Roast Veg Panini, Peckhams Cafe

A Scottish chain cafe that is a bit of a deli meets speciality gift and wine store, Peckhams has got locations all over the place, but the one I stopped in was the Union Square Mall in Aberdeen.

With about 30 minutes in between transit changes, my travel companion and I stopped for a tea, and I ordered a roasted vegetable sandwich, asking if it'll be ready fast, while she ordered a bag of wasabi peas.

The peas were all but eaten by the time I went up to see if the sandwich was ready, and I had to get it wrapped to go by then. In the short time span it took from wrapping to eating it en route, the heat of the roasted mushy vegetables had sogged up the underside of the bread. The vegetables, which mostly tasted of eggplant more than anything else, was rather bland, which always disappoints me in a hot sandwich. A poor panini appears popular in this country as I have yet to taste a good one. I may just have to have another go at the toastie, as at least my expectations are now low.

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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.

Madrid Sandwich, Trans-Europe Cafe, Glasgow

Nestled in the heart of Merchant City, the Trans-Europe Cafe is a quiet little spot that boasts a selection of classic gourmet European sandwiches. Stopping in after a meeting a few doors down I felt I needed a pick-me up, and so I went with what I thought would be the spiciest, the Madrid: chorizo with pesto and mozzarella. The sandwich was all right, but not classic or gourmet, though perhaps relatively so to the aforementioned toasties. The flavour was arguably more Italian than Spanish, or worse, it was sort of American, as it was still a hoagie bun, just sliced diagonally and pressed. The accompanying sides of coleslaw, argula salad (which they listed as spinach), and salted crisps were a nice touch, as was my spiced apple tea. Taking a quick look over their menu , I would return to see what Zurich is all about.

Haloum Grille, Depanneur Le Pick Up, Montreal

A friend and I agreed the personality of the sandwich changes with each person who prepares it, and today we felt something was a little less than parfait with our Haloum Grille. Folks at Le Pick Up seemed stressed . The longest wait ever, and our lunches sat around too long. Temperature of the cheese is important to experiencing haloumi’s firm the texture and the release of its saltiness, and I prefer when it’s grilled directly before entering the sandwich. Creamy spicy slaw of red cabbage, carrot, and kale soothes the major crust burn associated with the crispy multigrain toast. Ideally it’s the bread that should be soft and the haloumi that gets to shine as the crispy grilled champ that it is. Nevertheless, we stayed for hours at the back picnic tables, chatted with the servers, overheard some drama about the evening closing procedure, broke a dish, and spilled a coffee. A good day.

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