Cheap Eats: TooJay's

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I recently dropped my business card in one of those "win a free lunch" tubs that sits on restaurant countertops. The deal is, you bring yourself and 20 friends to a free lunch while a financial consultant tries to sell her business to you for the first 5 minutes. My lucky winning food joint was Too Jay's at Bay Street, which I found to be appetizing and cheap (even if your lunch isn't being paid for by someone else). 

Note: If you follow our Cheap Eats articles each week, you will never be in debt from eating out and will, in turn, never need a financial consultant.

Lunch: I chose the tuna melt ($8.25) which came with two large scoops of tuna mixed with a tangy Russian dressing and topped with a tomato and melted cheese. The thousand island-type dressing was a flavorful touch to the typical tuna melt and although I wasn't expecting it to be served open-faced, I didn't mind eating my meal with a fork. On the side: large, crispy steak fries.

I also tasted the mazo ball soup ($2.65 a cup) which had one large mazo ball dominating the soup, with a few scattered carrots floating around the tasty broth. I have no comparison for the mazo ball soup since I've never had it before, but I can confidently say that I will order it in the future.

My co-workers ordered a variety of items from the open faced turkey melt ($7.95) to the dill chicken salad ($7.75) and crock of french onion soup ($3.95). Some of their feedback wasn't so positive, as my colleague said her mandarin chicken salad ($8.75) left much to be desired. She was attempting to order something fresh and exciting, but instead received mayonaise-glazed chicken on a bed of lettuce. Something she called "disaster on a plate." 

The comments I got about the meatloaf melt ($8.25) was that it was "savory" and "home-style" and the amount of meatloaf for the money was more than fair. I was also told that the consistency and texture of meat and spices good, however, the cheese on top was too congealed. In her opinion, cheese is never necessary on meatloaf.

The bottom line: Thumbs were up and down around the table, but as far as deli's go, I would recommend it to others. The giant case of dessert varieties looked tempting at the entrance and I don't think I could give that up the next time I stop by.

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