10. Ultimate Grilled Cheese at Starbucks

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Do you like cheese? We hope you do. Starbucks has a revolving cast of sandwiches including breakfast-inspired choices and even an all-veggie item, but the Ultimate Grilled Cheese (P140) is brimming with six different kinds of cheeses: Gruyère, Emmenthal, Feta, Provolone, Cheddar, and Mozarella on multigrain. It's savory, a little salty, and frankly, quite difficult to pinpoint which cheese is which, but for cheese lovers, there's not much we can complain about. Oh, and it's got Hungarian sausage bits too. Add some garlic and cracked pepper and this sandwich does wonders.

9. Salsa Tartufata at Cibo

Cibo
2nd Floor, Glorietta 4, Ayala Center, Makati City
2nd' Floor, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City
Ground Floor, Power Plant Mall, Makati City
Other branches in Metro Manila

CIBO's always had a solid range of paninis and bruschettas, but its Salsa Tartufata (P265) is bound to raise a few eyebrows thanks to its indulgent use of mushroom. Mozzarella, assorted mushrooms, truffle paste, and truffle oil meld together into a creamy, chunky, umami filling good enough for pasta, but here bedded between white bread triangles (known as a ‘tramezzino' sandwich in Italian). It sounds a little too heady for merienda, but then again, this one's more an experience than a simple meal.

8. Pastrami on Rye

Rustan's Gourmet-to-Go
Rustan's Supermarket, Powerplant Mall, Rockwell Center, Makati City
Rustan's Supermarket, Ayala Center, Makati City
Rustan's Supermarket, Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City

If you're office is within the orbit of a Rustan's Gourmet-to-Go deli then we envy you in the way children envy their classmate's better-tasting baon. The trouble here is choosing from a wide range of sandwiches ranging from hearty roast beef to Mediterranean pita pockets. Ask for velvety beef pastrami (P185) with mustard and Gruyère on grilled rye. It doesn't look like much, but the sour mustard twang on salty meat makes for a great wakeup call.

7. Vegetarian Banh Mi at Wabi-Sabi

Wabi-Sabi
The Collective, 7274 Malugay Street, Barangay San Antonio, Makati City
Tel. No. (0918) 450-1714

If you're in Makati, swing by The Collective. If you're at The Collective, make sure you drop by folksy veggie noodle shop Wabi-Sabi. Known for its ramen and phở, it also plies Banh Mi (P150), a brawny, zesty Vietnamese-style sandwich. Sure you'll find it elsewhere like in Phở Hoa or the occasional weekend market purveyor, but by and large Banh Mi remains overlooked. Wabi-Sabi's comes in a fresh, crackly baguette with lush cilantro, pickled carrots and radish, cucumbers, and faux barbecued pork with a sweet glaze. You'll nearly forget there's no meat. Not that you'll be complaining. Try this healthy alternative to the usual fast food.

6. Grilled Jamon n' Cheese at 2nd's

2nd's
2nd Floor, Wumaco Building, 9th Avenue,
Bonifacio High Street, Fort Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig City
Tel. No. 846-5293

The Mad Men-like interiors might make you think you need to be in a suit and tie to dine at 2^nd's, but in reality the food could never be homier. In this case however, it's grub from our collective childhood that gets leveled up like say, chicken lollipop morphed into Buffalo pops coated with cornflakes. The same goes for 2^nd's lovely Jamon Serrano-tucked sandwich triangles (P395) bedded with buttery Manchego cheese by Chef Mikko Reyes. It's a classy merienda that will leave you impressed.

5. Sub GG at Sentro 1771

Sentro 1771
2nd Level, Greenbelt 2, Ayala Center, Makati City
Tel. No. 757-3940
Ground Floor, Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Tel. No. 856-0581



Ah, the humble galunggong. Who would've known that this everyman's fish could ever be deserving of a culinary makeover? Sentro 1771's sous chef Claudette Cuares however serves up a mean ‘Rated GG'— dainty, olive oil-fried galunggong fillets—that have diners talking. Its other incarnation as the lip-smacking Sub GG (P280) has the crisp, slightly flaky fish tucked in a warm baguette along with lettuce, tomatoes, kesong puti, and green papaya atchara. You'll find familiar flavors and textures combined in an unlikely way in this quirky sandwich. Sentro only serves the Sub GG during merienda hours, 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. daily. Great, more reason to play hookie in the afternoon.

4. Adobo flakes with Kesong Puti Pandesal at The Bread Bag Pandesal Bar

The Bread Bag Pandesal Bar
Ortigas Home Depot, Julia Vargas Street, Pasig City
Forbeswood Heights, Rizal Drive, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City


Nothing reminds us more of school recess than lumps of pandesal slathered with corned beef or cheese spread, or drizzled with condensed milk. At the Bread Bag, the humble, versatile pandesal undergoes makeovers including a stellar adobo flakes with kesong puti combo (P122). Telltale notes of garlic, pepper, and soy ooze from the stewed pork and chicken shreds (including a bay leaf or two). It's a glorious mess trying to eat this, what with the drippings and kesong puti that falls in clumps. The bread, made in their own oven, is pillowy soft and piping hot, as it should be.

3. Pulled Pork Sandwich at Borough

Borough
Ground floor, The Podium, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City
Tel. No. 570-8906

Comfort food is king at Borough where Chef Cuit Kauffman reinvents New York favorites in favor of Manila's famished urbanites. Not surprisingly, the 24-hour grub pub sports a manly pulled pork sandwich (P240) on soft, homemade hoagie bread with lovely burned edges. The stringy meat simmered in barbecue sauce contrasts wonderfully with the perky green mango coleslaw. Size this up on your own or share this with a friend. Heck, this pulled pork begs to be downed with ice cold beer, and even if you drop by at three in the morning nobody will think you strange.

2. The Reuben at Chuck's Deli

Chuck's Deli
Ground Level Serendra Piazza (driveway facing Market! Market!), Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City (576-4210 or 846-1734);
Ground Floor, Eastwood Mall, Libis, Quezon City (451-1163)
Visit chucksdeli.com.ph

Chuck's Deli's Reuben ‘slabwich' (P355, half / P695, whole) is a mess—which is perfectly fine by our standards. This monster of a sandwich comes in a crisp ten-inch long Ciabatta and weighs in at roughly half a kilo—the equivalent of four Quarter Pounders. Shredded Angus corned beef and Swiss cheese drip from its sides along with mustard, sauerkraut, and a well-guarded house sauce recipe. The intense flavors take turns while crunch and chewiness make for excellent texture. Guzzling this down with one of their milkshakes should be a law.

1. Pan de Bagnet at Bale Dutung

Bale Dutung
Mercato Centrale, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

If there's one reason why you should wake up early on a Saturday morning and drive to Mercato Centrale, it has to be Chef Claude Tayag's porky Pan de Bagnet (P150). His tribute to porchetta draws in foodies and tourists with generous slices of fried pork with the Kapampangan triumvirate of lettuce, tomatoes, and bagoong. A zesty Asian pick-me-up sauce is drizzled all over, and the massive pork and veggie-combo is finally tucked in a crusty Ciabatta bun. The flavors are familiar to Filipino taste buds but brought together in wild, unexpected ways as only someone like Chef Claude can. Head early to beat the crowds.