Joe: From calorie count to portion sizes,
we wanted to find out all the differences
between Subway in India and the US.
This is "Food Wars."
Subway sandwiches in India come in two sizes:
6 inches, 12 inches.
Subway in the US also has those two sizes,
6-inch and 12-inch.
Now, the website also says there's a 4-inch sub
called a chhota sub, chhota meaning small,
but mysteriously, it is unavailable.
We called four outlets. Wasn't there.
And now we shall measure the 12-inch sub
to see if it actually is 12 inches.
Joe: Keeping them honest, right?
That's 12 inches.
All right, Subway.
I'm getting more than 12 inches here.
Subway has given me a 13-inch sub.
This is why I love Subway.
Fun doesn't stop there, 'cause in the US,
Subway also offers catering options.
First, you can get this, a platter,
which is five foot-long subs cut into threes,
making a total of 15 pieces.
See? Boom, boom.
The discrepancies continue here in India.
The website says that we too have a platter option,
but we called a bunch of stores,
no platter option.
And on top of that, in the US,
you can get a 3-foot-long party sub.
Gush!
We didn't get it this time.
Graphics, you can go ahead and put a
3-foot party sub right in front of me.
Thanks, guys.
OK, is my ex-girlfriend running
the Subway and their website?
Because it's full of lies.
They not only advertise a 3-foot sub,
but a 6-foot giant sub.
And surprise, surprise, we called a couple of stores,
no 6-foot giant sub.
In fact, they said, "There are barely any 6-foot humans
here in India, why would there be a 6-foot sub?"
And I was like, "Yeah, sorry, I am the idiot."
Hang up!
OK, I am a short king.
175 centimeters.
This is how much I measure.
Now, this is a 6-foot sub next to me.
Why would this be a thing?
It's taller than me.
Well, Joe is 6 feet tall, so,
I'll go ahead and [grunts].
So, if graphics go ahead and make me a sandwich
in three, two, one.
You know, this is pretty comfortable.
Can we do the rest of the shoot like this?
Ah, this is pretty nice.
Here in India, Subway has actually opted out
of using a lot of plastic,
which is why they only stock these 330 ml cans,
which I am going to measure just to make sure
we are not being fooled by PepsiCo.
Mm. Smells like my teeth decaying.
Yeah, looks about right, 330 ml.
Subway in the US, we're still totally using plastic cups.
Small, medium, large,
and the large is supposed to be 40 ounces.
Why someone would want to drink 40 ounces of something
that's not malt liquor in one sitting is beyond me,
but if you want 40 ounces of soda, good Lord,
Subway has you covered.
I, of course, am curious to see
if there actually is 40 ounces in this drink.
Full "Food Wars" transparency,
I did have to fill up my own fountain drink.
Let's be honest.
Can we agree that if you had to get your own drink,
fill it up to go, you would probably get this much?
Now, keep in mind, the cap is recessed.
For everyone roasting me in the comments
for not filling it up enough,
like, you can only fill this thing up so much.
Oh, my God, not even close.
You know, I'm even gonna, like,
get the condensation on the cup in there
just to even, like, help tip the scales in their favor.
Right?
34?
6? You guys are ... [sighs].
Just say it's the 34-ounce cup. Or 35 ounces.
We're still gonna get it.
Still gonna get it.
Shame on you.
I saw that John Oliver episode.
Terrible, Subway. Shame on you.
What you're doing with the franchisees,
and what you're doing skimping on the sodas.
Here are all the Subway menu items from India
that you won't find in the US.
Here's all the Subway menu items
from the US you won't find in India.
Obviously, Subway lets you customize your sandwiches,
so we're not talking about
every single different combination.
We're just going on what is on the menu now.
Let's begin.
It's glorious.
This feels like a Subway buffet,
and I get to pick whatever I want.
First of all, the aloo patty.
This is basically potato which has been cut up into pieces
and then fried with breadcrumbs on top.
Mm.
This is not bad, but I think you can add
all the fancy sauces you want into this thing,
nothing will beat a humble Mumbai vada pav.
Corn and peas. That looks like a lot of mayo.
I don't think I shall ever order this sub.
This is a local legend, the hara bhara kebab sub.
This is the first thing a vegetarian will order
at an Indian restaurant,
because it's this delicious mishmash
of spices, vegetables, and potato,
fried, tangy, delicious.
Next up, we have a Mexican patty.
I would like to extend an apology
to all my Mexican brethren watching
that their great culture has been reduced
to a patty of aloo and beans.
Paneer tikka, beautiful pieces
of cottage cheese, as you call it.
Is it weird for me to bite a Subway
right through the middle?
Would that upset you?
It's nice.
I wouldn't go with this particular combination
of vegetables and sauces.
Also, I just want to point out there are literally
three pieces of paneer in here.
When I used to go to Subway in college,
I would make sure that they put in a lot of protein.
This is despicable.
Veg seekh kebab.
Seekh kebab, typically, is minced meat
that's sort of pressed onto a skewer and then grilled.
But this is a veg version.
It has a lot of different mixed vegetables and potato.
Mm!
That's pretty yummy.
I love the onions. The sauce combination is great.
And the seekh kebab itself, lot of flavor.
Next up, we have the vegetarian shammi kebab.
As you can see, they're nice round little balls.
Shammi kebabs are from Lucknow here in India.
They have a very crispy exterior
and a delicious melt-in-your-mouth interior.
They're typically minced meat,
but this is a vegetarian version.
Let me try this.
Mm.
Oh!
Best one so far.
♪ I'm so full ♪
Next up, chatpata chana Subway.
What a fun name.
Chatpata means full of masala,
zingy flavor, really delicious.
Chana is lentils.
It looks kind of like a dirty diaper,
but I assure you this is going to be absolutely delicious.
Oh, yeah.
That's pretty good.
Now we're on to the nonvegetarian subs,
starting with this one, the Indian chicken tikka.
Looks pretty good.
I just took a mouthful, and there was absolutely no chicken.
Every bite should have a bit of everything.
Chicken kofta.
Kofta is basically meatballs,
and this is chicken-flavored.
You can see the meatballs right there.
Whoa, that's actually really good.
Whoever picked the sauces on this one,
this is the way.
Barbecue, sweet onion, bit of ranch,
a bit of mint mayo.
This is the best sub out of all of them.
I actually think it's the combination of sauces
that makes the sub what it is.
It's leaking flavor.
Peri-peri chicken.
Ever since McDonald's released peri-peri fries
here in India,
there has been a peri-peri revolution over here.
A peri-perevolution, as I like to call it.
Lot of chicken, lot of meat, not a lot of veggies.
What happened here?
Some olives would've been nice.
And finally, this rejected Subway over here
is tandoori tofu, which I refuse to eat on principle
because we also have paneer over here.
It looks pretty much the same, and I'm sure it tastes great.
You know what I realized?
Subways opened up like this
don't really look all that great on camera, do they?
Oh, my God.
This looks like somebody's organs.
US-exclusive sandwiches.
You know what they say?
Greatness is in the agency of others?
Well, I'm here to say greatness is in the agency
of other sandwiches.
I've tried almost none of these.
Starting over down here,
we have something called the mozza meat.
Let's take a look at this, Yuelei.
Oh, I don't think I've ever seen this before.
Look, they even got the little, like,
the fresh mutzarel.
Has what looks to be all the Italian meats.
Oh, by the way, unless otherwise important to the sandwich,
I got everything with lettuce, tomato, and onion
and no sauce unless it includes a sauce. So.
Some mercy on the people who had to wake up
two hours earlier to make these sandwiches.
It's just like, yeah, just put the same junk on all of them.
Moving on.
Supreme meats.
Oh, yeah. This is up my alley.
Salami, the other salami, ham. No turkey though, huh?
Is this capocollo? What is this? Provolone cheese.
This is something that I would probably get at Subway.
The Baja turkey avocado.
Gonna open it up for you here.
Turkey. Oh, yeah, hey, they were generous
with the avocado I think, right?
Going right in the middle.
No big deal.
Moving on.
Honey mustard rotisserie-style chicken.
