What better way to cap off a day of beer and burgers than to put down a massive, heaping pile of corned beef, sandwiched between two slices of rye bread? This baby was so excellent that it almost made me forget that I dropped nearly $20 for it. Check out what half of a sandwich looks like from the famous (but moved) 2nd Avenue Deli (on 1st Avenue, UES):
2ND AVENUE DELI
442 1st Ave.
New York, NY 10021
This little spot is currently my new favorite Vietnamese food joint. It’s nice and clean inside, new-looking, and the food is really tasty. My wife and I tried a few items as a base level test run to decide if we would come back.
The pho: very flavorful, a good size, fresh ingredients. In fact they keep a jar of sliced jalapeños right there on the table next to the chopsticks, spoons, napkins, hoisin and sri racha.
The banh mi sandwich: nice and traditional, great bread, lots of filling and at least a foot long.
Next, one of my wife’s favorites: banh cuon. Really good quality shit here. Nicely cooked noodles, ample filling inside, and good slices meats and herbs.
Last was my noodle dish that had cut up spring rolls and sliced lemongrass BBQ pork chop on top. Simple and delicious.
We will definitely be coming back for more. Sit tight until then, when I can supplement the review with more deliciousness.
Okay so here’s the update as of 2/7/15:
Unfortunately this trip was not as good as the last. The avocado shake was less avocado-et, the banh cuon had grainy noodles.
The other two dishes we ordered contained meat that was a bit chewy.
I grabbed the bun bo hue, wanting to sample the more authentic flavors of this dish as opposed to the more fusion style of Obao.
For $7.50 you get a shitload of food. The bowl is huge:
The unfortunate thing about my order, however, was that the noodles were too soft (perhaps overcooked) and most of the meat was very chewy. For a stewed type dish I was hopping for softer meats.
I had the same issue with the pork casserole, or clay pot pork. The meat was pretty chewy, but the flavor was good.
Egg rolls are decent.
The avocado shake was not as sweet or rich/flavorful as other times I’ve had it:
But my wife had a decent cup of Vietnamese coffee:
PHO VIETNAM
87 Chrystie St.
New York, NY 10002
NOTE: THIS JOINT IS NOW CLOSED
My wife and I came to this joint to try some of the Vietnamese basics. We started with some drinks. I had “33,” which is a beer from Vietnam, and my wife had a lemonade mixed drink.
The first staple item to order is the spring rolls. These were not a hit for us. They were a little bland.
Next, the banh mi sandwich. This had good flavor, but the bread was all wrong (it needs to be a French baguette), and it needed more pate and another layer of meats to really fill it out. I would have liked some more slices of jalepenos and also less cilantro stems and more leaves.
The next big item to get is the pho. I liked the broth. It needed just a slight more oomph, but otherwise it was pretty enjoyable. It had sliced eye round as well as brisket. I added beef balls for an extra $2.
This next items isn’t necessarily a staple item to order, but my wife and I are fond of clay pot dishes. We got the pork belly version and it was really great. It was packed with lots of great porky and fatty meat, a boiled egg, fried tofu, squash and lemongrass.
For dessert we had the coconut lemongrass ice cream. It was a little gummy in texture, but otherwise was an interesting flavor.
Here’s the Willy:
COBA 53
401 W. 53rd St.
New York, NY 10019
My wife and I stopped in here for some banh mi sandwiches after eating some pizza at Motorino around the corner. We tried a classic sandwich, and a pho sandwich (sliced beef and the toppings you usually get with pho, like bean sprouts, etc). Both were pretty good, but I think I liked the pho sandwich better. Both were pretty spicy without having to ask for it, which I like. Check out the pics:
SAO MAI
203 1st Ave.
New York, NY 10003
Stopped off in this place to test out their banh mi sandwich – classic style, of course. The bread was toasty and warm, and the veggies and herbs were all nice and fresh. Not my favorite, but it was okay for a much needed fix.
The pho here is pretty good as well. Nice robust flavor. I’ve had better for cheaper, but the quality of the ingredients here seemed to be a little better.
HANOI VIETNAMESE KITCHEN
448 9th St.
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Walked past this little banh mi and pho shop on the way home from Talde and picked up a classic style sandwich to try. It was a little pricey for the size, but it was tasty nonetheless. I’ve had better at other places, but this place is okay if you’r win a bind and need a Vietnamese banh mi fix. Here it is:
HANCO
134 Smith St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
This little place makes some really great sang-witches. One day my wife and I went over there and picked up five different selections and brought them over to my parents so we could all try.
We tried the Louisiana Lightning (grilled cajun chicken with lettuce, tomato, onion and spicy stealth sauce), the Reuben (my favorite of them all), the Stealth (roast pork with lettuce tomato onion and stealth sauce), the Philly Cheesesteak, and the Big Steer (essentially a cheeseburger sandwich). All were excellent, but the Reuben really stole the show, with the Big Steer and Louisiana Lightning coming in close behind. Perhaps the Super Steak would have been the better choice than the regular Philly, as it comes on toasted garlic bread!
