Review: La Cascia's Large Eggplant Parm Sub

This one's a large sandwich, one might say even a little bit intimidating. At $9 it's an amazing value for money, though nothing will match the subway 2-footlongs-for-10 dollar in terms of dollars. Accounting for the quality and flavor, of the sandwich as the whole and of individual ingredients, this blows everything else out of the water.

It is not often that I 'upgrade' into a larger size of a product, no matter how cheap the addition is, because while the marginal expense may be better, I'm not trying to optimize my marginal cost just to buy something I didn't need to begin with. I went to the takeout counter in full mind to order the 'small' size, when they said the large was only three-quarters of a dollar, it was not an instantaneous yes. But the place is good, their desserts are to die for and I've had good history with their catered lunches. The large size it was for me!

An eggplant parm is a long french role with fried eggplant, tomato sauce and a whole lot of cheese. Never in my life had I previously considered making an egpglant parm sandwich. Now I know if I get this a few times a week, it's much more sensible fiscally and in terms of skills to just make it myself. It was really that good. I kept asking myself if the texture could really be that of an eggplant, it was so very meaty. Of course it was, the breading kept misleading me with its chewy texture. Eggplants have never had as good of a year in my life as this.

The sauce was yum, never thought about how much impact the sauce could have on a large sandwich, always considered it to be one of those 'neutral' things. The cheese was generous and added considerable heft, its contribution to the texture of the sandwich played an important part. The bread didn't go soggy despite being in contact with the ingredients for half a day in the 'fridge'. How great their homemade marinara sauce was, aahh!

This is one heck of a sandwich and an easy two meals for when I'm feeling lazy and out of easier grubs. Should also be an inspiration for me to cook more, really.