RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Tampa Sandwich Bar offers award-winning Cubanos in Apgujeong

A Tampa Cuban sandwich from Tampa Sandwich Bar, Oct. 29 / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

I made a mistake by not trying a Cuban sandwich until I got one from Tampa Sandwich Bar, sometime in 2021. Make that two mistakes: not having tried it sooner, and then when I did, getting it from the best possible place, ensuring that I'll never be satisfied with Cuban sandwiches from anywhere else.

Tampa began selling its award-winning sandwiches in October 2015 under the ownership of Kang Geun-min and Cho Hyun-min, neither of whom had ever set foot in the city of Tampa, the restaurant's namesake. The Cuban sandwich was popularized in the Florida city among Cuban immigrants living there.

Kang and Cho famously learned how to make the complex sandwich through YouTube videos, and amazingly, they became good enough at it to win awards. In 2017 they were invited to the International Cuban Sandwich Festival in — you guessed it — Tampa, where their sandwiches won the vote as Most Popular Sandwich. They repeated history in 2018, once again snapping up the award from among various Cuban sandwich makers from around the world, including those who had been making the sandwich for decades and for whom it was part of their heritage.

Tampa Sandwich Bar offers four signature Cubans: the Tampa Cuban Sandwich, the Miami, the Seoul and the Spicy Cuban Chicken Sandwich. All come with mojo (a name for a sauce) pork, ham, Swiss cheese and mustard. The bread is close enough to authentic Cuban bread that it fooled me. The differences between them seem to be that the Tampa has salami, while the Miami has pickles, and the Seoul has a Seoul special sauce instead of mustard. The Spicy Cuban Chicken has kimchi and mojo chicken. On most visits, I usually get the Seoul, which is the most expensive and thus presumably the best, but I am especially curious to try that chicken one. All of them are pressed and heated, and then sliced in half lengthwise. I haven't seen this done at any of the other restaurants serving Cuban sandwiches in Seoul, and it's next level: you end up with two sort of thin sticks of dense, tasty sandwich.

The exterior of Tampa Sandwich Bar in southern Seoul's Apgujeong, Oct. 29 / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

The menu has expanded over the years, with some offerings I don't recall from last time before the move. I remember the Ribs Sandwich being a deliciously messy pile of tender BBQ baby back ribs. The Macaroni and Cheese Sandwich I remember enjoying was no longer on the menu, although they still offer mac and cheese as a side. They now have a Philly Cheese Steak I don't remember from before, and a few other things, including a Mushroom Sandwich made with king oyster mushrooms that offers a vegetarian option (customers can request it be made vegan, without cheese). I also have a good feeling about their Chicken Fillet Sandwich and Fried Chicken Sandwich with Coleslaw. Another side that caught my attention was the Deep Fried Oreos, which I was not brave enough to try.

When Tampa closed down its location in western Seoul's heavily gentrified Yeonnam-dong in 2022, I thought that was it. But somehow I missed the news that it was reopening in Apgujeong-dong in southern Seoul's affluent Gangnam District. After a friend's social media post reminded me of it, I crossed the river right after work, searching for Tampa's new location among the area's many, many plastic surgery clinics.

The interior of Tampa Sandwich Bar's Apgujeong location is much larger than its previous location in Yeonnam-dong, July 24. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

The new restaurant is spacious, with the large, open kitchen alone probably bigger than the previous place. Seating ranges between diner-style chairs and comfortable couches. On display is a copy of the Tampa Bay Times from May 28, 2016, which contains a front-page article about the opening of Tampa Sandwich Bar. It makes me feel sorry we couldn't put this article on the front page.

Coverage of Tampa Sandwich Bar in Tampa Bay Times on May 28, 2016, is displayed at the restaurant in southern Seoul's Apgujeong, July 24. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

It's a long trip for me to make, but I'll have to return several times to get through the menu.

Tampa Sandwich Bar is open Tuesdays to Saturdays, from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., with a break from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Follow @tampa_sandwichbar on Instagram.