Zenwich

For a rare lunch out we went to Zenwich in Elmhurst (at 416 N York Road).  We had heard about this place from Chicago's Best and since we don't live too far away we thought we would give it a try.

Zenwich offers sandwiches with a Southeast Asian twist, akin to a bahn mi sandwich.  We ordered 2 sandwiches that each came with a side.

Japanese style panko encrusted crab cake sandwich

The first sandwich was a Japanese style panko encrusted crab cake with baby greens and garlic basil sauce.  Natalie liked that the crab cake was a square shape to fit nicely on the thin ciabatta bread.  It was a good bread to meat ratio.  The sauce was tasty and gave the sandwich its Asian flare. Nick thought it could have had a few more greens on it.  This sandwich came with a side of ginger slaw; we were hoping for a little stronger ginger flavor to come through but didn't get it.  They also offered a wasabi slaw so maybe you get more of punch with that one.

Famous Remus

The other sandwich we ordered was called the Famous Remus.  It included grilled caramelized pork, shredded carrot & daikon, cucumber, red onion, jalapeno and cilantro with peanut sauce.  All of the vegetables were reminiscent of a bahn mi and gave it a crisp, salad like feel. The carrots made it crunchy but all of the vegetables didn't overpower the meat. There was a healthy amount of peanut sauce, too much for Natalie, but just enough for Nick.  It made the sandwich a little messy to eat, but good. This sandwich came with homemade seasoned chips that had a nice kick to them.

Final thoughts on Zenwich:
Food - if you're tired of your old standard sub places, this is a refreshing change.  We wish this type of place were located near us during the work day, because we would be frequenting it often. When mentioning this to a friend later, he recommended another sandwich, the Pork Katsu. Zenwich also offers many vegetarian sandwich options and salads.
Service - nice friendly counter service.  We decided to dine in but there were many people that had called ahead for carry out.
Atmosphere - located in a strip mall, if you don't know exactly where it is you might pass it by the first time. There are 6 tables for dining in.  The interior is painted with lively colors, including a bright green wall.