You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

This is round two for Air Canada's veggie option, and it's a much better sandwich this time. Same kinda deal, boring roasted pepper, zucchini, tomato, arugula, and black olive combination, but in equal proportion to one another and more flavourful. The peppers in particular were meaty, not squishy and deflated, and even the arugula looks fresh. I didn't check the best before date, but it seems time was on our side here.

With every bite, I look at this sandwich deeply, trying to penetrate the meaning of it. I chew mechanically and question whether "Vegetarian" is delicious or just soggy and underwhelming. I probably ask myself this ten times and have no answers. The bread is chewy with cartoon-like grill marks. Fillings appear to be hummus, red pepper, the kind of black olives that come from a can, arugula and possible tomato or zucchini. The canned olives are many. I imagine a huge spoon scooping into an suitcase-sized vat of prepared veggies and coming up with little regard for the olive to tomato ratio in my particular sandwich. So, there are too many olives in this tightly shrink wrapped meal. That's a problem, but I'm a captive audience. Airplanes are confusing. Early morning flights too. I'd eat this again. All bets are off. 7 bucks. Plastic only.

The chief attraction of squeezing some fried egg and cheese between two pieces of bread is to maximize the portability and speed of breakfast. So please give me a breakfast sandwich and I'll run off to where I need to be, okay? Arbor Cafe's decent, but not stellar, breakfast sandwich includes the above along with a side of salad in a large takeout box. The solution is to ask ahead of time to put the whole works into a wax paper bag, but in a pinch, lift the lid on sammie, insert salad, close it up and run to work. The egg appears to be expediently prepped as a half-inch deep sheet, with chives sprinkled on top and then cut into squares. Cheese is generous, there may have also been mayo. Slight crust burn.

These guys are such nerds. Sandwich puns, earnest enthusiasm, hand-done signs, lots of thumbs up icons and evocations of good vibes. But, it's all true. The sandwiches themselves are pretty good. There's a certain ambiguously satisfying greatness in a simple toasty, and it seems difficult to say exactly why, but for the sake of accuracy let's start by saying these sandwiches are warm . Maybe that's it. Both the Potbelly Mediterranean and their Turkey had a fair creaminess to them, due to hummus, melty feta and mustard, mayo respectively, which also lent flavour integration to each bite. The bread enclosed the ingredients without bracketing them or being a wrap per se, and the ingredients like cucumbers and tomatoes were sliced thinly enough that their crunch didn't dominate, meaning that no one bite involved too much bread, or individual tastes that popped out above others.

Driving west into Regina on Victoria Avenue, I was heartbroken to see Italian Star Deli closed for the afternoon. All I wanted was this sandwich. All was right in the world again two days later when I had to drive through again eastward, and this delicious muffuletta was mine. Like most Italian sandwiches, there was an array of freshly sliced deli meats, provolone, an oil and herb dressing lightly brushed on one side, but the real kicker of this sandwich was a layer of feta cheese mixed with banana peppers. Sounds demure, but together between the perfectly soft and fragrant round foccacia, interspliced with a mix of hard salami and soft hams, this was one fine sandwich. Comes in mild (no banana peppers), medium (what I got), and extra hot (sold out!). I also saw one "double meat" half loaf, but I wasn't up for it.  Thumbs up for the extra pepperoni snack wrapped on top of each loaf. Yeah.

Yikes. Presentation was never their strong suit, but these clear plastic AND paper bags kept the sandwich visible while it started to sog up as I raced for the train. Those days are now over, but I will never forget that tin foil is still the best sandwich wrapper invented. I believe this was a bacon and brie with cranberry sauce panini.

I grew up with Marks and Spencer as an exclusively high end clothing store, so it was to my great surprise that you can get all sorts of sandwiches and jaffa cakes en masse at any M&S store along with cheap tees and anything else you would need. This selection of bite size rolls including British ham salad, British chicken salad, and egg salad, was a nice little treat on a busy travel day, and their other snacks and wraps have been not so bad. The packaging is simple, though not ideal for travel. (A side note: A Glaswegian told me that she finds it comforting when she sees a M&S, to know one is nearby, and I can only possibly relay the same affection for Shopper's Drug Mar ts, though their sandwich selection is nowhere sufficient.) There are boxed sandwiches everywhere you go, especially in Edinburgh, and this lemon chicken salad concoction was from the cafe at the Royal Botanical Gardens , which paired with their homemade soup, was a bit of a disappointment. I've had ...

What I love most about getting a fresh sandwich from Van Loc in Edmonton is the simple paper bag it comes in. The bread is still warm when I rip the paper open, and it's the best present everytime!