We took on Arby’s giant meat sandwich. Were we able to finish it? You have to watch the whole video to find out! Do you even really care though?
Category: sandwich
I grew up in Florida, where Publix was one of the main grocery stores. I’ve had friends that worked there in high school and in college. They always told me that the subs were so good there. I never had one and couldn’t imagine it would be that amazing. Then I saw a Buzzfeed article a few years ago that talked about how awesome Publix subs are. It made me wish I tried them back in the day …because I trust the Internet more than my friends.
So I went to Florida last Christmas and my sister and mom were going to Publix and asked if I wanted anything, while I was setting up the new HDTV and Apple TV for my parents. I said, “Yeah, get me a Publix sub.” My sister brought me back a Turkey Sub. She said they took a lot of care into building it. A real sandwich artist.
Dude… It was so awesome. So fresh. So much better than Subway.
Speaking of Subway, my friend always thought Subway smelled liked wet B.O. towels. I always thought Subway smelled good  when I walked by …with the fresh baked bread. And recently I looked it up. That’s a thing. Some people find Subway bread to smell repulsive. Just Google it. There are too many links for me to link. Well, here’s a screenshot…
Also speaking of Subway, why didn’t Jared ever lose more weight? I know he lost a shit load of weight initially before he became the spokesman. But to me, he was still overweight. Like if your only job was to be skinny and get paid a lot of money, you’d get skinny or be in great shape. But maybe he was preoccupied by other things. I don’t blame Subway for Jared being a piece of shit. I kind of like Subway. But I feel like Subway really should have nudged him to get into Hugh Jackman shape. Because he was still kinda fat, right?
Anyway, Publix subs rule. I ate the second half on my plane ride home to New York. Everyone was like, “What’s that smell?” Dude, it’s my Publix sub.
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Fuku Spicy Chicken Sandwich
I finally got to try David Chang’s Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich at Fuku in the East Village.
The line and wait wasn’t that bad around 7pm on a Friday. The line initially looks bad leading out the door, but it’s actually short. The person taking the order is only a few feet from the door. And they are quick. The menu is small (Spicy Chicken Sandwich $8, fries $3, a daily salad, a daily Milk Bar dessert and drinks –one beer choice, Tecate $5). Also they only take credit cards, so it’s quick. Also no gratuity option when you sign.
I got my Chicken Sandwich with pickled daikon ($1 extra). I thought that made it taste better, but possibly made half of my sandwich soggy. Half of it was great, but that soggy half wasn’t so much. The seasoning on the chicken is good.
I didn’t think the Ssam sauce they have in bottles on the counters helped the sandwich. I don’t think it was the right flavor for it. We saw a couple next to us that couldn’t wait to try their sandwich, but they doused it all over with ketchup and the Ssam sauce. They should have tasted it plain first, but I couldn’t say anything in time. They gave a face that didn’t look like they really enjoyed it, but were trying to be polite while inside the restaurant.
It’s a good chicken sandwich. A good deal at $8 for it’s size, particularly for NY prices and coming from such a popular chef. A lot of chicken. They use dark meat, rather than the breast.
I would say it’s more in the vein of Chick-fil-A –Seasoned Fried Chicken with pickles on a bun. Simple assembly. But I’m more of a lettuce and mayo type of chicken sandwich guy though. I’d eat this Fuku Chicken Sandwich again though.
Fuku – 163 1st Ave (between East 11th St & 10th St) New York, NY 10003 East Village
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Fritzl’s Palace Fried Chicken Sandwich
Now that I live in Bushwick, I can have one of the best burgers ever at Fritzl’s. However, I chose the “Palace” Fried Chicken Sandwich instead –Homemade chicken patty (brined breast and thigh) with lettuce and mayo on a roll $9. That sounds really good and it was.
