Turkey Cranberry from Paradise Bakery & Cafe

If you're a long time reader of this blog (*cue sound of crickets chirping*), or if you have perused the archives at all, you may know that the very first review I wrote early this year was of a sandwich from Paradise Bakery & Cafe. So, I suppose it is only fitting that the first establishment to receive multiple reviews is that same Paradise Bakery. Now why do I end up going here so often you ask? Well, there are many reasons I could give, but the real one is that my wife enjoys the place and, since she is the boss, we eat there with some frequency. Draw your own conclusions about me based on that statement if you will, but that's the way it is.

So anyway, today Paradise Bakery becomes the first multi-review joint as we take a look at their Turkey Cranberry sandwich. And aside from providing the first review of more than one sandwich from the same place, it at the same time provides the first review of essentially the same sandwich from different places. Nice! I already gave a brief overview of Paradise Bakery in my previous review, so I think here I'll just provide some very general likes and dis-likes. In general, the things I like about Paradise are that it's always clean, the service is nice, and they use fresh ingredients to good effect. The downers, in my opinion, are that it tends to be a little pricey and I seem to always leave hungry. As I mentioned, the main reason I end up here so often is that my wife loves it. I asked her just what it is that she likes about it and her reply was "the cookies and the Southwest Chicken Caesar Salad." Obviously, this doesn't help us at all with sandwich analysis, but there you go.

Now then, back to the sandwich at hand. See what Paradise Bakery would like you to believe this sandwich looks like here. Compare that to the image above and, as usual, you will see there is a slight discrepancy. Here's the ingredients that go into this one:

• Type of Bread: Paradise Molasses
• Condiments/Dressing(s): Mayonnaise, Cranberry Sauce
• Toppings: Oven Roasted Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato

Pretty standard list of ingredients for a sandwich of the turkey cranberry variety, with the one foray into the unknown here being the type of bread used. In my opinion, the key to executing a turkey cranberry sandwich well is striking a balance between the sweetness of the cranberry sauce and the savoriness of the mayo and turkey. Let's see how Paradise Bakery fared in this regard as well as the other areas we judge:

• Quantity/Value: 3/5 - As I mentioned earlier, the main gripe I would say I have with Paradise Bakery in general is that it seems pricey for what you get. That was the case with this sandwich as well. For over $7 (which, it should be noted, also included a cookie), I expect there to be enough sandwich to vanquish my hunger. Unfortunately, after I downed my sandwich, I still had enough room to put away the last half of my wife's salad as well.
• Originality: 4/5 - While not totally original by any stretch of the imagination, having a turkey cranberry on the menu at least shows that the establishment has some sense of adventure when it comes to making sandwiches. And in addition to that, Paradise gets some style points for putting everything inside their unique molasses-tinged bread which you won't find just anywhere.
• Appearance: 7/10 - As you can see from the pictures, this is a pretty good looking sandwich. Here's another one in case you missed the first one:
  Obviously it's not close to the photo of the sandwich you see on their website or menu, but they never are. Obviously some care was taken in putting the sandwich together and the deep and vibrant colors of the lettuce, cranberry sauce and bread contrast nicely with each other.
• Quality/Freshness: 9/10 - This is where Paradise usually excels and today was no exception. The bread was obviously fresh, but although it was soft and spongy, it hadn't been left around long enough for anything to seep into the bread and make it soggy. The vegetables were cool and crisp - everything as it should be.
• Taste: 16/20 - Alright, now let's take a look at where the rubber meets the road. The freshness of the ingredients as mentioned above obviously contributed in a positive fashion to the taste of this sandwich. Unfortunately, so did the quantity/value rating. What I mean by that is I wish there would have been more turkey on my turkey cranberry sandwich. As you can see from the photo, the amount of turkey is less than the thickness of a tomato slice and in my book, that just is not getting the job done. Also, the sweet/savory balance I mentioned earlier fell a little too far on the sweet side for my taste. This again would be remedied by some more turkey on that bad boy or at least a little more mayo. All in all though, a pleasing version of a new classic.

Added all together, that gives the Turkey Cranberry from Paradise Bakery & Cafe a rating of 39/50 . And, as fate would have it, that is the exact rating I gave the other sandwich I tested from here in the first review on this blog. Interesting. We'll have to see if the next sandwich I get from here gets a 39 as well. And, with my wife in charge, I'm sure that day will come soon enough.

Albacore Tuna from Paradise Bakery & Cafe

So, you might think that since this a sandwich blog, I'd make my first review one of a sandwich from an amazing little local deli that does nothing but make great sandwiches. Well, don't worry - I'll get there, too. But let's face it - sandwiches can be had almost anywhere and everywhere and I don't plan on being too discriminatory when it comes to where I get sandwiches from. That means everything from the aforementioned deli to bigger chains such as this place - Paradise Bakery & Cafe.

Paradise is a national chain with locations in most of the Western states and a couple others as well. As the name would suggest, they specialize in baked goods, but also serve sandwiches, soups and salads throughout the day. My wife loves this place, so on the first day of 2010, I accompanied her to this location and started this sandwich project with, appropriately enough, the first sandwich I saw at the top of the menu - the Albacore Tuna sandwich, which is composed of the following:

• Type of Bread: Multigrain
• Dressing(s)/Condiment(s): Mayonnaise
• Toppings: Albacore Tuna Salad, Leaf Lettuce, Tomato

Let me start off by saying that I typically don't order tuna sandwiches. I guess the reason for that is that it is a bit more of a gamble ordering tuna than say turkey or roast beef. I mean, a good tuna sandwich is wonderful. However, a bad tuna sandwich is just HORRIBLE. If the tuna-to-mayonnaise ratio is weak, the sandwich can turn south into a soggy, uneatable disaster pretty quickly. Thankfully, that was not the case here. Let's go right to the score-card:

• Quantity/Value: 3/5 - I paid $7.15 for my sandwich, which included a chocolate-chip cookie, but coming on standard size sandwich bread, I thought it was a tad over-priced
  
• Originality: 3/5 - Aside from the pizazz that the multigrain bread provided, nothing out of the ordinary here.
  
• Appearance: 8/10 - I know it doesn't help that my photo is pretty washed out by my flash, but this was a good looking sandwich. The tuna salad had celery and sweet pickle to give it some color and the fresh lettuce and tomato provided great contrast.
• Quality/Freshness: 8/10 - As just mentioned, the tomato and lettuce were fresh and appealing. And, since I watched the guy make my sandwich, I know it was fresh. This was important considering the sog potential of a tuna fish sandwich.
• Taste: 17/20 - As I mentioned earlier, the downfall of a tuna sandwich in my mind is when it is a bland, soggy mess. Paradise Bakery avoided this with the celery and pickle in the tuna itself, the lettuce, and the sunflower seeds baked into the bread all providing some level of crunch to offset the softness of the bread, tuna and tomato.

That means the Albacore Tuna sandwich at Paradise Bakery & Cafe comes in with a final SSTF (Supreme Sandwich Task Force) Rating of 39/50. In summary, I would not hesitate to order this sandwich again. I just wish it were a bit cheaper. Oh yeah - the cookie that came with my sandwich was awesomely chewy and delicious.