SPLIT BREAD...OVERCHARGED AND UNDERWHELMED

(UPDATE: Seems they are taking cash now--one of my co-workers went the other day and paid cash--so the experiment didn't last long.)

On a recent Sunday I headed down to "new" Metreon as it is undergoing yet another makeover.  It has had nearly as many facelifts as Joan Rivers at this point.  This latest incarnation includes some new restaurants that are not the usual fare you'd find at your local mall.  One such place is Split Bread.

When it first opened it got a lot of press as it's one of them new fangled places that doesn't take cash and deals only in plastic or electronic fund transfer--make it perfect for those techy hipsters in San Francisco. You can probably tell from the title what I thought of the place but let's get to the details. I ordered the #7--

spit roasted chicken, sharp white cheddar, aioli, arugula, pickled red onion, blue cheese dressing on a toasted ciabatta roll. I added a side of hand cut fries and a green tea. With tax this meal set me back $16.50--way more than an average lunch should actually be, even here in San Francisco.  The fries were decent. They were at least hot out of the fryer and had plenty of salt. They came with a rosemary dijonnaise sauce for dipping--if you don't like rosemary you won't like the sauce, I'm okay with it but it didn't really add anything to the fries.  Though it came in handy for the sandwich.  

It is a small sandwich and it is not exactly piled high with stuff.  Sadly the chicken was dry either from overcooking or having sat out overnight (I got there 10 minutes after they opened so I'm thinking/hoping overcooked). You could barely taste the blue cheese dressing as there was little on it--which didn't help the dryness and you also couldn't taste the cheese--not very sharp.  I did like the pickled red onion as that at least gave some flavor to the sandwich.  Sadly, I had to use some of the fries dipping sauce because of just how dry the whole thing was--it helped but only a little as the flavor pretty much overwhelmed everything on the roll. The only thing that had some bite to it were the 2 pickles on the side. They were both sweet and spicy--crunchy and with a nice kick--those I did like. 

Considering the amount of money you have to plop down I was hoping for better portions or at least something that knocks my socks off--but I didn't get either.  Just another place where I can rail against the rise of the $8 sandwich and how it just isn't worth it.