JEDDAH, 22 January — Panino’s is a sandwich stand in the Jeddah Mall food court. But it’s not just any sandwich stand. It sells delicious crisp Italian sandwiches.
Picture this: Some heartwarming bread slices buttered to perfection with stuffing of your choice. No more of mom’s peanut butter and jelly. You’re in control now — or at least you’re in Panino’s now. You have a choice between not only two or three, but seven luscious mouthwatering sandwich creations.
Two of the best are the Caprese, which is kashkaval cheese and sliced tomato with basil parsley oil, and fresco which is labneh with feta cheese and chopped olives, mint and tomatoes. Pollo Siciliano is a sandwich — marinated grilled chicken with cheese and tomatoes. It is very good except for the chicken, which could be a lot less chewy and a lot more tender if you ask me.
As for the tuna sandwich better known as tonno, well it could use a lot of improvement frankly. I mean to be quite honest; I found it somewhat disgusting. It was both hot and soggy. People don’t eat their tuna hot and besides, the lettuce did not taste fresh, it was almost like I was eating green grass. Contadino, which is mainly grilled beef with sautéed onions, peppers, mushrooms and melted cheese with garlic mayo, did not either sound or look appealing to my eyes.
I would have tried it anyway but sadly, I learned that it took more time to prepare it. No need to worry though, I had something much better. It was by far the ultimate Panino sandwich experience. I strongly recommend you try it. You’ll probably be hooked for life. It’s known as the ciprico, grilled haloumi cheese with slices of olives and tomatoes. It was completely delicious, very appetizing.
Panino’s Italian bread is something else! They sell Pizza as well, which is quite tasty although the cheese can’t seem to stay on the pizza. It just comes off in the most annoying way. There are four kind of pizza: Margherita, spicy chicken, Thai spiced chicken with tomato sauce and parmigiana which is grilled eggplant along with tomato sauce and mozarella cheese.
The pizzas cost from SR20 to SR30 whereas the most expensive sandwich is only SR15. They also have salads at Panino’s. They have Caesar, Greek and San Remo which is fusilli with fresh tomatoes, feta cheese, olives and garlic olive oil. By the way, they also have some new bread sticks that are very crispy and yummy. They don’t serve that many drinks — just sodas, orange juice and coffee.
Oh — and as for dessert, talk about a major disappointment. They only have what is called ciccolato di salami which some call lazy cake. It tastes horrible. I consider it inedible. I can usually eat anything with chocolate in it but I couldn’t manage with this treat. It tasted like some mushy substance. Very soggy and tasteless.
Panino’s is in Jeddah Mall on Tahlia Street. Tel: 6676991
