but as you walk in it looks a little more like a bakery. The display cases were a little sad, featuring cakes by the slice and some assorted pastries and muffins. The thing is, most looked like they were leftovers from earlier on, none of the display plates were full, some a mishmash of assorted slices.

Confusion aside, their menu placards feature their sandwich offerings, veal, chicken or eggplant on a bun and various panini sandwiches.

Once again, I have no idea how Italian sandwich places get away with charging for extra toppings. Mancini's isn't alone, Mustachio's, Sinatra's, California sandwiches all do it. Here, a slice of provolone sets you back $1, sauteed mushrooms or peppers $0.90, and sauteed onions $0.50. When your sandwich already costs $7.30, I find this a cash grab. A fully dressed sandwich all of a sudden costs $10.60 plus tax. Woah! Burger places take note, you're getting the shaft! You're giving away lettuce, tomato, onion, relish, ketchup, mustard for free??????

Venting aside, I ordered my veal with added onions and sauce, the young woman serving us said we could go light on the sauce or add extra sauce if we wanted. We waited about 5 minutes while the sandwiches were prepared and made the trek home.

The sandwich itself was very large, the bun was crisp outside and soft inside and held up extremely well on the trip home. The veal was sliced extremely thin, and was dwarfed by the breading. This seems to be the standard however, sandwiches from other veal places I've tried have been very similar. I'm assuming this in done in the interest of both tenderness and stretching the product. The breading was salted well but didn't seem to have many other spices in it (probably a seasoned bread crumb mixture). I couldn't pick out much other than the flavour of the bread crumbs.

The sandwich comes with parmesan, I could not taste it. I saw the cook in the back shaking something onto the sandwich, I could not tell if it was from a green can or not.... I'm hazarding a guess it's not freshly grated, a small sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan would be pretty obvious. I grate my own at home, and I can easily pick it out of lasagnas, pizzas, sandwiches and salads I prepare.....

 The sauce was very nice, it was simple yet well balanced, it wasn't overwhelmed by herbs and spices and wasn't acidic like the one I found at Sinatra's. It wasn't overly sweet, it was smooth and velvety, tasting simply of reduced tomato. I really enjoyed it.

I am glad to have a spot like this in the area, I think it's better than it's only real competitor, Sinatras. They are similarly priced, and similar in size. I liked the sauce here much better. It was one of the better veal sandwiches I've had.

Edit December 4th, 2012: I stopped by yesterday for a veal sandwich and I am pleased to say that Mancini's has added hot peppers and sauteed onions to their free toppings list. Also, their display of sweets by the slice (although still slightly spartan) looked well organized and quite appealing. Looks like Mancini's is getting their act together.