I assume it’s modeled after Palace Fried Chicken restaurants that’s around New York. This tasted like a really good Burger King Chicken Sandwich …or a Palace Fried Chicken Sandwich. Instead of a ground/mashed up formed frozen patty, it’s real bits of chicken formed into a crispy hockey puck.
You know what I think makes it taste especially good is the mayo and shredded lettuce. Something about that makes it taste good. I think SNL was right on target when they made this skit about a new fake KFC item called KFC Shredders –a bag of lettuce where you put mayo and then shake.
Then I remember McDonald’s soon followed and made something very similar called Salad Shakers, where you shake up the lettuce and dressing in a sundae cup. Or maybe SNL was making fun of McDonald’s, but I remember the timing was the other way around.
Fritzl’s Lunch Box – 173 Irving Ave (btwn Stanhope St & Stockholm St in Bushwick) Brooklyn, NY 11237
You’ve seen the commercials for the Wendy’s Pretzel Pub Chicken Sandwich, right? It looks good. Or at least interesting. I saw it one late night when I was drunk and immediately emailed the publicist that had just wrote me about it. I said I want it and she said okay. It was that easy. I’ve never asked before. I didn’t know you could do that.
So I got $5 gift card in the mail. Headed over to the Wendy’s on 5th Ave near the Empire State building, but it was so packed. The line was insane. The next day, I went to the one on 14th St near Union Square. No line. I walked right up to the cashier.
Unfortunately, the sandwich alone was about $6 after tax. I guess that’s Manhattan pricing. So I owed a dollar. But it was weird, because I got a bunch of change back from the coin dispenser.
I sat in Union Square and opened it up. Looked good. The pretzel bread was soft and had a crusty bottom. Tasted almost like Chinese bakery bun bread. Not so much like how I imagined a pretzel bun would taste like. But it was a really good sandwich. I like it a lot. Seemed like quality ingredients. Sauce was tasty. A really good chicken sandwich.
I’m already a big of Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Had it very often in college. I should try the Pretzel Pub with Spicy Chicken next time.
I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Hesperia, California.
Greetings from Hesperia, California
N 34° 25.657’ W 117° 22.561’ Elev. 3,489 ft.
I’ve always liked Quiznos. They make a lot of really great sandwiches, my favorite being the Turkey Bacon Guacamole. It was also the first sub shop where toasting the sandwiches was de rigueur, part of its cachet, its claim to fame. Moreover, they are always pretty consistently high quality.
I always chuckle when I think of the fact that Quiznos has cost Subway, the sub shop that still hasn’t figured out how to make a decent sandwich, a fortune by forcing the low-budget, sub-par sub shop to buy a bunch of toaster ovens. It hasn’t helped them improve the sandwiches, of course, but it sure as hell slowed things down in a hurry.
Being unquestionably objective and unduly unbiased, I have to make an uncharacteristically astute observation here: Subway has become as ubiquitous as McDouche’s. And since its founding in 1965 it has yet to produce a single decent sandwich. Not one. That’s quite a remarkable accomplishment. I guess this somehow helps explain why I have a Pavlovian response every time I see Subway’s “Subway Subway Subway†logo on those blue exit information signs I mutter aloud “Sucks Sucks Sucks.†Moving on ….
Lately the “Mmmmm .. TOASTY®†sub shop has been running a “for a limited time†promotion introducing its new Pulled Pork sandwiches, selling a small sandwich for $2.99. In another effort to fulfill my life-goal of an All Pork Diet I figured I’d give them a try.
Quiznos is offering two different versions of the sandwiches: A Southern Pulled Pork and a Spicy Pulled Pork. The Southern BBQ Pulled Pork just comes with cole slaw and their “Signature†BBQ sauce. The Spicy BBQ Pulled Pork however comes with bacon, cheddar cheese, cilantro-jalapeño cole slaw, and BBQ sauce. They usually serve the Spicy on jalapeño cheddar bread but I got it on wheat. Had I known at the time that it’s normally made with jalapeño cheddar bread I would have gotten it.
