by Malcolm on February 15, 2011
Today’s sandwich is the “Steak, Egg, and Cheese” breakfast sandwich from Subway. The menu describes it as, “Our delicious omelet made with our savory shaved steak, American and Monterey cheddar cheeses, fresh toasted on your choice of bread and topped with your choices of veggies and sauces.”
Location: 962 St. John Street
Price: $2.50 (6 inch)
Notes: I usually have an urge for a breakfast sandwich under some very specific conditions. Usually, one of those conditions may include my decision the previous night to see how much Jim Beam I could drink, while still maintaining the ability to speak. On those difficult mornings, I turn to a simple combination of bacon, egg, and cheese. Ideally, the egg is fried, and the third component you notice in the sandwich. The egg should be nothing more than a gesture, with piles of bacon and American cheese making up the bulk of the sandwich. Add some hot sauce, and slide the whole mess onto a poppy seed Kaiser roll, and you’re well on the road to recovery.
Using this formula, there isn’t a lot of room in my life for innovation, in the realm of the breakfast sandwich. I have my ideal already in mind, and it is a simple pleasure. This always made me reluctant to try the new breakfast offerings at Subway. Subway, to me, hangs a lot of success on the customer’s ability to “customize” their sandwich, with an array of vegetables that all taste the same, before being doused in different chemically sauces, right at the end. Where was there room in the Subway sandwich for a Bacon/Egg/Cheese purist like myself?
After listening to my brother rave about the breakfast options (“Dude! You can get a footlong bacon egg and cheese and a coffee for TWO DOLLARS!”), I thought I would give them a try. Right away, the first issue with my sandwich was the lack of secrecy during its preparation. The Sandwich Artist that I was working with was very free about waving around the giant disc of pre-cooked egg envelope, before tossing it in the microwave. She laid it on a six inch white split loaf, and that’s when I got a little panicky. So far, there was only a dried-out egg-bag and several triangles of American cheese on my sandwich. “And steak,” I sputtered. Shaved, pre-cooked steak in a cardboard tray appeared out of nowhere, got its turn in the microwave, and was added to the sandwich. The whole thing went into the insta- convection toaster. After a few moments, the sandwich was warmed, and awaiting my additional ingredient requests.
Additional ingredients? What in the world was available from the Subway topping bar that would possibly make sense on a hot breakfast sandwich? Cucumbers? Black olives? Green peppers? I couldn’t see anything that seemed like a good fit. “Banana peppers?” I offered. And what kind of sauce would I like? SAUCE? Again, nothing made sense. Ranch? Chipotle? Buffalo wing? “Um, just salt and pepper, please,” I asked.
The resulting sandwich, as you might expect, lacked a lot of pizazz. The egg completely vanished into the flavors (?) of the shaved steak. The cheese, which I had seen applied with my own eyes, vanished somewhere. And the soft, white bread, normally a reliably, disgustingly delicious component of a Subway sandwich, had been rendered weirdly brittle and crunchy in the toaster. All I could taste was frozen steak bits and banana peppers. Most of it went to the dog.
A balanced breakfast sandwich, made of bacon, egg, and cheese, requires nothing more than for each of those ingredients to be delicious. The biggest problem with Subway’s breakfast offerings is that they turn their back on Subway’s key appeal, which is adding tons of additional ingredients onto some mediocre base ingredients. A ham sandwich from Subway, without lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, green bell peppers, onions, black olives, cucumbers, shredded carrots, baby spinach, meatballs, bacon, and teriyaki sauce, just flat-out doesn’t taste like much. On the breakfast sandwich, when all you are left with is a pre-cooked, microwaved egg, some shaved meat of unknown origin, and a roll that has been ruined by an Insta-toaster, the results are pretty disappointing.
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You convinced me that which I thought which was to not go to Subway for Breakfast. The only decent and I use decent lightly fast food breakfast sandwich worth eating is McDonalds and I guess because we know ahead of time what it will be. Thanks for confirming. I am loving your opinion on the fast food world which I don’t eat often, but always stay with the ones I know won’t fail my palate! xo
I think that’s a good strategy. Although, Burger King DOES have that new burger that’s all jammed up with jalapenos and cheese…might have to give that a shot.
I think all the vegetables taste the same too! and they all taste like green pepper. In fact everything at subway tastes like green pepper to me. Even in summer, in the small town near me, the vegetable toppings are anemic and unappetizing. I kinda resent the way they try to present their food as healthy.
Hahaahah! I kind of resent it, too. Though it’s not as absurd as Taco Bell taking the same position.
This really just made me want a steak, egg & cheese from Punky’s.
“Punky’s,” you say? Tell me more.
Punky’s is at the corner of Brighton and St. John. Nothing fancy, but pretty delicious. The steak, egg & cheese is on a bulky roll and really is just a steak & cheese with a fried egg in it. Which can never be bad.
They also feature a few casseroles each day that are usually good. About $5 gets you enough for two meals. The last one I had was “jambalaya”, though not at all what that name implies. It was more like leftover casserole — like every one of their casseroles just got together for a party in my mouth. Their mac & cheese w/ ham is awesome but super oily.
Also good thanksgiving subs and sweet potato burritos.
Awesome, thank you so much. I will definitely hit them up for my next sandwich. The breakfast sandwich you describe sounds just about perfect.
Malcolm – you need to try that burger at BK and report back. I’m curious, but too chicken to try it. It can’t possibly be as appetizing as they make it look on tv.
You just went to the wrong Subway.
Which Subway is the right Subway?
haha.. i just finished a “subway breakfast sandwich” hahaha… was HORRIBLE…….a 6 inch hone oat bread, fake egg, and 2 tiny pieces of cheese.. and 2 thinnnn pieces of bacon…. bread ruined by toaster……. i was expecting a piled high sandwich of breakfast goodness
From someone who works the morning shift at Subway, try this next time!
Get your steak and cheese omelet toasted with chipotle and BBQ sauce on the meat, green peppers, onions and banana peppers UNDER the cheese (get the grated kind) and oregano. After toasting just add lettuce and a bit of mayo if you’d like, and some salt and pepper. (also, ask her to toast it on 1MEATHOTWELL setting, this is the secret to NEVER having crunchy bread!)
Talk about flavour! You just need to learn the tricks of ordering to get an amazing sandwich that’s worth it’s weight!
Woah…that is an awesome insider tip, thanks Vicky! I swore I would never try another breakfast sandwich from Subway, but your secret info might be enough to change my mind…
The trick is flatbread. I also order it with the shredded cheese (makes a big difference). Also the egg and steak heated first then toast the whole flatbread. Then I add oregano, greated parm cheese, and black olives. They add a ton of flavor and really go well with the egg.