A sandwich at Cafe Napolina, a restaurant in Concord, California.
out of 100 · very good
Very good, with one move worth +18.
A pastrami on rye with layers outside the form; four of six roles.
Holding the summit: a finished composition
More salt than 90% of the catalog.
Each bar is one pillar of the score, 0 to 100. The tick marks what a sandwich at the summit needs; an amber bar is the one holding this sandwich back.
hoagie roll (inferred from the kind of place), served cold: provolone; asiago; pastrami; sauerkraut; honey mustard (low tier).
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 2.2 | 90th |
| acid | 1.5 | 90th |
| fat | 1.4 | 21st |
| sweet | 0.6 | 73rd |
| umami | 1.8 | 64th |
| heat | 0.4 | 82nd |
| bitter | 0.0 | n/a |
98 Balance, out of 100
The seven flavor axes of the whole sandwich, each summed across its layers. The shaded ring is the catalog's middle 80%; the small number under each axis is where this sandwich falls in the catalog. A shape that sits inside the ring is in the range most sandwiches live in; a spike past it is where this one stands apart.
What each layer brings
| Layer | Role | Flavor and texture | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| hoagie roll (inferred from the kind of place) | bread | soft crusty | the frame |
| provolone | protein | fat 3 umami 3 salt 2 soft melty | +3 |
| asiago | not scored | ||
| pastrami | protein | salt 4 umami 4 fat 3 soft silky tender | +15 |
| sauerkraut | acid | acid 4 salt 2 pickled wet | +12 |
| honey mustard (low tier) | sauce | sweet 3 salt 2 acid 2 saucy smooth | +8 |
Points: what the Sandwich Score would lose if that one layer were left out, everything else the same. A negative number means the sandwich scores higher without it. Flavor runs 0 to 5 on each axis.
Pairings
- Pastrami + Sauerkraut: peppery beef, sour kraut: the reuben axis
- Pastrami + Honey Mustard: deli law: sharp mustard against cured beef
How to raise it
- Between you and 90: a finished composition (0.23 short).
All the sandwiches at Cafe Napolina · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder