A sandwich at San Benito Deli, a deli in Half Moon Bay, California.
out of 100 · outstanding
Outstanding, and the road to 90 is open.
A cubano with layers outside the form; six of six roles, most layers have a partner.
More acid 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 (the menu offers a choice of bread; scored on this one), served cold: ham; mayonnaise; tomato; mustard; lettuce; pickles; onion.
Balance
| Axis | Value | Catalog percentile |
|---|---|---|
| salt | 2.1 | 90th |
| acid | 2.1 | 90th |
| fat | 1.4 | 24th |
| sweet | 0.6 | 73rd |
| umami | 1.3 | 43rd |
| heat | 0.4 | 80th |
| bitter | 0.3 | 75th |
97 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 (the menu offers a choice of bread; scored on this one) | bread | soft crusty | the frame |
| ham | protein | salt 4 umami 4 fat 3 soft silky tender | +22 |
| mayonnaise | sauce | fat 5 acid 2 creamy saucy | +4 |
| tomato | texture | acid 3 umami 3 sweet 2 juicy soft fresh | +15 |
| mustard | sauce | acid 3 salt 2 heat 2 saucy smooth | +1 |
| lettuce | texture | crunchy juicy fresh | +13 |
| picklesscored as Pickle (cucumber) | acid | acid 5 salt 4 crunchy juicy pickled | 0 |
| onion | texture | sweet 2 crunchy juicy fresh | 0 |
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
- Ham + Mustard: deli constant: hot mustard on cured pork
- Ham + Pickle (cucumber): the cubano lesson: brine cuts cured pork
- Mayonnaise + Tomato: summer tomato sandwich: acid on rich
How to raise it
- Outstanding, not legendary: the menu does not name its bread.
All the sandwiches at San Benito Deli · The menu this was read from · Build your own in the Sandwich Builder