Oh, yeah.
I like the flavor of that better than the regular chicken.
The all-American club.
Ham, turkey, bacon.
The Baja chicken and bacon.
It was, like, weak.
Even the bacon doesn't have a lot of flavor.
Let's get into the steak.
Baja steak and Jack cheese.
Black Forest ham.
Buffalo chicken.
Oh, yeah, look at that.
Wow, they were generous with the Buffalo sauce.
Chicken bacon ranch.
What does it say if the strongest flavor in this
is the tomatoes?
You guys don't have the cold-cut combo?
That looks like bologna.
Then we have this next one.
Whoa!
The meatball, right?
India, I assure you, this tastes way better than it looks.
Roast beef is, you guessed it, roast --
oh, God, that turned the bread pink. Is that normal?
Ooh, spicy Italian. A favorite of mine.
Two salamis, both spicy.
You know, just like in Italy.
The turkey Cali fresh.
I think when something's a Cali sandwich,
the Cali means bacon and avocado.
The steak Cali fresh,
which has, let me guess, bacon and avocado?
No.
Ah, there's the bacon.
So, unless I got COVID in the past five minutes,
the food at Subway has seemingly become incredibly bland.
Steak and cheese.
[laughs] These steak sandwiches are like bricks.
Look at this. Oh, Yuelei!
Yeesh.
Now, there are some sandwiches which appear on both menus
but have little differences when it comes to ingredients.
For instance, our Subway club comes with turkey,
ham, and bacon, and our Italian BMT has ham.
In India, our Subway club actually has turkey, lamb,
and chicken slices, and our BMT does not contain bacon.
This is because most fast-food outlets here
don't serve ham or beef
because it'll hurt the religious sentiments
of Hindus and Muslims.
In addition to our sandwich fillings,
we also have some differences in our bread options.
We have honey oat multigrain,
we have roasted garlic,
and Parmesan oregano Italian white bread,
but this looks oddly similar
to the American Italian cheese and herbs.
Is it the same thing, Joe?
Let me know.
No.
Here's the exclusive US bread options at Subway.
Cheddar jalapeño bread, gluten-free bread,
tomato basil wrap, and hero bread.
In both the US and India, you can get any sandwich
as a wrap or in a salad bowl.
Other US-exclusive option is the melt.
I wasn't going to get every single melt.
The list goes as follows.
Baja chicken and bacon melt, chicken and bacon ranch melt,
Baja steak and Jack melt, Buffalo chicken melt,
ham and cheese melt, Italian BMT melt,
meatball marinara melt, oven-roasted turkey melt,
spiced Italian melt, steak and cheese melt, and tuna melt.
I went ahead and got two,
steak melt, and, which one is --
oh, brother, the tuna melt.
Oh, God. It looks like cat food.
[whimpers]
All right, I definitely don't have COVID,
'cause I tasted that.
I need a steak-and-cheese-melt palate cleanser after that.
Uh-huh. Mm!
Now we're talking.
Here are our breakfast-sandwich options.
We have egg and cheese,
chicken slice, egg, and cheese,
and Western egg and cheese.
I am very curious to know what makes this Western.
Mm.
I can see how this would be a Western option.
Nice, bland, easy on the palate.
Let me tell you something about India, all right?
If you flavor something that we are buying
at a restaurant with just salt and pepper,
we call that a rip-off.
At least 10 spices.
For some inconceivable reason,
you can get their breakfast sandwiches
foot-long flatbreads.
Oh, good God. This, and they're so greasy.
[groans]
Egg and cheese.
Oh, look how terrible this looks.
[laughs] Ah, oh, no!
Where's the cheese? And, what?
Oh, come on, man.
Absolutely not.
This really is a bummer.
Oh, my God.
[squelching] Oh, did you hear that?
I mean, these eggs, are you kidding me with this?
What?
I couldn't imagine eating a whole one of these for breakfast
without going directly back to bed.
There's a Black Forest ham, egg, and cheese.
Oh, God.
And now let's never speak of those breakfasts ever again.
We have some exclusive Subway toppings here
in the US you cannot get in India, such as spinach,
banana peppers [groans],
and Monterey cheddar cheese.
According to the Subway website,
in certain parts of the country you can also get avocado,
carrot, guacamole, sweet peppers, feta cheese,
Pepper Jack cheese, provolone cheese, Swiss cheese.
Here in India, unfortunately,
all the toppings we have are also available in the US.
Dammit, Subway. Are we not special enough?
Guys, let Subway know in the comments
what special toppings we should have here in India.
However, we do have our own exclusive sauces.
Sauce talk.
Starting with mint mayo, which is absolutely a banger,
and the entire world needs to taste this.
Tandoori mayo, which we end up using
because we overuse the mint mayo.
This balances it out.
And, finally, red chili sauce.
I've also never heard of mint mayonnaise,
and that sounds incredible, actually.
So, in the US, we have a few of our own exclusive sauces,
such as ranch, oil,
Subway vinaigrette, and plain mustard.
You guys have honey mustard like us,
but not plain mustard.
And in certain locations around the country
you can also get Buffalo sauce, creamy Italian sauce,
golden Italian sauce, savory Caesar, Sriracha,
and, uh-oh.
Taziki cucumber. [buzzer rings]
Taziki, or just, is the T silent? Ziki.
Tzatziki cucumber.
In my defense, I am incredibly nauseous.
What if we took all of the US-exclusive items
and put them in one sandwich?
Well, this time we're not going to, and thank you.
We actually made an effort
to make an edible US-only sandwich.
What we have is a steak sub, cheddar jalapeño bread,
with spinach, banana peppers, Monterey Jack cheese,
ranch, and mustard.
Hm.
This all works well together,
except the mustard stands out,
which is kind of a, mm, could do without it.
And the spinach is fine. I don't taste the spinach.
Guess it wouldn't kill me to get some green in here.
Now, what about an India-only sub?
Here is one with the roast garlic bread,
tandoori chicken tikka,
mint mayo, tandoori mayo, and red chili sauce.
Mm.
I'm really feeling the lack
of exclusive toppings here, Subway.
This is just meat dripping in sauce.
Make India-exclusive toppings happen right now, Subway.
This is the "Eat Pray Love" version of a sub,
in the sense that it makes sense
to everybody else in the world except Indians.
Moving away from subs, our snack section will tell you
that we have a pepperoni toastie and a veggie toastie.
Unfortunately, at the time that we ordered,
it was not available.
I have tasted them before, though,
and the pepperoni one is pretty yummy.
Subway has potato chips, of course,
and these are some US exclusives, starting on this end.
SunChips cheddar harvest.
SunChips and Subway have always had a really good alliance.
Good for them.
My favorite, Miss Vickie's. The jalapeño chips.
These things are so good.
You can also get the Miss Vickie's
lime and cracked pepper chips.
The one I went to didn't have them.
This I can't believe.
You guys don't have the nacho cheese Doritos?
I mean, this is, like, the most popular chip, right?
And last, Lay's baked.
And also, kids can get a pouch of applesauce.
I'm assuming adults can get it too,
but they're technically for kids.
In India, Subway's chip options are a lot more limited,
and they vary from store to store.
The one we visited had a variety of flavors
in Cornitos, which are basically nacho chips, and Lay's.
And they had my personal favorite Lay's flavor,
West Indies hot and chili.
But the crew has informed me that they will not roll further
if I don't give a shout-out to India's Magic Masala.
Our Subway cookies have one exclusive flavor,
and that is this, the raspberry cheesecake.
This is so good.
I don't know how they do it.
We sort of have an exclusive here in India.
In the US, you can get a chocolate chip cookie,
but here you can get dark chocolate chunk cookie,
or, if you really want to join the dark side,
a double dark chocolate cookie.
Here at the Subway in the US,
Coca-Cola rules everything around me.
We got a lot of Coke products here.
I put these in order of
which one I would probably want to have with a sandwich.
Coke.
Diet Coke. Not a big diet guy, but it's like,
eh, with the calories.
Next is Sprite.
I mean, who doesn't love Sprite? It's a little strong.
