This is the sandwich I’ve been looking for: cheap and satisfying with few frills. Taste Tickler is a small sandwich and bento shop in Northeast Portland. I ordered the 7” namesake “Famous Tickler” sub. I probably could replicate it at home, but what’s the point when this little joint does it so well? Things That I Liked About This Particular Sandwich Freshly baked chewy bread. Delicious triumvirate of ham, salami, and pepperoni. Huge! Not fancy. Things That I Didn’t Like About This Particular Sandwich Could have used some mustard, but that’s only because I am unabashedly pro-mustard when it comes to condiments. I ate it super fast and got a stomachache. It was worth it though. 7” Famous Ticker, $4.75 at Taste Tickler. 10/10.

This is the sandwich I’ve been looking for: cheap and satisfying with few frills. Taste Tickler is a small sandwich and bento shop in Northeast Portland. I ordered the 7” namesake “Famous Tickler” sub. I probably could replicate it at home, but what’s the point when this little joint does it so well?

Things That I Liked About This Particular Sandwich

  • Freshly baked chewy bread.
  • Delicious triumvirate of ham, salami, and pepperoni.
  • Huge!
  • Not fancy.

Things That I Didn’t Like About This Particular Sandwich

  • Could have used some mustard, but that’s only because I am unabashedly pro-mustard when it comes to condiments.
  • I ate it super fast and got a stomachache. It was worth it though.

7” Famous Ticker, $4.75 at Taste Tickler. 10/10.

Bunk Sandwiches was the first restaurant that was recommended to me when I moved to Portland, so I decided to go there for my inaugural sandwich blog post.  I ordered the meatball parmigiano hero because meatball sandwiches are my favorite thing ever and I am seemingly unable to restrain myself from ordering them when they present themselves on a menu.  Things That I Liked About This Particular Sandwich It was quite large - I was able to split it with Corey even though I wanted to eat all the delicious meatballs and leave him with nothing but marinara sodden hoagie remnants, but he paid for it so whatev. The hoagie itself was not severed in half, but rather fashioned into a boatlike vessel engineered to insure the meatballs’ safe passage toward my welcoming gullet. This eliminates the possibility for a rogue meatball to pop out the end of the bread and escape as meatballs are wont to do*. Things That I Didn’t Like About This Particular Sandwich Meatball-to-sauce ratio was uneven. Like seriously, the meatballs should’ve been the stars of the show here, instead they were just overshadowed by too much marinara.  I broke my fork in half while eating it. Maybe I was overwhelmed with excitement, or maybe I was trying to suppress my rage due to insufficient meatball allotment. Bunk’s meatball parmigiano was pretty good, but I should’ve ordered the renowned pork belly cubano like Corey suggested. The Grilled Cheese Grill is down the street from my apartment, and their variant (the Morton) is two bucks cheaper and probably one of the best meatball sandwiches I have ever eaten in my entire life. Meatball Parmigiano Hero, $8 at Bunk Sandwiches. 8/10.** *The children’s folk ballad “On Top of Spaghetti” references this phenomenon: “On top of spaghetti, All covered with cheese,I lost my poor meatball, When somebody sneezed. It rolled off the table,And on to the floor,And then my poor meatball,Rolled out of the door. It rolled in the garden,And under a bush,And then my poor meatball,Was nothing but mush.” **Bonus points because it was still better than Subway’s, but not as good as my mom’s because she puts tiny round pieces of mozzarella inside each meatball before she cooks them so it’s like an Easter egg.

Bunk Sandwiches was the first restaurant that was recommended to me when I moved to Portland, so I decided to go there for my inaugural sandwich blog post. 

I ordered the meatball parmigiano hero because meatball sandwiches are my favorite thing ever and I am seemingly unable to restrain myself from ordering them when they present themselves on a menu. 

Things That I Liked About This Particular Sandwich

  • It was quite large - I was able to split it with Corey even though I wanted to eat all the delicious meatballs and leave him with nothing but marinara sodden hoagie remnants, but he paid for it so whatev.
  • The hoagie itself was not severed in half, but rather fashioned into a boatlike vessel engineered to insure the meatballs’ safe passage toward my welcoming gullet. This eliminates the possibility for a rogue meatball to pop out the end of the bread and escape as meatballs are wont to do*.

Things That I Didn’t Like About This Particular Sandwich

  • Meatball-to-sauce ratio was uneven. Like seriously, the meatballs should’ve been the stars of the show here, instead they were just overshadowed by too much marinara. 
  • I broke my fork in half while eating it. Maybe I was overwhelmed with excitement, or maybe I was trying to suppress my rage due to insufficient meatball allotment.

Bunk’s meatball parmigiano was pretty good, but I should’ve ordered the renowned pork belly cubano like Corey suggested. The Grilled Cheese Grill is down the street from my apartment, and their variant (the Morton) is two bucks cheaper and probably one of the best meatball sandwiches I have ever eaten in my entire life.

Meatball Parmigiano Hero, $8 at Bunk Sandwiches. 8/10.**

*The children’s folk ballad “On Top of Spaghetti” references this phenomenon:

“On top of spaghetti, 
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball, 
When somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table,
And on to the floor,
And then my poor meatball,
Rolled out of the door.

It rolled in the garden,
And under a bush,
And then my poor meatball,
Was nothing but mush.”

**Bonus points because it was still better than Subway’s, but not as good as my mom’s because she puts tiny round pieces of mozzarella inside each meatball before she cooks them so it’s like an Easter egg.