Louisiana Lightning:
Philly Cheesesteak:
Reuben:
Big Steer:
Stealth:
TJ’S HERO SHOP
524 Mastic Rd.
Mastic Beach, NY 11951
I figured I’d share this nice recipe for those who are celebrating all things pride-related.
This sandwich is very easy, really.
L is for lettuce
G is for gruyere cheese
B is for bacon (of course)
T is for tomato
I used some whole wheat wraps we had laying around that I wanted to use before the move back to NYC. Add some sliced onions and mushrooms, cracked black pepper, and a little mayo or mustard to round it off, and you’ve got a queerly tasty sandwich. Get it? KNEE-SLAP!
I whipped this bitch up after a surprise trip to the Mosner family meat processing plant for a tour and butchery class. Check out my write-up of that shit HERE.
Once we got home, I was itching to try some of what we just worked on, so I took the stew meat scraps and threw them into the slow cooker with some apple shit and some spice shit.
I set it on low and slow. Four hours later the result was amazing. My wife and I threw it onto a sandwich with some pickled cabbage and a spicy mayo. Check out the recipe below assholes:
What you need:
THE MEAT
1) Mix the apple sauce, apple brandy, and apple sparkling water to use as a braising liquid base. Add to the slow cooker.
2) Drop your stew meat into the slow cooker.
3) Add salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, cloves, cinnamon, garlic, and onion into the slow cooker.
4) Set slow cooker to 4 hours on LOW. Mix that shit around every so often while it’s going.
5) When finished, pull out of the liquid and cut the meat into manageable chunks for a sandwich.
NOTE: This meat is going to come out sweet if you go light on the spice, so what I did below was create some extras to balance the sweet with a little kick of spice. Be a man – do it.
THE TOPPING
1) Get some tupperware and put the carrots, cabbage and white vinegar into it.
2) Add some spices as you see fit.
3) Let that shit sit and soak until it’s party time.
THE DRESSING
1) Add habanero sauce or sri racha sauce to mayo as you see fit.
2) Mix.
NOTE: if you have the ability, like my wife did, then you should make your own mayo from fucking scratch. How? Whisk together 1 egg yolk, a little blob of dijon mustard, a little white vinegar, a pinch of salt, a little olive oil, and a squirt of lemon juice until it becomes like a nice aioli. That shit will have a little zing of acid to cut the sweetness and spice of the other sandwich elements.
PUT ALL THAT FUCKING SHIT TOGETHER
1) Toast your bread to your liking.
2) Assemble the sandwich by first dressing each side of the bread with the mayo/aioli.
3) Add your meat and some of the pickled veggie topping. Here’s where you throw on some of those sliced jalapenos.
4) Eat that shit.
I grew up eating some classic Italian peasant food; recipes that were handed down from the old country to the new country. One such dish was escarole and beans. My mom used to make it so that it was like a porridge or thick soup. I thought: maybe I could make it less watery and throw it onto a sandwich with some braised pork. Below is what I came up with. I call it the Italian peasant sandwich.
What you need:
Step 1: Sear the pork quickly in olive oil after coating all sides with salt & pepper. This will lock in the pork’s juices when it braises. LEAVE THE PAN DIRTY – you will utilize that porky brown goodness in a later step.
Step 2: Place pork into slow cooker with 2 cloves crushed garlic and wine, just enough to cover the meat. Maybe half to 3/4 of a bottle. Add salt, pepper, fresh chilis (cut into halves or thirds), onion powder, onion flakes, crushed red pepper, and rosemary. Set to cook 3 hours on high.
Step 3: Rinse your escarole to get all the fucking sand off. This green leaf is more “Sandy” than a chick with no arms and legs on a beach. Dry the leaves after rinsing.
Step 4: Sautee the escarole with olive oil and 3 crushed garlic cloves on medium heat, putting it right back into the pan you just used to sear the pork. Start with half the escarole, let it wilt a little, and then add the rest. Trust me it will all end up fitting into a normal large sized pan.
Step 5: Once the escarole is half wilted add the can of beans, plus the liquid in the can, and turn the stove to high. You want to boil off all the excess liquid while still retaining the flavor, infusing it into the leaves. Cook the liquid out, and add salt and pepper to taste as it finishes.
NOTE: As an alternative to adding the beans to the escarole in the traditional way, you could puree the beans into a spread, which you can then smear onto the bread.
Step 6: Pull the pork meat out of the slow cooker and pour the excess braising liquid into a wide sauce pan or a wide based pot.
Step 7: Add a tablespoon or two of unsalted butter to the sauce pan and reduce the braising liquid into a thickened sauce. While you wait, pull the pork meat apart with a pair of forks.
Step 8: Toast the sandwich bread and slice it open. Fill it with escarole and pork, and top it with crispy onions and the sauce made from the braising liquid.
Step 9: Eat, shit, repeat.