I don't know if it goes well with a sandwich, but why not?
Then we move on to the Simply drinks.
You got yourself Simply lemonade.
Who doesn't like lemonade, right?
Simply orange juice. I feel like this is more
for the breakfast sandwiches, right?
I mean, OJ after 11 a.m. seems kind of strange to me.
And then this apple juice.
If you want to have an energy drink with your sandwich,
Vitaminwater XXX.
And then Gatorade. Gatorade?
Yeah, I mean, I like Gatorade, but,
I mean, it doesn't pair with food at all.
Last but not least, all-natural-energy green tea,
hydrated coconut water, antioxidants,
electrolytes, with ribose.
Let's find out.
Whoa, that's terrible.
This one smells like BO.
Here in India, Subway's actually partnered with PepsiCo.
So instead of Coca-Cola products,
you can get things like Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Pepsi Black,
Mirinda, Tropicana orange juice,
and Aquavista water.
"From the makers of Aquafina."
That's so complicated. Why?
It's like a movie title at this point.
Which country is getting a better deal on its subs?
Let's compare a foot-long turkey sub in both.
In the US, this will cost you $8.99.
In India, ordering a foot-long turkey club sandwich
on Zomato, one of our food-delivery apps,
will cost you 476.19 rupees.
That's around $6.27 right now.
And while that's 30% cheaper than the US sub,
it's still pretty expensive for the average Indian.
For context, in under $7,
you can feed an entire family of four,
and you're going to get a very delicious, hearty meal
in most restaurants over here.
Now, to play devil's advocate,
the Subway near my college back in the day
had a crazy deal going on
where they gave us a 6-inch sub, a cookie,
and a drink of our choice in under $2,
and we used to eat lunch there nearly every single day.
So, I guess, from store to store there are different offers,
and Subway is and can be kind of affordable.
Subway prices have been a contentious issue
in America for a long time.
A franchisee named Stuart Frankel invented the $5 foot-long
back in 2003, which hit the mainstream in 2008.
Cheaper labor and food costs combined with an increase
in foot traffic meant the promotion was actually
a huge earner for Subway.
Sadly, it didn't last,
and the deal was phased out around 2012.
When Subway tried to bring it back in 2017,
it was met with uproar from many franchisees
who said it was impossible
to make a profit from the promotion.
The same thing happened again in 2020
when Subway tried to push a $10-for-two-foot-longs deal,
which was killed after two weeks.
Which country's Subway is the most unhealthy?
Let's start with a foot-long turkey sub
on whole-grain bread with lettuce,
tomato, onion, peppers, and cucumbers.
In the US, this sandwich contains 520 calories,
6 grams of total fat, 2 grams of saturated fat,
78 grams of carbs, of which 12 are sugars,
and 1,580 milligrams of sodium.
In India, the nutritional information
for this same sandwich is 586 calories,
6 grams of total fat, 4 grams of saturated fat,
94 grams of carbs, of which 8 grams are sugars,
and 1,362 milligrams of sodium.
When you break food down like this, it sounds pretty scary.
So, the US sandwich has more sugar
and more sodium than the Indian version,
but they have the same total fat content.
I don't know what to take from that.
But the Indian version has more calories, saturated fats,
and carbohydrates than the US version.
My theory is because we have that extra inch.
What's the most calorific thing on the US menu?
Currently, it's a foot-long Cali fresh steak sub
with smashed avocado. On whole Italian bread,
one of these is a hefty 1,220 calories.
There is also 68 grams of fat in there,
87% of your daily allowance,
as well as 2,380 milligrams of sodium,
over 100% of your daily allowance.
The most calorific thing on the Indian Subway menu
is this: paneer tikka sub,
foot-long, whole-wheat bread with standard salad.
It's a whopping 820 calories.
Now, this is less calorific than the American Cali steak sub
and contains significantly less fat,
at just 41% of your recommended daily intake.
The main thing to watch out for, however,
is the saturated fat.
There's 16 grams of it in here,
which is 80% of your recommended daily intake.
Oh, saturated fats, you sly dog.
I didn't know that would happen, but ...
there you go! Subway.