George's Sandwich Shop- Philly

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Calendars of bikini clad girls is a good sign for food

As much as I am interested in eating cheesesteaks in Philly, there are so many places that demand my attention and one of them is George’s Sandwich Shop. Located in the vicinity of the tourist trap Pat’s and Geno’s George’s Sandwich Shop is in the Italian Market. It can easily be missed and brushed off but that would be a mistake on your part. There are stools outside and a small counter inside. There are hotel pans filled with questionable meats, sausages and meatballs but breathe in deep and the aromas beckon you to get a sandwich here.

The classic meatball sub is a must here and simply adorns a crusty roll with a good amount of sauce. The meatballs are tender, light and addictive and the roll is crusty and soft. The sandwich is the complete opposite of dry, flooded is a better word to describe these sandwiches in which napkins are a requirement.

For those that enjoy offal, they have what I first had and then got another to go was their tripe sandwich. The tripe is stewed for god knows how long until it is tender but still posses the unmistakable taste of tripe, giving off that barnyard taste. Get this with onions, long hot peppers for a nice kick. This sandwich does not have much in structural integrity but it makes up in awesome flavor. The sauce/broth that is cooked in is smooth and almost creamy and with the tender tripe, this sandwich goes does easy and quickly.
If you are expecting Crapplebee’s like service, where everyone is chirpy, smiling, rainbows leaking out of their pores and cute animals are making a sandwich (health code violation no doubt) there is a Hard Rock Café in the Historic District you might enjoy. Like most sandwich places/deli/selling things on a roll, they are frank and to the point. By no means are they unprofessional or not providing adequate service but do not expect to them ask about your day or your hopes and dreams. Personally, I like these kinds of places which is probably why I loves places like Shopsins and such.


George's Sandwich Shop
900 S 9th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147

Prince Katsu: Taiwan

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Does Prince Katsu share any lineage with Burger King?

I remember when this place first opened in the Breeze Center back when I came to Taiwan in like the 9th grade. The lines for this little Katsu place was ridiculous. It was like the line to Space Mountain, there was those stupid barriers and every few feet, there was a sign telling you how long you have to wait.

Thankfully, the lines have easily died down and there is not longer retarded waits for a sandwich. I have despite my Asian heritage, I have a very low tolerance and impatience for lines. Shake Shack is the closest I will make an exception, and even then, 10 minutes is about my wait time tolerance.

Prince Katsu I would suspect do great in the US because it revolves around all things fried and then stuffed into a sandwich. The most popular is the tonkatsu, the pork one and after so many years of not eating here, I wanted to see if things have changed and if it was still good.

The sandwich is a neat little package and almost reminds me of eating a cafeteria style sandwich, in its uniformed and modular appearance. The tonkatsu is still tasty and juicy and not greasy, a sign of a true master of the fried arts. The cabbage is crisp and crunchy and the addition of raw onions give it a nice spicy zing. Though people moved on to line up for newer things, Prince Katsu holds its own and still produces a tasty sandwich. This by the way, like most fried foods would most definitely, be great late night drunk food. Prince Katsu, look into this, you can thank me later for this idea with payment of a tasty sandwich or two.

Cheeky Sandwiches: Where I go after watching Treme

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Zapps chips are vastly superior to any chips I have had to date

I'm pretty sure Tom Sawyer painted that fence...

I finally finished watching the first season of Treme which is all about New Orleans and after watching it two things occurred to me:

1.       Steve Zahn can actually be a good actor

2.       I really, really wanted a po’ boy bad

Now what is a po’ boy one may ask? It is a sandwich from Louisiana that is comprised of roasted meats but more popularly with fried seafood, predominantly oysters or shrimp but fish as well. It is served on a sub/French Baguette. It is basically a sub/submarine/grinder/hoagie from Louisiana. Thankfully, as much as I want too, I do not need to buy a ticket to New Orleans to get a decent po boy, all I have to do is go to Chinatown, yes Chinatown to Cheeky to get myself a taste of New Orleans. 

Cheeky quietly opened about a year, but it has gaining momentum and building there Street Credentials at guest appearances at various markets and fairs and now have a location at the DeKalb market. If the décor is suppose to set the mood, then Cheeky has nailed it with the whitewashed wooden window shutters and aged wood that looked like it had its share of rough weather (totally natural, because Chinatown is known to get hit by coastal storms and wetland climate). Inside is no different from the outside with wobbly, narrow benches and weathered counters gets transports you to thinking you are in the South and at Domilise's or maybe a Brooklyn hipster hangout. Despite the way it looks, it is the food that matters and the food at Cheekys is worth the risk of a splinter.

