summer sandwiches: hello again to meat cheese bread, goodybe again to portland

1406 Southeast Stark Street, Portland, OR 97214

http://www.meatcheesebread.com/

Two trips to Portland in as many months and I still feel like there's a ton of places there left to explore.  Els and I wrapped up our trip with a quick stop at Meat, Cheese & Bread for some sandwiches for the drive home.  I was going to pick a cold sandwich because I figured that would keep better during the drive, but the guy behind the counter recommended the pulled pork, which is also what my pal Rob rated highly.  How could I say no?  "Pulled Pork: Roasted pork shoulder, grilled broccolini, salsa verde and aioli on a rustic baguette".  The broccolini was a great touch, adding some texture and a somewhat sour contrast to the mushy savoryness of the pulled pork.  The thing is, though, that this sandwich was so wet and greasy that it was pretty soaked through by the time I got around to eating it.  Not that it was a big problem, just that the physical integrity of the sandwich would likely be preserved by eating it soon after it was prepared.  Still tasty later on, just sloppy.  All in all, I got to try some great sandwiches during this visit- maybe not as many as my first trip- but a good number nonetheless.  I didn't go to any food carts, and wish that I had.  But then, I did try a number of non-sandwich options, including some reaaaaally good pizza from Sizzle Pie ("Steve Caballero: vegan pepperoni, seitan italian sausage, green peppers, white onion and shredded daiya mozzarella 'cheese'")  and Hammy's ("Cheeseburger Pizza: ground beef, bacon, tomatoes and onions, topped with yellow mustard"), not to mention the required stop at Voodoo Donuts:

Portland, I'll be back again soon!  Don't eat all the sandwiches before I get back.

summer sandwiches: turkey from meat cheese bread in portland

 

Meat Cheese Bread, 1406 Southeast Stark Street, Portland OR

www.meatcheesebread.com/

Even before I went to Meat Cheese Bread in Portland, I knew I'd love the place.  There just something undeniably appealing about the simplicity of the name, that really captures the basic essence of sandwiches.... its perfect.  Unless there's no meat or cheese, but rather some sort of.... unnamed "x" variable...... and then, bread only appears in the name once, which might mistakenly cause people to envision open-faced sandwiches.  Still, "Meat Cheese Bread" is ALMOST the perfect name for a sandwich shop, and when showed up on my last day in Portland, the delicious sounding sandwiches on the menu reaffirmed my expectation that this place had a good take on sandwiches.  I went for the turkey sandwich, feeling like my sandwich choices over the last few days had been slightly insane, and wanting to see how this place treated one of the all-time classic sandwiches.  I even put on my "sandwich journalism hat" (not a literal hat) and tried to get some answers to questions I had about the menu, especially why pickles cost $2.5???  It seemed like a lot of money for one pickle, and the guy behind the counter said something about them being hand-crafted and made in the river(??).  Actually I didn't do a very good job of getting answers because I know how rude it is to complain about prices and so I just sort of awkwardly said "uh huh, oh wow, made in the river you say" and shuffled out with my sandwich.  THEN I did a pretty lousy job of paying attention to the sandwich as I ate it, because I was really hungry and the sandwich was really good.  I really liked how soft the bread was, and the turkey was appropriately mild in combination with the salty and crispy bacon.  Also featured were havarti and a sweet onion aioli.  What can I say, the sandwich was good!  I was hungry!  Its not like I'm getting payed for this, is what I'm getting at here.  Fortunately I will be returning to Portland in just a few weeks, this time with my trusty co-reviewer Els, so doubtlessly I will be able to return to this shop and do a proper job of verbalizing what makes their sandwiches so good.  Some of your sandwiches might have evaded me last time, Portland.... next time will be a different story.