Sandwich Timatin vs. Egg McMuffin: In the rest of Canada, the breakfast sandwich that Tim Hortons introduced a few months ago is called on the menu, imaginatively, "Hot Breakfast Sandwich". In Quebec it's called a more pun-y "Sandwich Timatin" (C'est fun, non? Oui. Which is why I only refer to Tim Hortons breakfast sandwiches as Timatins). I have already publically proclaimed my love for the classic Egg McMuffin **, but now that I've had a few Timatins to compare it to, let's make it formal:

- Reason why I have had more Timatins than Egg McMuffins in the past few months: Tim Hortons makes their breakfast sandwich available until noon on weekends. McDo stops at eleven. While I can always easily make the noon cutoff for a Timatin, eleven on a precious weekend morning is cutting it close. 1 point for Timatin.
- The Timatin doesn't come with any frills attached - no hash brown, no orange juice. This means you can order decent coffee to go with it. Or a cafe mocha with extra whipped cream. Or a Coke. Or a side order of Timbits. The opportunities are endless! But, do you really want extra whipped cream with your breakfast? Or donuts? Because I don't, really. The hash brown in a paper sleeve + orange "juice" is such a classic, infaillable sidekick. 1 point for Timatin, 2 points for the McMuffin.
- The egg in a Timatin is scrambled. McDonald's is more poach-y. I like the clear distinction between egg white and yolk - it's prettier and somehow feels less greasy. 1 point for McDonalds.
- I was impressed by the little kick in the Tim Hortons sausage. There's like, pepper in it or something. Nice job! 1 point for Timmy.
- The combination of egg+sausage on a biscuit is so heavenly and decadent, but I remember travelling down south in the United States and being vaguely disapointed by the biscuits - they would always disintegrate; their crumb isn't strong enough. But the Tim Hortons biscuit is a solid cake, dry, but it never breaks. How do they do it? In theory, biscuits will always trump English muffins. 1 point for Timmy.
- For a long time I was very against ketchup on any breakfast food other than homefries. But I eventually realized that the ketchup is such an important part of a breakfast sandwich experience - the precarious balancing of the sandwich on my knee as I try to squirt the ketchup on cleanly as Andrew pulls the car back onto the highway so that we can continue on our journey to wheverever we happen to be going. And it tastes good. The Timatin biscuit seems to absorb the ketchup like a sponge - I don't know where it goes. And I don't feel like searching around the paper bag for a fresh packet. So, 1 point for McDo.
- On the whole, the Timatin is much less greasy than the Egg McMuffin. You don't get that slick of oil staining the paper the sandwich is wrapped in the way you do at McDonalds. Comendable. 1 point for Timmy.
- The cheese is gross on both, but necessary. No points each.

Based on that list, Timatins are narrowly beating Egg McMuffins by 1 point. But, on a pure taste basis, it's pretty hard to beat an Egg McMuffin. 2.5 points McDonalds.

Winner: McDonalds!

(Although it should be noted that I've had better, more satisfying egg + sausage + cheese + muffin/biscuit experiences at non-fast foody places. One of my most sublime breakfast experiences, for instance, was just outside of Charleston, North Carolina, eating a sandwich made at a corner store before hanging out at the beach for the rest of the day.)

** Okay, I suppose technically the classic Egg McMuffin has Canadian bacon instead of sausage, but who orders those? In my culinary dictionary, the true classic Egg McMuffin is one made with sausage, or the "sausage Egg McMuffin".