Right out of the gate there are a couple of problems with the sandwiches. First off the pork is kind of a mix of pulled and chopped. Secondly it’s too skimpy on the meat. I don’t know how many eighth-ounces of meat is on the sandwich but it isn’t enough. Everybody knows that if you’re eating a pulled pork sandwich and you’re not dropping meat everywhere there isn’t enough meat on it. C’mon, Quiznos, don’t use a gram scale to weigh meat for a pulled pork sandwich.
The Southern version was just strange. The cole slaw on it had a weird vinegary taste. I thought it would’ve been sweet slaw like they use everywhere else. But no. I ate about half of it and had to toss it. Although the meat and sauce is passable, the slaw just made it too weird. Then again, maybe it was just bad slaw; I bought the sandwiches at different locations.
The Spicy one on the other hand was actually quite good. I was kind of suspicious at first because it seemed like it was going to be a real collision of flavors. I was surprised that the combination works pretty well together. It’s not really spicy though. I guess I expected it to have sort of a kick. And while the cole slaw was delightfully crunchy it didn’t really taste of either cilantro or jalapeño. Still, if it had a little more meat on it it would be a pretty good $3 sandwich.
As part of the promotion Quiznos gives you a scratch-off card with every sandwich. The valuable prizes you can “win†with a sandwich purchase are: a dollar off a regular or large sub; a regular fountain drink; chips and a regular fountain drink; or a cookie! Evidently I hit the jackpot as both of my tickets were for a dollar off. Woo hoo!! Now I can get a discount on a Turkey Bacon Guacamole.
And so we roll.
Quiznos Subs, nationwide
Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.
I was out and about and needed to pee. The problem with going into a bar is that you buy a beer to use the restroom and then you got to pee again. Well I went into Parm to pee, get a beer and also ended up getting food.
I got the Chicken Parm on a roll ($9). Pretty expensive for what it was, but it was good.
Now for my beer –They ran out of $4 Schaefer’s. So I got an $8 Brooklyn draft. The waiter did a no-no and took my beer away when I had a good sip or two left. I even saw him pour it down the sink. I was kind of pissed. I’m not sure if he realized what he did, but the beer wasn’t on my bill. I didn’t know if I should say something, but I wasn’t sure if he was comping my beer that he partially threw away. And then I wasn’t sure how to tip. So I gave him an extra $1.
I guess in the end, it was worth going there to pee.
Parm – 248 Mulberry St (btwn Spring & Prince) New York, NY 10012
They just opened up a Num Pang Sandwich shop in my work-hood (Flatiron area). They make Cambodian style sandwiches, which seem to be very similar to Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches for point of reference. The first time I walked by it was packed and the line was long. The guy handing out menus outside told me the line goes quick. I didn’t believe him and stood there staring at him.
So this time I came back with Sam and Chris and there were people, but not so packed. We walked in, turned around and instantly 15 people were behind us. It did go quick though. Even so much that right after I ordered, my food was ready. I couldn’t believe it. Sam was like “#230, that’s your number!” I didn’t believe him, but it was true. They must’ve had that sandwich ready already.
I ordered the Five-Spice Glazed Pork Belly sandwich (w/ Pickled Asian Pear $8.50). I took a little container of Sriracha hot sauce and waited for my friends to get their sandwiches and a corn on the cob. Dang, this sandwich was fantastic. I knew that they made pretty good sandwiches, but I was stunned how much I liked it. Definitely one of the best Banh Mi’s I’ve ever had. I don’t know, it was so good. Sam thought his pulled pork one was okay.
Sam had a good joke about about my waiting number. “What time do you go to the dentist? …Tooth-hurty!” Little did I know that that joke would manifest into real life. My tooth hurts like a mother fucker right now. Unrelated to the sandwich. Although baguettes always scratch up the roof of my mouth.
Num Pang Nomad – 1129 Broadway (btwn 26th & 25th St) New York, NY 10010
