Review: Cornucopia Tuscan Rosemary Ham sandwich

For lunch today I made a trek to the ver edge of downtown Bethesda, MD. 8102 Norfolk Ave to be exact. Cornucopia specialty foods has imported Italian food, cheeses and lots of cookies. The purpose of today's visit was to get a sandwich for lunch so I skipped the plates with cookies piled high on them (this time).

I tried the Tuscan Rosmary Ham sandwich. The ham had a light coating of rosemary on the edge which was very flavorful. It went wonderfully with the balsamic vinegar that they put on the baguette. There was also cheese and tender lettuces on the sandwich. This is a really nice sandwich, fairly simple but with a distinctive flavor that sets it apart from other ham sandwiches I have had. The only downside was that the cheese couldn't compete with the rosmary and balsamic vinegar, I really couldn't taste the cheese at all.

There is limited seating there making this more of a place to pickup lunch and take it with you. It is also closed on Mondays.

Review: Quiznos Pesto Turkey Torpedo

Quiznos recently added a new type of sandwich to their menu, the Torpedo. Thirteen inches long and very skinny for only $4.00. I decided to try the Turkey Pesto Torpedo. Turkey, Mozzarella cheese, Basil Pesto sauce and red wine vinaigrette with diced tomato and chopped lettuce. The flavor was good, but there were a number of things wrong with it. First, there wasn't much meat on it, just a thin line of scraggly slices of turkey, less than you would get on a normal six inch sub. Second, there wasn't much in the line of toppings. The bread is really skinny and there isn't much space for them. Third, the bread didn't stay together, I had to hold it with both hands to keep it from falling apart. I think the slogan should be "You pay less because you get less" or maybe "less meat, more bread". This sandwich really is mostly bread. I'd rather spend the extra 79 cents and get the eight inch sub, or get a subway footlong for $5. (650 calories, 18g fat 29g protein, 82g carbs) You can save a hundred calories by skipping the dressing. For comparison, their regular turkey and cheddar sub (without dressing) has 69g carbs.

Another review is here.

Review: Wing Hub Buffalo Speedway chicken sandwich

Wing Hub, located at 2914 Cordell Ave, Bethesda, MD. Their specialty is chicken wings but the also have a lot of chicken sandwiches and burgers. I went there for lunch and got the Buffalo Speedway chicken sandwich which is a crispy fried chicken fillet with lettuc tomato, mayo, bleu cheese and buffalo sauce. I also got a side of fries (or 'spuds' as they call them).

The chicken sandwich was was wrapped in paper but was still a drippy mess of wing sauce and bleu cheese dressing. Not that it is bad though, in fact, it was excellent. Very tasty, a bit crispy (the wing sauce didn't make it soggy). The sauce was a little spicy but not too spicy and the blu cheese dressing offset that nicely. In fact, it was so good I almost went back the next day for another one. I don't want to think about the calorie and fat content of the sandwich, I am sure it is loaded.

The fries were uninspired, they were thick cut, which isn't my favorite, so if you like thick cut fries, you might have a different opinion. Dipping them in the wing sauce that dripped off my sandwich did make them pretty good though.

I just looked at their website and they have a coupon for $1 off a sandwich, I don't know how long the offer is good for, but I will try it next time I go.

The Brown Bag: Voo Doo Chicken Wrap

The Brown Bag "Cuisine on the fly" lets you build your own sandwiches, salads, and pastas. They are take-out only, there is no place to sit down in or outside the restaurant. Even though you can build your own, you don't have to, they have a menu board with several sandwich options so you don't have to think if you don't want to.

I went for the Voo Doo chicken wrap. Slices of blackened chicken with shredded lettuce, tomato, corn and black bean relish, a mix of Jack and cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing all wrapped up in a Chili Tortillia. The relish is pretty much just a mix of corn and black beans, it doesn't have a heavy or oily sauce. They also didn't put enough of it on, but when I asked for more were happy to oblige. The wrap had a light, summery feel to it, probably do to the finely shredded lettuce and the lack of heavy sauces. The didn't over-do the ranch dressing either, it added just a touch of flavor. The chicken was good, a bit spicy like blackened chicken should be and by the end I wish I had brought some water (I ate it in a nearby park) Overall, a nice, freshly-prepared sandwich.

