PrintUh, Starbucks breakfast sandwiches actually taste ... good?!
It's with a healthy dose of humble pie that I post this addendum to our earlier discussion about these egg n' meat critters - fact is, I was initially inclined to bury my "correction" at the end of what appears to be the now-moribund prior discussion, but I figure, go ahead and get flayed on this one. I totally prejudged this one, and I was majorly wrong. The discussion inspired me to actually try the 'Bucks eggwiches, and they're actually quite tasty. Maybe they've always been like this, or maybe with time the whole prep process is ironing itself out, but I'm a fan. The one-stop-shopping aspect of it (Starbucks coffee plus food) has always been an enticement. I've now tried the pepper bacon version, and the turkey bacon version. They both feature a different cheese, the former a yellow cheddar and the other a whitish jack (it seems) . The "toaster" that's used to revive the sandwich really does the trick, in that the English muffin is somewhat crisped, the egg is slightly lofted, and the whole thing does get properly heated (this morning's even had real melted cheese, rather than just warmed cheese). The taste is the crux, though, and it's reasonably winning. The pepper bacon is just that, black-pepper-flecked and with a proper cooked texture. The turkey bacon, being other than swine, provides a milder bacon flavor, but it's enough of a flavor to do the trick in concert with egg, a white cheese and muffin. The big sell for me is that after taking the eggwich out of its cartouche-type serving baggie, the eggwich does not come off as made ages ago in a land far, far away. Granted, it doesn't and probably can't have the "ups" of an eggwich made right in front of your face, but if you remove that comparison and just contend with how it tastes and mouth-feels, it's good. So, I stand corrected.
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3 Comments:
Whoa Sandro, this is something! And totally contradicts Ed's report. Sounds like we need more eaters out there to report back on this! Did you get these all at the same Starbucks? Which one?
Are Ed's taste buds off? Did Sandro just get lucky, several times? Or is this a case of "to each his own?" I'm still suspicious of those things, but at the local Starbucks near Serious Eats HQ they told us they've been selling out every day. So maybe they're not so bad after all.
megnut at 1:23PM on 12/15/06
I fully agree with Sandro's report. I've tried the sandwiches in Chicago, DC, and NYC, and I've been uniformly impressed with their quality. In fact, even compared against other "fresh" breakfast options near me on the UWS, I'd prefer an eggs florentine or peppered bacon sandwich from Starbucks.
Yes, there are certainly places to get really excellent egg sandwiches, but in my experience many establishments are just as likely to use cheap buns, unmelted cheese, or leave shell bits in the eggs as they are to consistently beat the selections at Starbucks.
Bando at 7:23PM on 12/18/06
megnut, all of my 'Bucks eggwiches have come from two branches in lower Manhattan, by Wall Street (@111 Broadway, and another one @ Nassau and Liberty Streets). I'm confident that Ed's tastebuds aren't off, but rather that with a little more time Starbucks has seemingly taken what any "buon gustaio" would think is a bad idea and made a positive. My most recent one, eaten the morning I wrote the above post, was the best I've had, the muffin being not only warm but actually crispy, too, and the pepper bacon adding a tasty element to the meal.
Sandro at 10:57AM on 12/19/06