83 VIKINGO: smoked salmon, hard-boiled egg, pepinillo and mayo

Another Nordic-leaning sandwich on pillowy bread, though it would have been more so with the menu's pepinillo (pickles from Spain) than with the green pepper that was on my montadito.

Montaditos down: 83
Montaditos to go: 17
Next: 84 IBERICO: chorizo, tortilla española, piquillo pepper and ali oli

76 Smoked salmon, cream cheese, fresh tomato and arugula

The final montadito in the smoked-salmon section, with tomato added to the No. 71 template, is probably the truest to the Jewish-deli tradition. And it's good. Again, with the delightful exception of No. 75, I'm not likely to order smoked salmon on a montadito, but if you're in a bagel-and-lox mood and your dining companion insisted on this Spanish place instead of a Jewish deli, order this one.

Montaditos down: 76
Montaditos to go: 24
Next: 77 Anchovies, fresh tomato,mayo and pepinillo

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

73 Smoked salmon, cream cheese, piquillo pepper and arugula

Again I'm wondering about the editing of this menu. The piquillo pepper is not a bad addition to No. 71, but it's the only difference between this and No. 71. For the record, I like this one a little better. Precisely one slice of piquillo pepper's worth of better.

Montaditos down: 73
Montaditos to go: 27
Next: 74 Smoked salmon, blue cheese, arugula and olive oil

72 Smoked salmon, hard boiled egg, lettuce and mayo

Smoked salmon without cream cheese was less different from smoked salmon with cream cheese than I would have thought. If I have a choice, though, I'll take cream cheese with my smoked salmon.

Montaditos down: 72
Montaditos to go: 28
Next: 73 Smoked salmon, cream cheese, piquillo pepper and arugula

71 Smoked salmon, cream cheese and arugula

And now for the Jewish-deli portion of the 100 Montaditos menu! Sure enough, it's a bagel with lox and cream cheese, only instead of a bagel you have some pretty decent crusty bread. Instead of onion, capers and tomato you have ... arugula. It's not bad, but I don't see many New Yorkers ordering this.

Montaditos down: 71
Montaditos to go: 29
Next: 72 Smoked salmon, hard boiled egg, lettuce and mayo