The Sophie

I really need to learn to go with my first instinct.

I went to Crave today to use my $5 birthday credit through LevelUp (which came as a complete surprise unlike some of the other loyalty programs I signed up for), and figured I would get my favorite sandwich - the crispy chicken (which I wrote about here). But when I got there, I was so tempted by other combinations and ended up going with "the Sophie" (one of the "customer favorite" combos).

The Sophie consisted of smoked turkey, muenster cheese, avocado, arugula and mayo on toasted sourdough. I swapped out the mayo for brown mustard and got toasted honey wheat instead of sourdough. What interested me most about the sandwich was the avocado, which I thought would be fresh slices of avocado, followed by the muenster cheese, which I've always found adds a unique flavor to turkey sandwiches.

I was a little disappointed (more with myself than with Crave) for my choice of the Sophie, and found myself wishing I had gone with my gut and gotten the crispy chicken instead (or the tuna melt I've gotten before). A few reasons: 

(1) The Sophie was definitely the healthiest sandwich I've gotten at Crave, but it didn't have as much flavor as the others. The ingredients, like every Crave sandwich I've had, were quite good, and the turkey had flavor, but it just didn't match up to the others I've had.

(2) The avocado was that mashed up avocado that is used like a spread instead of slices of avocado, which I wasn't expecting. I think seeing avocado in the ingredient list was the thing that most tempted me away from the crispy chicken, and the spread just couldn't live up to my expectations of fresh avocado slices.

(3) As I ate the sandwich, I realized that I made a terrible choice for other reasons. I used to work a few blocks away from Crave and could go whenever I wanted. This time, I wanted to get something good because I didn't know when my next visit would be. I should have gone with the crispy chicken since I like it so much. Also, it slipped my mind at the moment I ordered that I could make something similar to the Sophie at home! The sinking realization that I had bread, smoked turkey, avocado and mustard at home and that I wasted my discount on the same items hit me as I sat in the atrium eating and I couldn't believe I could be so dumb. I had just been thinking of that combo earlier in the morning when I looked around the apartment, so how could I forget? Something I can't make at home would have been a better choice. The crispy chicken would have fit the bill for that in every single way.

I've learned my lessons (again) - go with my gut and think about what's in the fridge before ordering! In the end, I got a good sandwich for less than $5, which was a pretty good deal since the sandwiches at Crave are now $9+ (I completely forgot how much the price got hiked until I read my original post from last year). But next time I'm getting the crispy chicken.