Simply Sandwiches » brooklyn

City Sub is Simple, Sublime

Ben — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:46:48 +0000

City Sub (450 Bergen S, Brooklyn, no website, menu here) is so simple and unassuming you almost ignore it. Almost. It’s open mostly for lunch starting at 11am and closes whenever they run out of bread. The whole place is basically a refrigerator for meats and cheese, a few toaster ovens, and a counter for prep. Every time I’ve been, the line is nearly out the door and everyone is standing in silence watching the sandwiches get made. The menu is available in a little brochure as usual, but it’s also plastered on the back wall, each item numbered from 1 to 30 or so.

It is all rather unassuming, which is certainly part of the charm, you don’t expect the crunchy-on-the-outside-and-chewy-on-the-inside bread to be that good. You don’t expect the toppings to be that fresh, even though you just saw them added. It all comes together like a wonderful crescendo. Plus, it’s cheap!

I’m not going to bother going through each sandwich I’ve had there, they’ve all been fantastic.

Simple turkey with swiss

20. Capocollo, Prosciuttini, Pepper Jack Cheese* ($6.99)

Up close and personal

Smoke Joint Smoke’s ‘em

Ben — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:20:03 +0000

Went to Smoke Joint (87 South Elliott Place, Brooklyn, NY) and got some pulled pork and some chopped beef (both $7.50) sandwiches. Both were fantastic: succulent and flavorful. The bread did a great job holding the filling in and didn’t hide any of the meaty taste. Sides were tasty too, but who cares about them? Smoke joint is MUCH better than other NYC bbq joints I’ve tried (I’m looking at you Wildwood and RUB). Have a bourbon, some BBQ and relax the day away.

Simple sandwiches with wonderful ingredients:

Outside the beef:

Inside the beef:

No.7′s Magic Turkey Surprise

Ben — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:22:26 +0000

My trip to No. 7 (7 Greene Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn) was fun, strange and perplexing. It’s a classy west-village-esque restaurant in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The bar tops are marble and the lights are dim. More importantly, they serve some crazy sandwiches. Off the bar menu, we ordered both the fried cod sandwich and the cold turkey (which drastically needs a better name). The cold turkey was really something special while the cod was very confused.

It sounds incredibly boring on the menu, “Cold Turkey Sandwich: everything kaiser roll, fresh mozzarella, grilled eggplant” ($12). I was expecting drippy, dry mozzarella; ice cold, dry turkey and some sweet, grilled eggplant slices. What I got instead took me all night to unravel. The turkey tasted like the day after thanksgiving, the mozzarella was subtle and salty and the eggplant, oh the eggplant. What they left off the menu might as well be summarized with one word: “magic”. I have no idea how they did it, but they added these magic sauces to both sides of the kaiser that just makes the sandwich come alive. I think it was some kind of red-onion, mayonnaise and dill. This sandwich is incredibly complicated, though you’d never know by the lame billing. Go eat it and be amazed!

The fried cod wasn’t as exciting. The menu bills it as a textbook fried cod sandwich: “Fried Fish Sandwich: tartar sauce, shredded cabbage, potato roll. ($10)” Yawn. The sandwich was decent, but as you can see below, the fish was HUGE and the little roll seemed like a joke. Are they telling us to use a knife and fork? Why not give another roll? Or, gosh, find a roll that fits? Just like they left the “magic” off the menu, for the fish sandwich they left off one ingredient: sprouts. Yes, sprouts. After a few bites I realized it’s because they really don’t belong in the sandwich. The perfectly cooked fish would crumble and give beautifully, but those damn sprouts just wouldn’t let go. I had to pull on them with my hands, with all the grace I could muster — it was kinda gross. Much too gross for the classy digs. I guess they wanted to give it a ‘spin’ and it spun wrong.

I’d head back for that magic turkey and a nice glass of wine.

All the food was well prepared, but the cold turkey was a bit more complicated:

You can’t see the magic from here:

There it is, at the top and the bottom!

Gigantor-fish:

Delicious fish, evil sprouts: