The Mediterranean Club Toastie

The Mediterranean Club toastie should, of course, be called the Club Med. This glorious idea that was first suggested at a tasting almost a year ago, and we knew it had to happen. Credit for the name goes to E: she was there on the night and made the excellent suggestion, we then just had to make a toastie worthy of it.

A google around has since shown that it is a registered trademark, so while it may not be allowed on a menu, the Club Med will live forever in our hearts. If this toastie makes it to the menu, that will be the preferred mode of ordering.

Ingredients are listed bottom to top, as you assemble the sandwich.

The Mediterranean Club Toastie 18-30

– Chicken off the bone
– Sliced tomato
– 2 Halloumi slices
– Sautéed peppers and onions
– Pepperoni
– Thin sliced feta
– Chopped olives

The All Inclusive Mediterranean Club Toastie

– Chicken off the bone
– Sliced mozzarella
– A piece of toast
– Sautéed peppers and onions
– Crispy Pancetta
– Chopped olives
– A little cheddar

Taste.
The 18-30 is one of the filthiest healthy-looking toasties I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. It bristled with veg, but we substituted the central slice of bread; the defining point of a Club sandwich, for halloumi. It was teneriffic. The feta and olives were both excellently salty against the chicken and tomato. Even the halloumi was almost getting involved. Barny: 7/10 Flic: 8/10

The All Inclusive was slightly better on flavour. A more rounded finish and, dare I say it, not quite so cheesy. The olives where the star here. I’m not one to seek them out normally, although if you put a pot in front of me at a restaurant I will eat them, but each one came as a compliment to everything else happening. The All Inclusive was nearly perfect, while I felt the 18-30 was making lewd comments and stealing traffic cones when we weren’t looking. Barny: 8/10 Flic: 9/10

Appeal
While possibly not the stronger of the two on flavour, I think the halloumi would appeal hugely to fans of the triple-decker. It’s technically only a double-decker, but when one of the layers is cheese, I think that counts for more. 8/10 for the 18-30, 7/10 for the All Inclusive.

Suitability as a signature.
As this is once more a foray into filthy sandwich territory I think it might acquire signature status anyway, but the ingredients and heritage are not especially Jabberwocky. 5/10

Difficulty Rating There is a lot of assembly required, and a fair amount of cooking ahead of time, so this one is not for the emergency toastie fix. Rated srsly?