Old Georgetown Grille: Hot Open-Faced turkey sandwich with gravy fries

Old Georgetown Grill serves you stereotypical american/diner food, along with some Greek fare. I went for true diner food, an open faced turkey sandwich and steak-cut french fries, both covered with gravy. I shudder to think about the amount of calories and fat I consumed, but I will say I was very full after eating and could barely get through it all. The gravy was good, if a bit salty, and tasted wonderful on the fries. The fries didn't get very soggy (I ate them first) even with the gravy. The turkey sandwich had a slice or two of white bread, piled high with turkey, and of course, more gravy. The sandwich was good, the only negative being that the turkey wasn't fresh-carved, it was sliced turkey breast, the kind you'd get in most deli's. Meat, carbs, and fat, just the ticket for lunch, no need to waste time on vegetables. If you like diner food, this is just the ticket. I usually go for something a bit healthier, but every once in a while I enjoy this type of food and I was not disappointed. Located on the corner of Old Georgetown Rd and St Elmo Ave in Bethesda, MD.

Cheeburger Cheeburger: Burger and Onion Rings

Cheeburger Cheeburger sells Cheese burgers. You can also get them without cheese if you want, and they have a few other menu items. There are two things that standout about these burgers, the size (the largest is 20 ounces) and the toppings. They have a long list of toppings, over 20 that you can add. I got the second smallest burger, "The Semi-Serious", it is only a third of a pound. I topped it off with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, and Banana peppers. As you might expect, it was excellent. The meat was juicy and cooked just the way I asked for it (medium well) it had tons of flavor and the toppings, were once again, exactly what I asked for. The pickle slices deserve special mention, they weren't the limp green slabs that you get most places, they were crisp slices of dill pickle. To go with it, I got a small serving of onion rings. This could easily have served two. I actually had trouble finishing the burger and onion rings, even though it was 4pm and I was just getting to lunch. I did finish them, but I skipped dinner. The onion rings were also good. They didn't have a traditional breaded coating, but some other kind of 'secret' batter. It wasn't quite what I expected, but it was still good.

Lilit Cafe: Old Georgetown sandwich

I had the "Old Georgetown" which is Roast Beef, Ham, and Fresh Mozzarella. To top it, I added mustard, lettuce, and tomato. The lettuce was very finely shredded iceburge lettuce. The sandwich was good, roast beef and ham go together well.

Lilit Cafe was a beer/wine/deli that has been somewhat made over. They still sell beer and wine, but they also added some tables so you can eat there. You can also get food to go, which is what I did. They have a good selection of sandwiches, wraps, and paninis as well as fresh made gelato.

Just to try something different, I got the sandwich gluten-free. Very few places advertise that they have gluten free food, and this is one of them. In addition to gluten-free bread, they have a selection of gluten-free deserts. For those of you unfamiliar, some people have celiac disease or an intolerance of gluten or wheat. It generally makes it very hard to eat out since just about everything has gluten in it. The bread was frozen (they toasted it to thaw it out) and didn't taste bad at all, they also had gluten-free mustard to put on it. I watched as they made it, and they used a different toaster, a different cutting board, and a different knife to make sure that there was no wheat product contamination. It took a bit longer to make because of that, but it is good that they were paying attention to things like this.

Cafe Gelato: Neapolitan Panini

Cafe Gelato has gelato, soups, and sandwiches. I had the Neapolitan which is Herb coated chicken breast with fontina cheese, tomatoes, greens, and a creamy alioli sauce in Ciabatta bread. I go to this place occasionally and I like their sandwiches. This one is particularly good, the cheese and the sauce really make the sandwich. Cafe Gelato is located on St. Elmo Ave in Bethesda, MD

Quiznos Sub: Sierra Smoked Turkey

Hickory smoked turkey, lettuce, tomato, red onion and raspberry chipotle sauce. Quiznos subs are toasted, which means that before they put on most of the condements (like lettuce and tomato) they run it through a toasting oven that warms up the meat and toasts the bread. It makes for a good taste and slightly warm meat. This is a basic turkey sub, but it is one of their 'lite selections', which hopefully means fewer calories and fat. I was disappointed to find out their website doesn't have nutrition information on it, so I don't know how lite they really are. The only thing unusual on the sub is the raspberry chipotle sauce. I almost ordered my sub without it because I don't like sweet sauces on my main course, but I got it and am pretty pleased with it. It wasn't very sweet and had a bit of a smokey flavor, it keeps it from being 'just' a turkey sub.