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  • 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.

Joe: From calorie count to portion sizes,

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