Review: Subway - Italian Hero

Subway's Italian Hero is something they're offering here in Southern California. It comes with a combination of mortadella, capicola, and Genoa salami.

The suggested build was with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, olive oil, provolone, and red wine vinegar. I went without the pickles and they didn't have red wine vinegar (...) so I got the Subway vinaigrette instead.

It's normally $7.95 for a Footlong (same price as their "premium" subs) but I had a coupon that brought it down to an even $6.

The mortadella and capicola are new to the menu, while the Genoa salami is always available. Subway's mortadella was a lot like bologna in taste and texture except with extra cubes of fat/lard for an added richness. The capicola was the more flavorful of the two with a nice seasoned flavor and a light heat.

Initially, the sandwich was very blah. There was a vague flavor and varied mix of textures but it came off very bland; like I was eating something but it wasn't bad nor good. It was filling though. I could tastes the various ingredients if I picked them out of the sandwich, but taken together, it was all very underwhelming.

I saved half of the sandwich for later and it seemed to do much better after marinated in the olive oil and vinaigrette for a bit. The flavors opened up quite a bit in both the veggies and the meat and no longer a tasteless mass of texture. The onions had more of a bite, the meats felt more seasoned and salty, and the tomatoes tasted more tangy. The cheese was hard to make out in either half (partially because there was only four small halves spread across the Footlong).

Overall, Subway's Italian Hero was a miss that turned out pretty decent when left to sit. If you're looking to try it, I suggest leaving it to sit in the fridge for an hour or two for the best result. I'd still go with their Spicy Italian over it though if I'm looking for an Italian sub.

Nutritional info not available.