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.