While this city could jolly well do with more quality indie sandwich places, the two-month-old New York-style Madison Deli, specializing in gourmet sandwiches and salads, is not one of them. It has a few odds against it: Located at the furthest end of the fairly inaccessible Marina Bay Financial Centre, it’s a pain to get here unless your offices are in the CBD. And even if you decide to walk here from the nearest MRT (Raffles Place), it’ll probably take you another 15-20 minutes to find it. Plus, the menu is not outstanding enough for you to take the trouble. Sure, salads like The Flatiron, comprising arugula, Asian pear, pumpkin seeds and goat cheese dressed in honey and fresh thyme, are appetizing enough; but mains of signature sandwiches are disappointing and way overpriced. While its el Lomito promises a mix of Chilean-style pulled pork, avocado and mayonnaise served on Turkish bread, what was served to us was shockingly tepid. The avocado was almost non-existent; it appeared to be mashed as a spread for the mismatched bread that it came with (a wholegrain bread, perhaps, for the marinated pork slices to bring out the texture?). The Chicken Caprese fared much better, with its generous servings of spiced roasted chicken, bacon, balsamic glazed tomatoes and fresh mozzarella for a hearty, if somewhat predictable bite. Ditto the rest of the sandwiches here such as the Jersey Special (roast beef with Swiss cheese and house coleslaw) and Chicago Italian Beef (seasoned roast beef bathed in au jus giardiniera) which came across as a little slapdash. Sure, the selections here are better than your average coffee chain’s, but with so much competition around the site (the superior and value for-money Salad Stop is just across the way) and limited seats (35 max), there’s hardly much reason to come back here.
