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:

marinated white anchovies, with soft-cooked egg, roasted onions, salsa verde and frisee
The recipe is straightforward: soft-cook an egg, toss lettuce with oil and vinegar, toast bread, roast onions and make some salsa verde. Assemble and eat! This ‘wich was easy took cook, easy to eat and if you like salty anchovies, delicious to eat (of course if you don’t like salty anchovies, what in the world are you doing making this sandwich?). This is the kind of sandwich I’d never order out but is perfect for a lazy Sunday or if you want to impress a date on a weekday. The egg gives it nice richness, while the frisee and (of course) anchovies give it salt and vinegar. Yum.

We quickly realized that we cut our bread way too thick and after toasting it became a bit challenging to eat without shredding the insides of our mouths (a la captain crunch). The bread should be about a quarter to half an inch thick. The picture quality on these isn’t very good, but don’t let that keep you from closing your eyes, visualizing the sandwich sitting there on the plate, no one’s around, go right ahead, take a little bite, one little bite won’t be noticed, you walk up and can already smell the vinegar and oil, a look over your shoulder, no one’s around, you raise it to your mouth and …

Open:

Constructed:

Constructed, again:

Back to the Herring! It’s served filleted with some chopped onions, boring pickles and a little mayonnaise in a soft hot-dog bun. It’s cold and a bit mushy, but has a refreshing freshness and bite from the onions and pickles that it’s a pleasure to eat. It also helps that it’s incredibly soft and I could probably eat it without teeth. I had one and a half before getting a little grossed out at the lack of texture variation. It’s definitely worth trying, but not something that I’m clamoring for more of. Then again, I’d love to try the same thing made with tuna or salmon…

See the softness?:

It’s soft and fresh from the dryer:

Softness exposed!

Come Closer, Closer…

This morsel is gravlax with capers, crème fraiche and a greens on a ciabatta roll (5.5 Euros). It was delicious. While I could do without the annoying inclusion of those frizzy greens on top, the capers, creme fraiche and gravlox created a beautiful, smooth symphony of happy. The gravlox was tender and fresh, the creme fraiche was smooth and wasn’t heavy at all. All told, it was one ‘wich I’d love to repeat for lunch, oh, about 6 days a week.

And for 5.50 Euros? Hell, for 5.50 Euros, this is a ‘wich that everyone can appreciate 6 days a week!

Eater-Vision:

Bird-Vision:

Mini-Eater-Vision: