British Expatriate Network

The other day, I went to a lunch place in my neighbourhood I like very much and ordered a sandwich.

Although the sandwich contents were tasty, they were mountainous. It was one of those sandwiches with a couple of toothpicks in it, that , once removed, led to the rapid collapse of its overall structure.

I found I could not open my mouth wide enough to actually eat it and as is so often the case I found myself gnawing the side of it.

Inevitably, at some point, a piece of oily eggplant from the sandwich fell down my front which resulted in a panicky visit to the washroom to try and get the stain out.

After many years here I've never got used to the inhuman size of sandwiches. And it's not just the tallness of the sandwiches that's been bothering me. I find a lot of sandwiches here unimaginative and boring.

Fifteen years ago (with the odd exception of M&S sandwiches) I would have felt the opposite. In the late 1980s 'That's Life' did an expose revealing that there was actually nothing in most motorway stop sandwiches - just the corners. It was the other extreme, a bit of grated cheddar drizzled onto cheap margarine and white bread was mysteriously called a cheese sandwich and still cost you two quid. A bit of tomato in it would inevitably result in another 50p.

But now with Pret-A-Manger and a million other sandwich places and almost all supermarkets selling sandwiches, they're great. I'm dazzled by them every time I visit the U.K. There's lots of really interesting combinations, tandoori chicken, thai chicken, stilton and spring onion, poached salmon and lettuce, crayfish, patrami, humous salad etc and great British favourites like cheese and branston or baby prawn sandwiches. The fillings are substantial without being gross. They're expensive sometimes but I still grab them when I'm rushing around London.

By comparison, the sandwich place near where I work has the same old tired combinations. Roast Beef, turkey (that sweaty, shiny turkey), egg salad, tuna salad and that's about it. The sandwiches are often rather dry, but they seem to think that if they put enough filling in that you will be satisfied. I really don't like a lot of the bread on offer either.

Am I just a whiner or do others feel the same way?

What I found tedious about sandwiches in the US - say, at Subway - is that they didn't just have what you wanted to buy there and then (as they do at Sainsbury's). You'd have to queue up and listen to everyone do their prescriptive bit, then it would be your turn. Then you'd have to order your fillings one by one, as you couldn't just say everything, for fear of ending up with weird pickles and peppers. You'd also have to go through the tomayto/tomato routine roll .

The sandwich selections here are fab. I used to be a chicken tikka or prawn cocktail girl, but there are so many different things to choose from now.

I used to buy sandwiches in the UK for lunch far more often than I do here for the same reasons. A sandwich over there was enough to fill you up. Here I end up eating half and saving the other half for the next day (unless some glutton at work steals it - Who steals half of someone elses sandwich?? roll )

They are all on the same theme here, meat and cheese is a given and you have to stop them from putting all sorts of crud in there. And sprinkling vinegar on top? -?

I've been saying for ages that they need more UK-style sandwiches here, and baguettes. Given the number of people on diets, I can't see why they wouldn't want smaller, tastier alternatives.

The only places I like to get sandwiches from are Quiznos (Veggie) and Panera Bread (veggie or tuna). Other delis turn my stomach. The big elephant leg pieces of ham/turkey that they serve do nothing for my appetite and the cheeses taste like bland slabs of plastic. That nasty shredded iceburg lettuce is terrible too, and the tomato does nothing but help to make the preservative-stuffed bread a little less dry..

I worked at M&S the summer before I moved over here and I used to replenish the shelves in the food area - I would pay double to have that kind of choice in all food (not just sarnies) over here.

I like quiznos once in a while and Paneraa bread, where I usually get a cup of soup and half a sandwich with lots of choices of what to put on it.
What kind of places do you guys shop at that you can't as for less meat and get a choice of different cheeses.
Now I know they dont have the variety of British and European cheeses you had been used to but surely enough to make the odd sarny or two.

I must admit I never shopped for food at M&S (I know shock horror o ) so I don't know what kinds of sarnies you would buy there.

"Different cheeses"?

Muenster - full fat-no taste square
Provolone - plastic circle
Swiss - plastic square with holes
American - plastic square in lurid orange
Havarti - blah

I'd like to see them offer
Brie
Manchego (or however you spell it)
Roquefort
Good sharp cheddar
Nice crumbly orange cheddar
Edam (or similar)

I do actually ask for smaller amounts of meat when I order from those places, but of course you still pay the same, so sometimes I just take it off and give it to Him who is a true carnivore.

Panera does have a tasty sandwich with Gorgonzola on.

I used to buy sandwiches at Boots Chemists - usually something like chicken salad or prawn cocktail.

I tried Subway here once or twice but it is like pulling teeth in comparison. Sometimes too much choice can be a bad thing.

The bread sucks.
The meat sucks.
The cheese sucks.
Don't like salad on my sarnies.

Way too much of everything, I can't get my mouth round them either. They look at me weird when I ask for butter too!

God Bless M & S sarnies! *sniff*

Sarah

I think it's more the point that when you order a sandwich here you're clear about what you want, and if you feel it's too much food then simply ask them to make a smaller sandwich.

I have never had an issue ordering at Subway and I really don't have any sociological hang ups about asking for whatever I want (or do not want) on a sandwich on the rare occasions I have purchased one, "weird" pickles and all (they're just pickles and frankly I love a good hot spiceh pickle...)

As for sandwiches in the UK. well, after a visit last year to Marks and Spencers, they all look a little on the sad side of pathetic and way too salty.

Pepperocini regards, Andrew )

Perhaps they should branch out into vacuum cleaners? :D

The thing I like about sarnies over here is the NO BUTTER/MARG thing. Don't buy them that often -Beest makes them at home for us when we need them. Never bought them in the UK because of that nasty butter/margarine issue. lol

It is a bit of a palaver queuing up and issuing instructions when the choice of central filling is so limited, but as I'm a roast beef with lots of salad fan, I'm happy )

Come to Californai, ask for what you want and get it. No probs. Right down to the weird sauces we used to eat. HP and the like on steak.
Mind i agree about the size. Nibble sideways.

My brother was *so* desperate for a good fresh crusty piece of bread after 3 months here... I've been in denial for so long!

See below:

* East17 picks himself off the floor and reverts the chair to an upright position

I was so glad when I found out the local deli where I worked, a prize winner in a decent sized metro area, used REAL Emmentaler on its sandwiches instead of the so-called Swiss. As for their standard "Cheddar" it's basically "American Light".

I dont buy many sarnies out whatever they put to much *junk in there * and look at you funny when you ask for butter ..not a fan of mayonaise ..

made at home with 7 grain bread butter roast beef , ham , or cheese is usually the way i go .

do confess to having a fried egg sandwich at times .