Between the Bread

I was not at all hungry when I ate this sandwich. I'd just eaten an airplane meal, which itself was shortly on the heels of lunch, but when we spied this sandwich at the Taipei airport on the way back from Bali, we had to buy one in the name of blogging.

Displayed alongside other artful but futuristic-looking baked goods, this sandwich resembled a slice of layer cake. On top, it had a graceful, savory glaze; on the sides, a nutty coating that was like a cross between the dusting on multigrain bread and an almond croissant.

Between each of the six slices was a different filling, applied lightly like a tea sandwich. Keep reading for the verdict.

Melt Bar and Grilled is definitely on my sand wish list, as long as I don't have to order the 13-cheese "Melt challenge." My friend Joy, a Cleveland native, counts Melt among her hometown favorites and recently shared thisdisgusting but delicious gourmet grilled cheese specimen.

Served on Texas toast, the Northcoast Shores features crab cakes, garlic spinach, roasted red pepper, and herb cream cheese. Why, yes, I would take that challenge. How about you?

Got your own crazy sandwiches to share? Email a photo and a description of your sandwich to nancy@betweenthebreadblog.com.

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Photo Source: Midtown Lunch

We didn't eat sandwiches on our Bali honeymoon. You could find them on menus catering to westerners, but we stuck mostly to local food, with one exception: the free breakfast at our hotel on Nusa Lembongan.

The hotel breakfast was western-style with island touches, like this pancake dish  I ordered one morning, only to be presented with a very sandwich-like surprise. Essentially a knife-and-fork sandwich made with two pancakes, it folded in a variety of tropical fruits, including watermelon, pineapple, and guava.

The sammie was topped with yogurt and berry compote. Since pancakes and syrup always leave me wanting more, I was a big fan of this entire concept. So much so that I ordered it twice.

I don't think it would be easy to eat an "all-in-one sandwich" behind the wheel of a truck, but at a table in North Beach, I had no problem polishing off a French fry-stuffed sando from Giordano Bros.

This indulgent bar and grill is San Francisco's homage to Primanti Bros. in Pittsburgh, the famous sandwich shop that started serving lunches to truck drivers and laborers in the 1930s. Like the horseshoe sandwich of Springfield, IL, the all-in-one features French fries as filling, along with cole slaw, so your sides are served up between the bread. At Giordano Bros. or Primanti, you can choose from assorted Italian cold cuts on thick slices of Italian bread.

I ordered the double egg sandwich, which came with a packet of Crystal hot sauce. Though I expected to feel utterly disgusting after eating it, it was actually more manageable than it looks in these photos. See more after the jump.

Libby's egg salad on sandwich thins. Chips, of course, are essential to scoop up the overflow.

Going through my emails looking for another sandwich photo, I came upon this submission from earlier in the month. At the Mercury Cafe in San Francisco, my friend Katie endorsed this caprese creation on an Acme baguette. Says Katie: a "generous serving of fresh mozz. It's a solid."

Kenny Shopsin invented this sandwich — one of hundreds of items on his six-page, single-spaced menu — for a customer named Greg who is "trapped in shrimp land." Verbiage like that makes Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin a riveting book.

The cookbook/memoir by the eccentric owner of Shopsin's in New York reads like a weird friend dictating his home "recipes" to you. Naturally, the recipes sound weird, sometimes even off-putting, but this shrimp sandwich is wonderfully and weirdly delicious. I followed the directions almost to the letter but threw on some butter lettuce for good measure to cut the buttery, creamy richness and hint of hot sauce.

Get the recipe and more photos.