Simply Sandwiches

With the proliferation of sandwich shops sprouting all along Robinson road, its easy to romance my love affair for warm freshly baked crusty bread.

Call me biased, but I never gave Subway - probably the pioneers along the office quick-fix providers - a second glance. Then Munch and the trendy pret-a-manger chain set up shop within a stone throw of each other and Simply Sandwiches, the latest addition.

These sandwich shops don't make them like we are used to. Forming what I would call the new school way of making and selling sandwiches, they use fancy Italian or French bread, fancy spreads like honey mustard or sweet onion or garlic butter and really solid ingredients worth of their $7 and above price tag.

Bucking to the trend, I ditched my traditional Han's sandwich of fried egg and ham with extra cheese on two separate occasions for a review of the new kid on the block.

My first pick was the GHC (Grilled ham and Cheese) and the Chunky Egg on the second.

I just love my bread toasted. I am pretty sure any bread connoisseur would instantly beg to differ that freshly baked bread should not even be considered for a second for grilling or toasting, but rather, be eaten soft! But I like it... so there.

The GHC was huge! At $7 you get a generous helping of shaved ham and mature Cheddar stuffed between two wholemeal slices of bread slathered with tangy mustard. Don't be fooled by the slimness of the sandwich. That's the wonders of grilling - you get everything compacted, making it easy to squeeze all that into one mouthful before it all bursts into flavour, the fresh saltiness of the ham, the yummy tangy kick of and cheese all complemented by the mustard.

The chunky egg was harder to eat. For $5.50, the sandwich came with lesser ingredients. Typically when you order egg mayo, you don't expect to find whole bits of eggs within mouthful of bread and lettuce. It was such a pleasure to find at least two whole eggs boiled and sliced into thick chunks and stuffed between a bed a fresh lettuce and a really juicy thick slice of tomato! The ingredients are simple and nothing unusual but my heart was instantly won over.

My only complaint would have to be the challenge of eating my sandwich at my desk in a demure fashion. Its a good thing all my colleagues were out for lunch and absent to witness the ultimate loss of etiquette.

You have been warned - serviettes and a paper plate do not help much, it will get pretty messy.