84 IBERICO: chorizo, tortilla española, piquillo pepper and ali oli

You won't catch me refusing this montadito. Let's see: Take No. 7, starring two of 100 Montaditos' very best main ingredients, add two top-notch condiments, and put it all on a bigger canvas.

When I tried No. 7 (and No. 57), I did have a nagging thought that maybe the combination was overkill, that maybe one should get a chorizo sandwich if one wants a chorizo sandwich and a tortilla sandwich if one wants a tortilla sandwich. But no: This is a great combination.

Montaditos down: 84
Montaditos to go: 16
Next: 85 LERELE: goat cheese, arugula, piquillo pepper with olive oil

50 BBQ pulled pork,manchego cheese, green pepper and ali oli

I'm not going to lie to you: One "BBQ pulled pork" sandwich is pretty close to the next. Aside from that pleasant mustard surprise.* They're all good. This one was no exception. The manchego cheese was an interesting ingredient, if only because it looks so much like a pickle. I liked the manchego cheese. I also probably would have liked a nice pickle.

* I saw Pleasant Mustard Surprise open for the Guess Who in '68 in Kitchener. I was only 6, but it was amazing.

Montaditos down: 50
Montaditos to go: I don't know. What am I, some sort of math genius?????
Next: 51 BBQ pulled pork,manchego cheese, crispy onion and mustard

47 BBQ pulled pork, cream cheese, bacon and ali oli

If I had thought to sit down and handicap the 100 Montaditos menu before I started this blog (that would have been a good thought, now that I think of it), I'm sure I would have flagged montadito No. 47 as a crowd pleaser. The ingredients are a little redundant -- barbecue pork and bacon? Cream cheese and aioli? -- but they're redundant in such a way as to make darn sure that this sandwich is a crowd pleaser.

And this sandwich, it turns out, is a crowd pleaser. Or at least a me pleaser.

I'm not sure I got any bacon. I think I got aioli, but I didn't taste it. But this sweet barbecue pork together with cream cheese (both making their debuts on this blog, by the way) is a winner. Crowds will be pleased; I'm sure of it.

Montaditos down: 47
Montaditos to go: 53
Next: 48 BBQ pulled pork, cheddar cheese, lettuce and mustard

45 Chicken, green pepper, fresh tomato and ali oli

Another solid performance by the chicken. Green pepper, tomato and aioli are nice partners for el pollo.

Montaditos down: 45
Montaditos to go: 55
Next: 46 Chicken, brie cheese, green pepper and crispy onion

42 Chicken, crispy onion and ali oli

I didn't get much chicken. And I'm still wondering, as with the hot dog, why chicken would qualify as "premium."

Nonetheless, this 100 Montaditos montadito has its charms. That ingredient combination, with nothing green or red to spoil the fun, approximates the salty, fatty, umami-y childhood pleasure that is Underwood Chicken Spread.

Montaditos down: 42
Montaditos to go: 58
Next: 43 Chicken,manchego cheese, fresh tomato and mustard

31 Philly steak, blue cheese, green pepper and ali oli

Now, this is what I'm talking about. Two flawed ingredients add up to something ... not flawed. If I'm going to eat 100 Montaditos' take on Philly steak, I want it with blue cheese. If I'm going to eat blue cheese, I want it with beef of some sort. 100 Montaditos' take on Philly steak is beef of some sort. Insert that cool little "therefore" symbol from the proofs in logic class.

Montaditos down: 31
Montaditos to go: 69
Next: Blue cheese, garlic pork loin and piquillo pepper

25 Tuna, fresh tomato, pepinillo, arugula and ali oli

This is one nice tuna sandwich, with all the additions bringing something to the table. The pickles. Yum.

Montaditos down: 25
Montaditos to go: 75
Next: 26 Tuna, fresh tomato, lettuce and mayo

23 Tuna, piquillo pepper, crispy onion and ali oli

OK, OK, so I was definitely hasty on the tuna-hate. This was another solid tuna offering from 100 Montaditos. Aioli and crispy onion are naturals with tuna, and the piquillo pepper was a nice touch as well.

Montaditos down: 23
Montaditos to go: 77
Next: 24 Tuna, fresh tomato, arugula and mayo

18 Shrimp, lettuce, piquillo pepper and ali oli

This is the first appearance of piquillo pepper on the 100 Montaditos menu, and I am here to report that it's pretty much the same as the now-ubiquitous-in-America "roasted red pepper."

And it works nicely with the casino-shrimp-cocktail shrimp, though I have to say I doubt I'll be revisiting the shrimp section of the menu once I've finished my first hundred.

Montaditos down: 18

Montaditos to go: 82

Next: 19 Shrimp, lettuce, fresh tomato, pepinillo (pickles from Spain) and mayo

15 Shrimp, lettuce and ali oil

This 100 Montaditos sandwich is a little wan-looking, with a pinkish hue, as George Constanza would say, or like a cherub's bare red ass, as Liz Phair would say, but it tastes just fine.

These are not expense-account-steakhouse-shrimp-cocktail-grade shrimp; they are Las Vegas-$1-shrimp-cocktail-grade shrimp. You get what you pay for, and there's nothing wrong with an inexpensive crustacean now and again. 

Montadito No. 15 makes me nostalgia for the days when the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino was a cozy joint full of frugal downtown gamblers, not a glitzy frat-boy wet dream.

And, of course, there are more cheap shrimp montaditos on the way. Bring 'em on.

Montaditos down: 15

Montaditos to go: 85

Next: 16 Shrimp, lettuce, hard boiled egg and mayo

06 Tortilla española with ali oil

I'm a big fan of the tortilla espanola. For the uninitiated, it's nothing like the tortillas we know from Mexican food -- it's a scrambled-egg concoction, like a very thick omelet, usually with sliced potatoes. I even have a pet peeve regarding the tortilla espanola: I want mine at room temperature or even cold, not warm and certainly not hot.

Anyway, I was a little skeptical about the sandwich version, but my fears were unfounded. This is good. The aioli (garlic mayonnaise, basically) that's customarily served with the tortilla is put to good use, though 100 Montaditos calls it "ali oil," which makes me think of Luis Sarria.

Montaditos down: 6

Montaditos to go: 94

Next: 07 Tortilla española and chorizo