You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

I love how seemingly each major American city has its own way of doing up hot dogs, pizzas, and yes, sandwiches. With time to kill and hours before my next meal, I tried my luck with a Chicago Italian beef. At last, I understand why Arby's could be so popular after visiting this and the Philly cheesesteak. Thinly sliced beef is here slathered with giardiniera, a mixture of pickled and or hot vegetables and sauce. Reading up on the history of the Chicago Italian beef, the drippy nature of it now makes more sense when compared to the poor man's beef dip. However, if I had known this, I would have never tried it as the dip is not one of my personal favorites from the classics. This thing was more meat than bun, more soup than sandwich, and the giardiniera was not great. I should have known, Chicago, your deep dish pizza's are also pretty gross.

Visiting the location in Chelsea, Sullivan Street Bakery is serious business. I got this egg salad not knowing what I was in for, and once again, I succumbed to cutlery. Making the egg salad on order using soft boiled eggs, the gorgeous mess of eggs are mixed with fresh herbs like basil and rosemary, a perfect bit of crispy pancetta, and well-proportioned cheddar shreds. This sandwich owned me. I should have eaten it on the spot, but I took it back to the office. Eating this thing at someone else's desk is probably the rudest thing I have ever done. Okay, not ordering one for the other person and then eating it at his desk is the rudest thing I have ever done. Oh, and the bread, forget about it. I would just eat their bread, with some good olive oil and salt, all day long, I would.

Here lies two open face breakfast sandwiches that presume sandwiches are meant to be eaten with a knife and fork. I am torn on this issue. Once a sandwich needs cutlery, it ceases to be a sandwich, but is cutlery absolutely necessary or simply etiquette? First up, this guy from Cafe Madeline. That is not hollandaise sauce, that is melted cheese with a soft boiled egg. The egg was not runny.  The cutlery came in handy because the bread was so thick, but the plate was too big for what this is suppose to be. Not that I'm complaining about the bread. You can't see it, but the bread was the best part, mostly because the bread slice was as thick as the highest portion of ham, cheese, and egg combined. I'm not sure what kind of bread it was, but it had a great chewy density that could have been a plate unto itself. Next we have this Croque Madame (but senselessly called a Croque Monsieur, egg extra) at Qathra.  Much better plate to sandwich ratio and the salad is a ...

Train travel food is sometimes better than airport food, and this is an example. Zabo's bread basket lured us in one early weekday morning in the hell hole that is Penn Station, and they certainly had an array to choose from. This classic egg sandwich on an everything bagel took the edge off, but I wish I had been more awake as I would have ordered it with bacon. Word of advice: when traveling with vegetarians, specify that you are not them.

The classic Philly cheesesteak has long eluded me. Wiz cheesesteak with onions is how I went down at Geno's , and it's as sloppy as you think it went. Yup, the owner was a Tea Party loyalist and they still served freedom fries with a sign that tells you to order in English (because you're in America), but I had to try this sandwich once and once only. Inspired by this old favorite for my abbreviated day trip in Philly, South 9th St is actually hopping with deli's and hot food places that would have probably been better than this grease, but no regrets, even if the man who opened up Geno's died two years ago of a massive heart attack after battling colon cancer.

Never one to turn down a po'boy, this little sandwich shack at the edge of the Lower East Side made my day. Offering an oyster AND shrimp po'boy, I had figured I would double down on my flavour town by getting two sandwiches in one. But no, my friends, instead of splitting the oysters and shrimps half and half on the short side of the bun, they spread out the fixings on the long side! Meaning every bite there was a bit of shrimp and a bit of oyster from start to end. Cheeky ! Brilliantly cheeky.

Life on the road leads me to many places. As of late, it is leading me to the gym, because I have been eating things like this Moon over My Hammy breakfast sandwich from Denny's. I am too young or out of it to understand the cultural reference this sandwich is suppose to be referring to, but unless Miami is soaked in butter, the reference would not stand. Ordered without the hash browns, because let's face it, they are necessary when saddled next to this. Amendment: Now just a minute, is the egg suppose to be the moon? Never mind, it still doesn't really make sense.