75 Smoked salmon, blue cheese, crispy onion and honey mustard

Wow. That was really good. Maybe it was my high level of hunger, maybe my low expectations (approaching no expectations), probably a combination of the two.

Or maybe it was the inspired combination of ingredients. I've sighed and eye-rolled through the too-long section of the 100 Montaditos menu devoted to smoked salmon. Yeah, yeah, I know what lox and cream cheese on a white baked good tastes like. And I know where to get a better version. But then you take away the cream cheese and I'm all WTH?

The addition of blue cheese on No. 74 did little or nothing for me. But something about throwing in the crispy onion and honey mustard puts the smoked salmon and the blue cheese in just the right contexts. (I guess I have observed the surprise affinity between blue cheese and honey mustard.) This may well be a wild-card entry in the season-ending championship tournament.

Montaditos down: 75
Montaditos to go: 25
Next: 76 Smoked salmon, cream cheese, fresh tomato and arugula

74 Smoked salmon, blue cheese, arugula and olive oil

Wait a minute. Olive oil? That was an option all along, and yet we're seeing it for the first time here at No. 74? One could argue that every one of these montaditos, or at least those without a competing condimental spread, should have olive oil.

Having said that, I have to admit that I messed up and jotted down the wrong numbers and had to come up with the next three on the fly and failed in my quantum-theory method and ended up with two smoked-salmon sandwiches in the same lunch. I was flustered, I didn't look at the menu to confirm what I was eating, and I didn't notice any olive oil. It may have been there, but I wasn't looking for it and I didn't notice it. I noticed blue cheese. Hard to miss blue cheese. And it wasn't as weird with smoked salmon as you might think.

This is not an order I would have repeated, but I may have to repeat it in the name of journalistic integrity.

Montaditos down: 74
Montaditos to go: 26
Next: 75 Smoked salmon, blue cheese, crispy onion and honey mustard

35 Blue cheese, arugula, crispy onion and honey mustard

Honey mustard is our new ingredient today at 100 Montaditos, and I have to admit I was skeptical about its introductory pairing. Blue cheese? With honey mustard?

But it actually kind of works. Honey mustard softens the pungency of the blue cheese, and blue cheese keeps honey mustard from being cloying. Crispy onion and arugula are rarely bad ideas. I probably wouldn't order this one again, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Montaditos down: 35
Montaditos to go: 65

Next: 36 Mozzarella, fresh tomato and pesto 

34 Blue cheese, anchovies, lettuce and fresh tomato (whole-grain bread)

The first bite of this picky-eaters-need-not-apply 100 Montaditos sandwich started out interesting but things got very salty very fast.

I'm thinking blue cheese and anchovies should generally be kept apart, and both -- especially anchovies -- work better in supporting roles.

Montaditos down: 34
Montaditos to go: 66
Next: 35 Blue cheese, arugula, crispy onion and honey mustard

33 Blue cheese, bacon and arugula

Bacon? There was bacon? You know blue cheese is an assertive ingredient when you find that it can upstage bacon.

Meanwhile, I have to say that 100 Montaditos didn't wimp out on the arugula this time. I can respect that.

Montaditos down: 33
Montaditos to go: 67
Next: 34 Blue cheese, anchovies, lettuce and fresh tomato

32 Blue cheese, garlic pork loin and piquillo pepper

This is my first taste of 100 Montaditos' garlic pork loin, and I don't love it.

Then again, it's worth noting that BLUE CHEESE is the boldfaced, all-capped part of this sandwich, and it lives up to its billing. I see garlic pork loin, but mostly I taste BLUE CHEESE.

The subtlety of your garlic pork loin might be better served by one of your less-assertive cheeses.

Montaditos down: 32
Montaditos to go: 68
Next: 33 Blue cheese, bacon and arugula

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