Cheeky is a sandwich shop and I heard that they make a gut bomb biscuit and a tasty short rib sandwich but I was there to satisfy my po’ boy craving. I got the half and half, half the sandwich had oysters and the other half shrimp. The po’ boys are made to order, meaning they are cooking the oysters and shrimp for each sandwich and although it takes some time and be a wait when it gets busy, it is well worth it. The sandwich is simply dressed with mayonnaise, ketchup, lettuce and tomato. The bread I confirmed is flown in from John Gendusa Bakery all the way from Louisiana in order to get the right kind of bread for the po’ boy. The po’ boy was in short, delicious; the fried to ordered oysters had a great cornmeal coat and were still plump and juicy. 

The only thing that could have made this even better is a couple dashes of hot sauce, Crystals or course. The bread is the perfect match and I can see why Cheeky has their bread flown in, sure you can get a stellar baguette from Grandaisy but it would not be the same. The bread on first impressions seems like it is stale, but then you realize that the roll is just remarkably light and airy and has a certain crispiness to it that the fried seafood sits comfortably on. The bread is another example of “Terroir” and I am pretty sure you cannot mimic this kind of bread anywhere else. Cheeky may not be much to look at from the outside, but the food here is filling and good and I have to come back for their beignets and that chicken biscuit a combination that sounds like a perfect breakfast to me!

Cheeky Sandwiches

35 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002

cheekysandwiches.com

Seeking out a Vada Pav at Desi Gallery

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Food taste better while driving

Who knew that about ½ hour from where I grew up was a little Mumbai? Well more like a little Bombay because it was still Bombay in the 1990s. Iselin, New Jersey is home to a predominantly Indian community. Oak Tree Road is the main strip is littered with various Indian businesses and food related stores. Driving from one end of Oak Tree Road to the other you are transported, in which you see stores supermarkets and pizza joints, typical to any place in Jersey but then suddenly you are transported and the Shoprites and pizza joints are transformed into Patel Cash and Carry and a Kati roll shop. Until recently, I have never been in this area and coming here I always find new places to explore and by explore, I mean eat. 

Vada Pav

In the recent April issue of Saveur, the theme of the issue was sandwiches and one sandwich that caught my attention/belly was one called a vada pav. Now I am a big fan of sandwiches. I mean first off, a sandwich is composed of bread and I am a carbo-whore and pretty much anything can be shoved in between bread and taste great. I mean, growing up and up until high school, I had the same lunch everyday: a turkey sandwich. It was not a Wonderbread turkey sandwich though, it was very specific, and first off the turkey was generally what was on sale and the cheapest so it was Butterball turkey for me. Bread was mainly the square loaf breads from the Asian grocery store bakery, which was bigger and heartier, on occasion Maria’s Italian loaf bread was used but Asian square loaf bread was the core. Mayonnaise always and the only condiment and was spread only on the one side. Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise was what we used for the majority of the time but Hellmans was the backup. Like all little kiddies, I did not necessarily enjoy having the same sandwich day in and day out. I also longed for the Wonderbread sandwiches my Caucasian friends ate but it was not until later in life, in college, I realized how much comfort that this sandwich brought to me as I would find myself recreating my classic turkey sandwich in college. If food is a universal language, then the sandwich is a dialect. Sandwiches are part of ever country or region, but like a local dialect, each has its own unique difference.

Vada Pav and Fig Milkshake

In this sandwich issue of Saveur, they featured the vada pav, which is a sandwich, a street food staple that is a potato fritter stuffed in a roll. Due to my ignorance, I have never thought of Indian cuisine having such a sandwich and thought that Kati rolls was the only sandwich that represented Indian cuisine. Naturally to correct my ignorance, I went in search of a vada pav. My search led me to the Desi Gallery which was like a mini-restaurant/food court/counter and I do not really know what to classify it as, I just know I can get food there. Inside there are 2 counters an ice cream counter and another counter that housed both Indian sweets and one or 2 dishes. However, they had a huge menu in the backdrop in which you could order pretty much any atypical Indian fare, once you get the attention of someone behind the counter. I was in luck in which there was a lunch special of the vada pav. 

