Braised Radicchio and Niçoise Sandwiches, PLENTY Cafe, Toronto

I always want to think that radicchio prepared in this way is a high-class Italian thing, but honestly it’s a bit strange tasting. Maybe the magic is in the pairing, and in this instance, the cheese here wasn’t quite right. They seem to have retired this sandwich since I first had it.

Lest readers think that I use You Say Sandwich as a platform for complaining, I'm thrilled to report that the PLENTY Nicoise sandwich is so good I’m surprised I haven’t come across it before—my favorite salad in sandwich form! Olive tapenade, tomato, cucumber, hard boiled egg, tuna salad with green onions. This is just such an overdue sandwich concept. I once feared that these loaves would rip up the top of my mouth--the phenomena that J.D. and I tend to call “crust burn”--but they’re surprisingly gentle for the good tooth exhibited.

The roasted shallot salad dressing on the greens that accompany each sandwich is sweetly addictive.

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Monty’s Bakehouse wrap, Air Canada

I’d rate this wrap as strange. Its packaging created expectations of a more appetizing experience, which it was not. After a vastly superior egg salad sandwich from London Heathrow, I could not greet this airplane freebie with serious interest, but at least it was hot, and at least I could review it for this blog. Steaming contents were oozy and largely undistinguishable, but suggested some kind of red pepper or sundried tomato origins.

Specialty Sandwich, Amtrak train dining car

Advertised as the "Specialty Sandwich" on board the Oakland to Los Angeles Amtrak train, this $9.75 grilled cheese seems a safe vegetarian bet, just as a bagel and cream cheese does when faced with weird processed meat choices aboard the VIA Rail in Canada. The specialty allegedly features gruyere and smoked cheddar, however each cheese was tasteless, plastic, and greasy, cooling to reveal six slices of highly processed cheese product. The crisp, somewhat grainy bread absorbed cheese sweat from inside, completely obliterating any relief that the mustard or tomato could have provided, and was thoroughly saturated in a meaty residue from the grill on the outside. This sandwich leaves the kind of mouthfeel that a glass of water cannot wash away. Note: pack toothbrush in carry-on.

Kim Anh Subs, Calgary

It's no secret I'm a fan of the Vietnamese sub. Hell, they've prevented my vegetarianism . But I do enjoy the vegetarian option now and again, especially when it's warm marinated soft tofu rather than the shredded fake meat variety. In Calgary one weekend, a friend and I found ourselves stranded in the city due to a snow storm, so lounging around 17th Avenue, cold, tired, hungry, and near broke, we popped our heads into Kim Anh Subs where he had ventured once before. Offering a whole wheat sub bun option, Kim Anh's subs were a bit more expensive than what I'm used to for a sub of this style ($3.50 is my price range), but it's Calgary, so what can you expect.

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