Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Subway

I mentioned in a post last October that one of the political parties running for the UQ student government was promising a Subway outlet on campus.  Well, that party won the election and has delivered on its campaign promise.  Subway opened at the Student Union about a month ago, and the sudden appearance of long queues into the cafeteria (the Refec) signifies its success. In that earlier post I expressed amazement at the popularity of Subway in Australia. I have, in fact, been to Subway twice in the past few months. It is basically the same as the chain in the United States. The subs are "six inches" and "a foot long," even though this country is entirely metric. When I went to the one today, my sandwich was made to order, with four different choices of bread, several choices of meat, just two choices of cheese (the ubiquitous 'tasty cheese' and something else unidentified), and the usual assortment of veggies.  A couple of noticeable differences from its American equivalent: there are no chips for sale at Australian Subways, but there is an extraordinary range of 'sauces' to pour on your sandwich.  The former reflects a minor cultural difference from my homeland--potato chips are usually served with any sandwich there.  But here, potato chips are seen more as a snack food that is frequently eaten without any accompanying dish.  The range of sauces, on the other hand, is something that I am slowly starting to appreciate.  Aussies love to pour sauces on practically anything--even beautiful, expensive steaks.  Subway appeared to have about a dozen different sauces (e.g., red chilli, honey mustard, BBQ) available. I opted for the honey mustard today. And it was good.

4 comments:

kitten said...

The one (or would that be two?) MAJOR sauces that Subway does NOT offer is oil and vinegar!!! What the heck is that all about? How is it possible to have a sub without o&v??? It took me a while to notice it since I was overwhelmed by all the other sauce choices but when I did notice it and asked a manager, I was told that o&v is "Un-Australian". How about them apples?

The Prof said...

Hi Kitten-You're right! I picked up a Subway brochure and can now list the sauces officially available: Chipolte Southwest, Honey Mustard, Sweet Onion, BBQ, Mayonnaise, Ranch Dressing, Sweet Chili, Thousand Island, Tomato, and Caesar.

Note that even plain old mustard (or Dijon) isn't available either.

Ah, the sacrifices that we American ex-pats have to make...

Ash said...

I always have the Marinara when I order a roast chicken and bacon sub.

Delicious!

Matty bigboy said...

Prof you are dead on when you note that plain American mustard isn't available. It used to be, but it was phased out, much to the consternation and distress of many Subway lovers.
I've set up a Facebook group dedicated to bringing American Mustard back to Australian Subways. Please join: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=297105550386