There’s construction everywhere on campus. It’s like a maze. So I found my way to the most accessible eating establishments: Anderson Row. I had already tried a breakfast sandwich from Richie’s a few weeks ago. Today I stepped up to Ali’s place right next door.
For those of you who haven’t been following closely, my goal this summer is to find the best breakfast sandwich in North Philly (or at least within the Temple University campus radius). I’ve has some good and I’ve had a lot of bad. So far I’ve learned that the Carbohydrate Delivery System is one of the most important aspects of the sandwich, as well as the egg tuckage and taste. If you skimp on bacon, I may never forgive you. And I have a rubric that I use to rate each sandwich. I am giddy with anticipation for who will deserve the top spot of Best Breakfast Sandwich in North Philadelphia.
On to today’s contestant: a turkey bacon (no pork served here) egg and cheese on wheat toast with salt/pepper/ketchup from Ali’s Middle Eastern:
This is one of the top contenders. The sandwich looked yummy when I unwrapped the foil and it was cut in half (points!). I wasn’t even that hungry this morning and I couldn’t wait to dig in. There were two main areas that disappointed me, which I will get out of the way first: the egg tuckage and a slightly soggy piece of toast. The rest of it was so Ab Fab I can’t even stand it. The bacon and cheese were cooked in the egg so it wouldn’t slide out. The flavors all melded together well so that it tasted like a breakfast sandwich, and not like a bagel with egg, or just a cheese sandwich with a bit of bacon thrown in. I couldn’t even tell that I was eating turkey bacon and it was quite a generous portion–at least two full pieces, maybe even three. I could have used a bit more cheese, but the flavor was good and it wasn’t oozing out all over the place.
This sandwich was just great. I can’t wait to see where its score places it in my current standings. Scroll down to see!
Overall appearance: 9
Meat: 10
Egg (quality, quantity, and tuckage): 8
Greasiness: 8
Cheese (quality and quantity): 8
Condiments (quality and quantity.): 8
Carbohydrate Delivery System (credit: Matt Palmer): 7
Price: 7 ($3.00 is a bit much for toast but understandable for the turkey bacon)
Accuracy of order: 10
Overall taste: 9
Total score: 84
That’s 2nd place!
Love the pictures! (And love the concept of a hunt for the best breakfast sandwich…)
Looks pretty good. I’m surprised it scored so high with its seemingly run-of-the-mill white bread.
I was actually very surprised, too. The breads have mostly been disappointing.
wha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I surprised…I like dishes which are made by breads.