Liquids and Solids

My husband raves about this place! He loves going on a busy work day. But when he finally got a chance to take me, we had such a poor experience that I don’t think either of us will ever be back.
When we walked in last Saturday around 3pm, only one couple was in the place. We walked up, and my husband was talking audibly about how awesome the place was, and walking us through the menu as a young woman stood there and glared at us.
My husband was saying how we could get half a sandwich and a bowl of soup and how it was so delicious… when the young woman behind the counter interrupted loudly — «No you can’t.» When he tried to ask a question, she wouldn’t let him talk. Just «No you can’t.»
Okay, I get it. You can’t order half a panini. Guess he was either wrong, or someone had made an exception in the past.
But she barely spoke any other words to us the whole time we were asking questions and trying to put together an order. We were just a group of three, and we weren’t loud. We ordered pretty efficiently.
But she was clearly irritated for some reason, and got angry when we — from the U.S., though my husband and his colleague are in Van almost every week for business– didn’t do the credit card machine absolutely right the first time.
She also refused to let us charge one card for the whole order.
As soon as she thought we were done, she turned her back to us.
She left the first order across the restaurant at the pick-​up bar to get cold as we were paying and didn’t even tell us it was ready. When we asked, she grunted «That’s yours», pointing over to the bowl.
When we asked for hot sauce, she didn’t even acknowledge or speak to us. She shoved a handful of sauces on her counter and pointed at them so we could walk over and pick them up.
The soup was fine. The sandwiches were fine. Not great. Not even hot — either soup or sandwich.
The hostility is not worth your time, or your taste buds.

Just went to the East Hastings location and it was awesome. I’m new to the area and just wanted a quick lunch. Service was fast and friendly, the sandwich was satisfying (chicken pesto, both the bread and chicken tasted fresh and moist, even for being pre-​made) The soup wasn’t amazing (Naughty Thai) but still pretty good. It didn’t have much of a thai flavor, so it could use some more spices and seasonings, but it was hearty and had generous pieces of chicken. For eleven bucks I couldn’t even finish it all, so totally worth the money.

I want to start off by saying I really, really want to love this place. It’s in east Van, it’s cheap, and it’s got a damn awesome name. I’ve been a couple times and service isn’t bad either. It’s all so close. But both times I’ve visited, I find the soup is lacking that oomph taste you’d expect from a place named so awesome. My dining companion didn’t like his soup too much the second time either. It’s sort of got that too-​much-​onion-​and-​not-​enough-​flavour thing going on. I really hope to visit again in a few months and will cross my fingers!

I love soup. If I can eat it every day for at least one meal, I’d be OK with that.
So far, I’ve tried 4 soups and loved every one of them.
It’s A Clam Dunk (New England clam chowder)
An American Onion in Paris (French onion soup without the cheese)
Ayee Chicken Gumbo
French Canadian Split Pea
They currently have 51 different types that they rotate. You know what that means? I get to try 47 more! =)

Great place for a quick lunch, especially when you’re craving something healthy and easy-​going. Their squash soup was delicious… as well as their heavenly chicken pesto panini. And for using free range chicken and all that jazz, the prices were not any higher than you’d pay for a regular soup + sandwich.
Wall décor, menus and table décor match the place well, but it does seem a little bit empty in side (and not empty as in there are no people there). I wish it was a little more cozy! After all, to me, a soup + sandwich combo is a cozy kinda meal!

Homemade soup! Hurray for homemade soup! Eat there or buy frozen bags of soup to have later or pass off as your own hehehe. The place is basic, a few tables, don’t be expecting a quaint little coffee shop. The food makes up for it. The staff is unbelievably friendly. Feel free to slurp :)

On this take out lunch day, I took a recommendation from a friend to try out their frozen soups from their store freezer. The ones they purchased for us were delicious and when I made my way there to buy more I noticed a very healthy variety of frozen soups available at a very good price. I order the bunless burger soup, clam chowder, veggie and tomato basil soup. Make sure to buy 3 bags because the 4^th one is free. Double wow.
Along with their frozen soups, you can also purchase paninis and other gourmet sandwiches. This place is a great way to pick up a quick lunch and soup later for the evening.

I came here a while ago when they had the Living Social promotion going on. And to be honest, the reason why I’m writing the review months later is that I completely forgot I had even eaten there.
So it’s sandwiches and soup. But I went way after the lunch crowd. They were out of the soup I wanted, don’t even recall what I had instead. With that, I had the extremely dry pulled pork sandwich. Which is understandable if the sandwiches are pre-​made and sit out there all day.
And the entire meal just sat heavy in my stomach for the rest of the day. I would be willing to give them another shot at another time of day, with another sandwich.
Even so, this was a good place to stop by in the dead of winter. Do people even have soup in the summertime? I know I don’t.

