Lunches with Lucy: Panini and Subs – June 8 to 10, 2009

Unfortunately, I left my notebook containing my lunch notes at home in Ottawa. I won’t have any prices for the rest of the Lunches with Lucy series, and my commentary is going to be pretty vague. If you don’t mind suffering through the poor quality pictures and terrible descriptions, read on.

You have been warned.

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Cream of Broccoli Soup and Ham & Brie Panini from Muffin Plus – June 8, 2009



I can’t say I remember much about this cream of broccoli soup. I know that crackers made everything taste better. Not within The Diet, but the other choices sucked. I don’t remember what they were, but if I picked cream of broccoli, they must not have looked or sounded very good.



The ham and brie panini was disappointing. The smoked ham flavour drowned out any other flavours, so I could barely taste the brie. A less salty, less smoked ham would have done better with the mellow brie. Also, everything in the sandwich (mustard, brie, ham, tomato, lettuce) was still cold, even after its little trip to the panini press. If a sandwich is going to get grilled, the insides should at least be warm. Otherwise, it’s just not worth the wait.



While I was disappointed with the panini, I gave it another chance at a later date. Muffin Plus was okay.

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Spicy Italian on Honey Oat from Subway – June 9, 2009

At Subway, and only at Subway, I am very predictable in my order. It has to be a Spicy Italian on whole wheat with Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, green olives, extra black olives, and mayo. Every now and again, I deviate from my regular order and change one of the ingredients. Lately, I’ve been forgoing the tomatoes for cucumbers (if I wanted I watery, virtually tasteless vegetable, I’d rather get cucumbers), and I think that’s a change I’m going to keep. However, on June 9th, I got my usual order but changed the bread for honey oat.



I have to say, it didn’t make much of a difference. I can’t see any olives in the picture, which leads me to believe that there wasn’t actually any “extra” olives at all. Also, the layer of deli meat (salami and pepperoni) looks rather thin. That’s unfortunate.



I washed it all down with a large chocolate milk. I normally get a small, so I may have been thirsty that day. Who knows?

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Mesquite Chicken Sub from Quiznos – June 10, 2009

I started walking further for my lunches (as noted in The Diet’s rules), and I actually wandered all the way down to Bank and Slater to get a sandwich from Quiznos.



This mesquite chicken sandwich was disappointing, to say the least. All of the ingredients (chicken, bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and ranch dressing) should have been quite flavourful. After I placed my order, I was actually concerned that it would be too much flavour at once. I was so wrong.

It was so bland. Normally, a sandwich with bacon, cheddar, and ranch dressing would pack quite a salty punch, but this time, I was unmoved. I kept chewing and chewing, expecting something to hit me, but it never did.

I would not recommend this sandwich.

While this sandwich wasn’t Diet-friendly, I’ll include it for the 10-minute walk.

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Le Muffin Plus
45 O’Connor Street, 100 Queen Street, and 111 Albert Street
(World Exchange Plaza food court)
Ottawa, ON
(613) 232-0416

Subway
45 O’Connor Street, 100 Queen Street, and 111 Albert Street
(World Exchange Plaza food court)
Ottawa, ON
(613) 231-7015

Quiznos
139 Bank Street
(Bank and Slater)
Ottawa, ON
(613) 231-7770