I sure do love a good gimmick. And if it involves lists, even better! After seeing New York Magazine's list of the city's 101 best sandwiches, Alexa and I decided we needed to try every one of them. Will we actually do it? Probably not. But we shall certainly try.
These will mostly be brief reviews...for better descriptions read the actual list from NY Mag. We've tried a few of the sandwiches in the past, so I've lazily decided to grandfather them in. These include:
#1: Porchetta, Porchetta Sandwich
A delicious porchetta sandwich with some herbs and spices. Nothing complicated, but with some high quality pork. Best part is the crunchy skin pieces mixed in-these provided some good texture.
#2: The Meatball Shop, Pork Meatball Hero
A good but not great meatball sandwich. Points for the bread not being soggy and the spicy sauce, but otherwise nothing extraordinary.
#3: Katz's Deli, Pastrami Sandwich
A mountain of pastrami on two pieces of rye bread. Jewish meat sandwich incarnate.
New sandwiches we've done so far:
#4: Vanessa's Dumplings, Sesame Pancake with Beef
I live around the corner from this place, so I've enjoyed their insanely cheap and delicious food before. Their vegetable sesame pancake is a staple of my diet, but I had never tried it before with beef. Deli quality roast beef adds a lot to it, and for $2.50 is a great value.
#5: Sunny & Annie Deli, P.H.O. Real
An unassuming corner store in Alphabet City, this place serves some serious sandwiches. The P.H.O. Real is basically a roast beef sandwich with some veggies and some heat, but it is done really well. I'm usually not a huge fan of very spicy food, but this worked well. I'm excited to try some more of their constantly rotating sandwich options soon.
#6: Bark Hot Dogs, Crispy Pork Sandwich
It felt weird to get a sandwich at a hot dog place, but this selection was keeping in line with the basic idea of a hot dog. Case in point, when I bit into this concoction, I was greeted by pink meat and a squirt of grease onto my plate. The texture of the patty was a little weird, but there was a good balance of flavors, with some jalapeno peppers providing some needed crunch and kick.
#7: Russ and Daughters, Super Heebster
This is one of the oddest sandwiches on the list. On paper it sounded a little chaotic and intimidating, but in practice it worked just fine. The sandwich consisted of dill cream cheese, white fish salad, and wasabi-infused roe on a bagel, and yes I know, that sounds ridiculous. You're either someone who likes the crunch of fish eggs or someone who doesn't, and luckily I am the former. I don't know how, but all these tastes managed to go together really well, and made for a very satisfying breakfast option. Having said that (Curb reference!), Russ should invest in some better bagels, and the sandwich was actually upstaged by a second bagel we got, this one with vegetable cream cheese and baked salmon.
#8: Georgia's East Side BBQ, Fried Chicken Sandwich
This was a really solid sandwich. The chicken was incredibly moist, and the batter was tasty and not overly crispy. The pulled pork sandwich we got was kinda dry, though, and the service left a little to be desired.
#9: Fatty Crab, Tea Sandwiches
This was the first major disappointment we've experienced. To be fair, the tea sandwiches on the list were with pork, while these had lobster salad. Still, at $13 a pop, I would expect much more than a so-so tiny lobster sandwich on white bread. Luckily our main course of mussels saved the meal.
#10: 99 Miles to Philly, Cheesesteak
The second major disappointment. I should've known better though. Getting a cheesesteak outside of Philadelphia once you've had one there is never a good idea. It just never lives up to the quality you expect. This was no different. The meat was good, and there was the appropriate amount of grease, but they skimped on the whiz and produced yet another average NYC cheesesteak. And yes, I know I am a cheesesteak snob.
That's all I got for now. More to come as I consume more bread, meat, and veggies.
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