Huge potato fritter

 The vada pav came exactly how I imaged it and is quite an impressive sandwich. My vada pav order came with 2 soft rolls, that was similar to a parker house roll and they were soft and pillow like a good old Martin potato bun. The rolls were barely able to contain the 2 potato fritters that looked like it had a case of elephantiasis; the rolls were barely able to contain the potato fritters which were not good for structural integrity but great for my hunger. The vegetable kingdom has very little representation in this sandwich and makes a brief appearance in the tamarind and cilantro chutney. All of this was topped off in a tangy hot sauce that was to an acceptable level of spiciness. By acceptable level it did make the mouth go a bit numb, but neither runny nose nor sweat was broken. I suspect that I only got profiled and only got “gringo” spicy and must specify the level of spiciness I want. The potato fritter had onions in it as well and the spice combination in it reminded me of the filling of a samosa. This is a heavily starchy sandwich, actually it is a starch sandwich but it is oh so good. The tamarind and cilantro chutney is a perfect spread on the sandwich bringing a sweet and sour level of depth to the sandwich. The high level of starch one would except dryness or a certain level of grease but this sandwich had neither and is another sandwich I was humbly disproven about my food knowledge of another culture. 

No Rocky Road Ice Cream here

 Given that I am always in the mood for ice cream, I had to get myself a milkshake here. Sure they had the usual suspects of vanilla, strawberry, chocolate but they had a couple other ones that are not on the Baskin Robbins menu such as figs, mango, dates and chikoo ice cream. I only noticed the chikoo ice cream after I ordered a fig milkshake which was very tasty but I asked to try a sample of the chikoo ice cream. According to the lady, she told me it was just a fruit grown in India. The ice cream had a bean-like taste to it, kind of like red bean with sweet potato. This is a horrible description but I am intrigued by this said fruit and will most likely add this to things to eat as I continue my food quest.

Desi Gallery

825 Us Highway 1 S.

Iselin, NJ 08830- 2634

No. 7 Subs

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Anything done General Tso's style will most likely taste great.

 I can't explain this. I only minored in Art History because I liked looking at pictures 

Walking into the Ace Hotel I felt like I was stepping into an episode of Gossip Girl…and I just realized I just openly admitted to watching Gossip Girl before. The lobby of the hotel is filled with no one above the age of 30 and just people hanging out and probably tweeting about their bbf Jill.

 Grade Pending? Oh the Suspense

Sorry for the rant but back on topic, as if I needed a reason to go visit the Ace Hotel which is home to The Spotted Pig and the John Dory it also has a great sub shop, No. 7 Sub. Sister shop of the No. 7 restaurant in Brooklyn, the No. 7 Sub is not the average turkey and cheese sandwich shop. They start of with general gourmet fillings like short ribs, eggplant parm and cilantro chicken fare that would not raise an eyebrow, but then they take you on a psychedelic acid trip and making combination like the Brussel Sprouts Reuben with swiss cheese, Russian Dressing, potato chips or the Brie with pickled blueberries, pistachios, chervil. It is like the sub shop equivalent of that weird dream in the Big Lebowski where you basically have no idea what is going on but you like it. No. 7 Subs is redefining the space between bread. 

Shopsins

The Bird may or may not be included in service. 

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Hot Sauce + Pancakes = good.

You either like Shopsins or you hate Shopsins or don't know what the hell it is. Shopsins is not for everyone. If you are expecting your needs to be constantly catered to and having a michy star experience dont come. Just don’t. save yourself the trouble, hell go write a bad review on Yelp. I personally don’t care because that means I should be able to get a table at Shopsins quicker.

If you do decide to come here, come prepared. Learn their unwritten rules that are written by someone on Yelp and look up the menu before you come here. If you think the menu at I don’t know, the Cheesecake Factory is overwhelming then this menu will most likely give you an aneurysm. My friend Conway, being smart let me, a food nerd/loser that already studied the menu (horary for work time productivity) and let me do all the ordering. I came prepared and like a good food nerd, briefed my dining compatriots on the rules and after a short wait we were seated. After we were seated and I placed our order, I felt pretty comfortable. Mind you, I was actually quiet nervous, actually the most nervous I have ever been to eat at a place. Reading reviews on yelp and countless posts on Chow, I did not want to get kicked out.