Back to my old haunts.

The other day I had to go up to Baltimore for a meeting. Great! While I'm up there, I figured I might as well try the new kosher Subway that recently opened up. I was talking about it with one of my (kosher keeping) neighbors who also ate at Subway before becoming more observant. We discussed whether or not we should have the (fake) cheese on meat based subs, and wondered how close the subs would taste like what we remember. Since I knew I would be going up, I offered to bring back some subs for them.

I also told Laya that I'd be bringing back subs from Subway. Now, unlike fast food places such as Burger King or McDonald's, Subway has a lot of flexibility. First you pick if you want 6 inches or 12. Then you decide what type of sub you want. (e.g. Meatball, Sweet Onion Chicken teryaki, etc.). You also pick what kind of bread you want (Italian, wheat, garlic, etc.), you then pick what veggies you want on top of the sub, and you also pick what (if any) sauces or dressing you want. Apparently the people in Baltimore who have never been in Subway before were having problems, because the Subway store sent out an email explaining step by step how to order. I went over the menu with Laya and we finally figured out what I would get for her and for the kids.

So by the time I went into Subway, I had 6 sandwiches to order. 2 for my neighbors, 3 to bring home, and one to eat there. I thought I ordered clearly, I went through one sandwich at a time, listing what I wanted, and what goes on what. But then the sandwich makers started switching the rolls around and it became hard to keep track of which was which. One thing I noticed is that one person was solely in charge of the Seafood Sensation (which had fish, which needs to remain separate from meat). Smart, I never would have thought of that. But of course he was in the back room when I ordered. *rolling eyes*.

It took a lot of explaining the order over again (3 or 4 times) but eventually we got all the subs made and figured out which was which. I caused a backup in line... oops. I also ordered chocolate chip cookies. Can't leave without that! ;-)

The sub I ate at the restaurant was a meatball sub. The taste was pretty similar to what I remember before. The only problem was they didn't make their meatballs firm enough, so they got mushed up when I was holding the sandwich tightly (not that it was a death grip!). After discussing it with my neighbor, I decided not to get it with the (fake) cheese. Then on the way home I ate some of my cookies. They were over done, but still pretty good.

When I arrived back home, I stopped at the neighbor's house first. We figured out which subs were theirs, and I took the rest home and stuck them in the refrigerator. We had them for dinner the next night. I had the Seafood Sensation. (formerly known as "Seafood and Crab", they have made some changes!) It was pretty good, close to what I remember it being like before. I forgot to order cheese for this one, and I did need to add a little more mayo, but overall, I enjoyed it. Laya had the Subway Club (Roast Beef, turkey and smoked turkey). She liked her sub. We split a cold cut combo (bologna, salami, smoked turkey) for the girls. Ahava really enjoyed the bread! She left meat on her plate, and asked for more bread. Oy. Tikvah liked her sandwich and had some more, plus the meat that Ahava left behind. Laya liked her club. Laya had "The works" for toppings, which means everything. One thing they had on there was sweet peppers. Laya never had them before, and she wound up liking them. Tikvah asked to try them, and she liked them as well. The hardest thing I had to figure out when getting the subs was what veggies to get on the kids' subs. Tikvah doesn't like black olives. Ahava doesn't like lettuce. Tikvah doesn't like sliced tomatoes, neither like onions, etc. I finally settled on cucumbers and pickles only. The girls seemed fine with it. *grin*

So an overall verdict, thumbs up. (My neighbors liked it too, they give it a B+) The decor in the store was just like in the regular Subway restaurants (the updated ones, with bricks), and the food was very similar. Unfortunately I missed Jared by a week. I wonder if they had Subway kippahs when he came?

When I decided to keep strictly kosher, Subway was one of the restaurants I was going to miss. They have a nice variety, and it's not a hamburger based place. Granted, it's over an hour away, but it's nice to know it's an occasional option now.