I’ve never had a chance to sit down and eat here but I get the feeling I’ve been here before. that’s because it’s the same owner as the now defunct «Soups etc.» that I used to go for a bowlful of nourishing soup during my downtown office worker days. In addition to soups they have — freshly grilled paninis, salads and giant cookies (I had my eye on the White Chocolate Ginger cookie but I resisted).
I used to describe «Soups, etc» as this, so I’ll repeat it again: it’s where you go for SOUP and the sandwich is the side because it’s that good; as opposed to «sandwich shops» that give you a measly soup on the side, this is the reverse, which isn’t accurate either because the sandwich here isn’t measly but actually substantially yummy. Also the pricing is like that of a sandwich shop because you pay $ 6 for the sandwich and $ 2 for a side of an actually delicious, nourishing and freshly soup.
Furthermore the beauty of this new operation is they have most of their soups readily available for take-​out in FROZEN baggies. Average price of $ 6 (HST included) and it’s good for 2 people and a second helping as well if you’re having it as a side. And when you buy 3 soups, get the 4^th one free! Again, HST included. This is so convenient when a quick meal is needed at home and defrosts/​reheats like it’s been freshly made.
I believe there are new locations opening up very soon and I drove by one the other day except can’t remember where. In the meantime, this original location is on Venables in between Commercial Drive and Clark Drive. Just up a couple blocks from Fujiya.

What is the difference between good food and amazing food? Most of the time just the adjustment of the seasoning. You pals ever wondered why vinegar based hot sauces are ever popular in our culture? The spice? Not really, it just rounds up the missing acid content and make your mouth feel wholesome with little hits or spikes on your palate. It is more of a stimulant rather than spicy factor. How about vinegar chips, bbq sauce, junk food which all of us consume especially abundantly when we have fluctuations on our moods; happiness, comfort, depression… Mediterranean cultures do not have vinegar based sauces, but the lemon juice in the kitchen. The mustard in a sandwich, is it the mustardiness or the tang, sweet ketchup on the salty fries, sour cream, yoghurt…
I have stopped by Liquids and Solids last week. There is love in what they are doing, beautiful east-​van feel. I have ordered the beef sandwich with bacon and blue cheese mayo and the chili on the side, to go. The chili had a good depth of flavor, body was good, all it needed was a bit of acid, maybe finishing spice and/​or a fresh herb according to my understanding, let’s say a personal thought. The sandwich was a bit on the medium side. The beef was gray, yet still somewhat didn’t feel dry with the whole lube of the sandwich. I did not taste the blue cheese at all and again something fresh would be nice, maybe some simple lettuce, it was very pasty.
They have a vast selection of soups, which makes it a bit hard to choose from. Again a personal thought, variety causes confusion most of the time. The menu is very very affordable for what it is. Great great service.
Everything is there, just a little polishing I says, then it would be a regular lunch point for me, if not one of the best soup/​sandwich places.

There is the occasional wait, but with super friendly staff and great food that comes quickly, I’ve yet to be disappointed!

Tried their Squashed! Soup. Very yummy indeed. Smooth and flavorful. Another soup I want to try here is the African Safari soup with peanut butter and cilantro!

My gosh. This place really ought to have more than 3 reviews. I just had my first visit there and my sandwich was to die for. To die for! I ordered their «Grateful Veg» sandwich, which contains tomatoes, bocconcini, spinach, artichokes and basil pesto served on grilled focaccia, and it was just about the best thing I’ve put in my mouth all week. All for $ 6.95! They also have some great non-​veggie sandwiches which I’ll have to go back and try.
Their selection of soups is terrific, and you can buy take-​home packs from the freezer that range in price from around $ 5.50-$ 8 –buy 3 get 1 free! I’ll definitely be going back to stock up on some of those. Check out their website –they update it daily to let you know which soups they’re serving, and they also display the nutritional information.
On top of their great food is their great service. I was served by one of the friendliest gals ever; I could tell she enjoyed working there.
Two thumbs up!

Wait, it took me this long to write a review for Liquids & Solids? How now?!
They offer a pretty great selection of sandwiches, but I’m not a huge sandwich fan so I really can’t say much. I can, however, express my love for their «liquids» menu.
They offer a huge selection of delicious soups, stews, chilis and chowders with multiple ingredient variations. For the health nut, you can even check out the nutrition information on their website. For the rest of us, we can sip guilt-​free (almost.) And really, how can anyone hate the cute names they give to each soup? I know I can’t.
Favourites:
Beet Me Up Scotty
Grandma’s Chicken Noodle Soup
Italian Wedding
It’s a Clam Dunk
Luck of the Irish Lamb Stew
Manhatten Clam Chowder
Sicilian Chicken Noodle
Squashed
The Broccoli Incident
Wild about Salmon
Try one, try all. If you find one you like, you can even buy a frozen bag to take home!

A bonafide soup maker that also happens to make great artisan sandwiches? Welcome Liquids and Solids to East Van. Close to the Drive and close to my work, I’m pretty happy this bright green awning appeared on Venables.
Cute interior with bar seating at the window and a few tables. A random patron inside the café recommended the soups to me, so you KNOW it’s gotta be good. You can’t get a better recommendation. Anyway I had the Moo sandwich and the split pea soup… I’m a happy camper.
Looks like they are still whipping up more soups, to total 50 different kinds in their freezer section, they have 6 on tap, ready to serve, and about 6 or 7 kinds of sandwiches in the café. They take debit and are open weekdays. Hooray for new businesses!