Fall River-Style Chow Mein Sandwich vs. Salem-Style Chop Suey Sandwich

A few weeks ago, we told you that there was a North Shore counterpart to Fall River’s beloved staple of cheap eats, the chow mein sandwich. In Salem, they serve up a similar sandwich but with chop suey instead of chow mein, and the place that made it famous permanently closed this past weekend.

While the chop suey sandwich – featuring bean sprouts and celery instead of noodles, and with a thick, clear soy gravy – may still live on at other restaurants, Witch City residents were very upset that they could no longer grab a chop suey sandwich in a paper cone from Salem Lowe.

However, we also told you that one Fairhaven Chinese spot offers both the chow mein and the chop suey sandwich, and even offers a sandwich that has a mixture of both. Naturally, we had to put the two sandwiches to the test to see which one reigned supreme.

Get our free mobile app

I ordered up one of each from Wah May in Fairhaven this afternoon, and took them back to the station. I then shot this little video of my first time experiencing the chop suey sandwich, and comparing it against the SouthCoast’s chow mein sandwich.

First, Way Mah has a great chow mein sandwich. I’d put it above most other places that offer it, so perhaps it wasn’t a fair fight right from the start. Yet something about the chop suey sandwich just seemed odd to me.

Now, of course, the idea of putting either of these Chinese dishes on a hamburger bun and calling it a sandwich is weird to begin with, but I felt like the bean sprouts and celery didn’t work with the bun as well as the chow mein noodles and bits of beef did with the other sandwich.

This taste test went overwhelmingly in favor of Fall River (and Fairhaven).

I polished off the chow mein sandwich for lunch, but I did put the chop suey sandwich in the fridge in the station kitchen to reheat tomorrow.

It may not have been the winner, but I’m not going to waste it.

By the way, if you want to try either sandwich for yourself, you can pick up a great deal for Wah May right now at SeizetheDeal.com.

Now I just have to get them to make me a St. Paul sandwich.