Stop calling it a sando. It’s a sandwich. Two pieces of bread with some stuff in-between. New rule, and one that I’m implementing immediately: you can only call it a sando if you’re Japanese, because sando literally translates from Japanese as ‘sandwich’, just as wagyu means beef and katsu means cutlet, not curry you thicko’s. Or, I suppose you can call it a sando if you’re not Japanese but you’ve gone the full hog to emulate the ‘yoshoku’ vibe of doing Western things the Eastern way, using thick milky bread to house breaded cutlets in a brooding curry sauce. I am digressing, but maybe a fish finger sandwich on thick Warburtons with McDonalds curry sauce would just about pass as a sando. But stop it please. It’s a nonsense. The Earl of Sandwich deserves better than you turning into Del Boy in an attempt to try and look all cultural.
Talking of old John Montagu, brown bread for well over 200 years now, there is a lovely tribute to him at POSH, the sandwich – not sando – offering from the ever-excellent 1000 Trades. His 1760 original recipe of roast beef between bread is given the makeover via the Max Halley rules of hot, cold, sweet, sour, crunchy, and soft. The new upgraded version, The Wellington, has rare beef, puff pastry, mushroom duxelles, mustard, pickles, and port reduction, sandwiched between focaccia from Ten House bakery, because, to quote Halley again, fuck sourdough. Focaccia is even and dense enough to take a good filling, whilst the crumb of a sourdough has the same level of integrity as our Prime Minister. It gets soggier than a cold Tuesday in Stoke and collapses faster than a Tory lobbying mandate. Focaccia is the best sandwich bread, full stop.
We don’t order The Wellington, couldn’t given that it had sold out, but we did get two other sandwiches that right now serve as some of the best to be found in Birmingham. I defy anyone to resist large chunks of ham hock with a fried egg, piccalilli, and little deep fried roast spuds that crunch and warm in equally measure. It’s ham, egg and chips essentially, proof that you really can improve anything by sticking it between two pieces of bread. It’s as complete and life-affirming as Kiplings ‘If’, as soul nourishing as donating to Children in Need. I don’t finish it because it’s a behemoth, but I give it more effort to do so than any job I’ve ever had. There is a samosa in a sandwich, with nuggets of saag paneer, pickles, and mango dressing. It’s a lot of carbs but a lot of fun. It turns out that that slightly squeaky paneer is the ideal foil for the brittle casing of the samosa, which is punchy with spice. Carafe of wine between two and a bill for just over thirty quid. I fold away one half of the sandwich back into the paper and set to work on it again later that afternoon, virtually filling the gaps for both lunch and dinner. The sandwich deserves to be celebrated. They do a great job of it here.
8/10
I don’t usually do this, but I like 1000 Trades and they dropped me a message after I’d been in. POSH is open at lunch 12-5pm for eat in, takeaway, and UberEats. Limited POSH menu on evenings and Saturdays. Enjoy.