Restaurants

The Best Thing I Ate All Week: The Signature Brick from Brick’N’Cheese

Is it a grilled cheese? Is it a burrito? Whatever it is, it works.

By Nathan Caddell /

That it’s been this long since I’ve tried Brick’N’Cheese is more than a little unfortunate. The ghost kitchen was launched out of Strathcona’s Coho Commissary last year around this time and has been serving up what are apparently “French tacos” ever since.

Somehow, I missed the launch (the whole “pandemic thing” may have played a part). But it appears that many of you did as well. When we put out the calls for our Taco Draft earlier this year, not a single soul suggested that we draft this place. And really, it would have been awesome to pick and confound my editors with, because these are tacos in name only.

Apparently, what passes for a French taco is essentially a flour tortilla slathered with condiments, piled with meat (there’s also a veggie option) and french fries, doused in cheese sauce, folded into a rectangular packet and toasted on a grill. So yeah, it’s like a cross between a burrito and a grilled cheese, and it’s absolutely delicious.

Fittingly, Brick’N’Cheese was started by two French ex-pats—Baptiste Petit and Samy El Jabri—and they sell their four varietals (plus a quarterly feature brick) on all your favourite food delivery platforms.

The current feature item, the Tikka Masala Brick, was very good. Crammed full of chicken, with mozzarella, fried onions and curry powder, it’s a substantial and pleasant combination of cuisines.

But my favourite was definitely the Signature Brick. With both lean ground beef and crispy chicken, as well as cheddar cheese and a delicious chipotle sauce, I was in from the first bite. It also must be said that I’m no wallflower when it comes to appetite, but I had to split this bad boy up into two different sittings.

So while the price tag ($15.99)—plus the delivery fees—isn’t amazing, there may be some solace in that it can serve as both lunch and dinner.

And hey, when Petit and El Jabri open their bricks (yeah yeah) and mortar location (rumoured to be in the works), that delivery fee will be gone, along with your preconceived notions of what tacos are.