A Top Mt. Meat

canter's delicatessen, north fairfax avenue, los angeles

Another savor of Canters-
though not my own
my taste buds have licked this before.
pastrami curls like a little school girl
clothed in cheddar cheese,
her and Mr. Mustard stroll amidst
the french-bread rolling hills

la cubana

WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT

la piñata tortas y jugos, 21st and mission, san francisco

although right around the corner from where i live, i'd never actually ventured into this shop. and so today, after a long walk, i decided to grab a torta for dinner. "try the cubana" my friend dan advised me, unaware of the deadly potential of this sandwich. so i did. despite the fact i wasn't really all that hungry, and am trying to lose weight and save money... i ordered the sandwich described as "the mother of all tortas - a little of everything". i was not prepared.
this sandwich is a monster. this sandwich is the kind of thing you hear about hicks making at county fairs, when you think "who in their right mind could possibly eat something like that". this sandwich, if served in a chain restaurant, would prompt an outraged study about the caloric content and what that says about the health of the nation. when this sandwich arrived, it stared deep into my soul and asked me what kind of man i was. i had no answer.
THIS SANDWICH HAS A FRIED EGG ON IT. it also has "two cheeses, huevo milanes de res (egg breaded steak), grilled chicken, ham, a FREAKING HOT DOG, chorizo, and queso de puerco (head cheese. HEAD CHEESE)" in addition to the regular sandwich toppings like veggies and jalapeños. i am pretty sure this thing was served on a loaf of bread. it was larger than the hispanic children eating at a nearby table. the second half of it is sitting in my fridge, and i'm pretty sure i can hear it whispering to me in a forgotten tongue.
as far as the taste goes... what can i say? what do you expect an insane pile of meat on a loaf of bread to taste like? but i can say that the aftermath of this sandwich was intense feelings of guilt and spiritual anguish, as though i had offended the very laws of the universe by consuming this sandwich. i considered deleting this blog so that i would never have to admit to anyone that i ate this thing. for gods sake, save yourselves.

corned beef reuben

canter's delicatessen, north fairfax avenue, los angeles

this was the second visit to Canter's Delicatessen for me and JoJoJoJo. this deli is totally awesome- the menu has a billion items, and it all looks tempting. the owner's son was buddies with Slash, and they sell a book about the early days of GNR. I got the corned beef reuben, which I think is what I got last time. it was just as good as last time. the rye bread was buttered and grilled very nicely, crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside. I found it interesting that the 1,000 island dressing was served separately, which worked well- it was very creamy and tangy, and it wasn't necessary to add too much to the already flavorful sandwich. the sauerkraut was not terribly noticeable, and the ratio of meat-to-sauerkraut was more in favor of the meat than most reubens. but then, the corned beef was definitely the centerpiece of the sandwich. the creamy dressing, the bite of the sauerkraut, the buttered rye- all were merely window dressing for the delicious corned beef. it was fairly dry, as the meat on a reuben should be. and it had a delicious flavor, peppery and perhaps with a hint of cinnamon? I couldn't really figure it out, but that was my best guess.

grilled turkey & pesto chicken

literati cafe, wilshire boulevard, los angeles

the Literati Cafe is a cozy place, attached to a much fancier (and pricier) restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard. the walls are adorned with posters of famous counter-culture icons. and the sandwiches are quite good! both were served on ciabatta rolls, which were very soft and delicious. also, both were served with pesto- this seemed odd to me, as the chicken sandwich had pesto in the name, whereas the turkey sandwich did not. and also, the turkey had cheese (some sort of white cheese (JoJoJoJo says swiss)). but the biggest difference between the two was the meat. the chicken, to be honest, was not terribly flavorful and maybe undercooked. but the turkey was delicious! it was exceptionally moist, and served hot. the heat and intense flavor of the sandwich was nicely balanced by the caesar salad, although i wish i had eaten less of the salad.

grilled cheese

lord, this sandwich was so much more satisfying than the last one. originally I had planned for this to be grilled turkey and cheese with pesto, but I was still kind of angry at the turkey for letting me down earlier. so instead it was monterey jack on sourdough, with tomato and the last of that really fresh avocado I had started on earlier. a little pepper, splashes of crystal hot sauce and dipped in ketchup. ahhhhh yeah.

not to be deceived

although plain visually
the flavor tells otherwise:

extra sour rye,
and sweet peppered turk,
a beer n brat blend of
horseradish/mustard
(cleared up sinuses)
provolone, of course
mild and devine

nothing too fancy
everything pleasing.

turkey on sourdough

turkey, monterey jack, a really fresh avacodo, and pesto. i wish this tasted as good as i had hoped, but it ended up not being so great. the store bought turkey was pretty flavorless, as was the cheese, and the sourdough wasn't the best i've had. maybe a stronger tasting mustard (i used yellow) or more pesto would have helped. i think i'm going to go back later for a second serving, so i'll make some changes and see how it comes out.

blessed turkeyburger of bbq bliss

it's true,
two patties of dripping turkey
two pleasuring cheeses -
monterey jack slapped
above a sharp cheddar -
with rings of onion
thee wedded tastiness

kiss the bride ketchup, mustard...
the honeymoon is in my mouth.

the gaucho and the station 7

The Gaucho

Station 7
mr. pickle's sandwiches, 20th & south van ness, san francisco

Mr. Pickle's is one of the main reasons I wanted to start this blog. Although my enthusiasm for the shop has waned somewhat over the years that I have been eating there, I still enjoy one of their immense sandwiches every other week or so. Today JoJoJoJo and I had a rooftop picnic consisting of two of my favorite Mr. Pickle's sandwiches, the Gaucho and the Station 7. Mr. Pickle's has a strange menu; most of their sandwiches are actually pretty boring or unappetizing (The "Porky Pig": Ham, bacon, American cheese). But then at the very end of the menu are these two totally insane sandwiches. The Gaucho, served on sourdough roll, is chicken in Frank's buffalo wing sauce and ranch dressing. This, I should note, is in addition to the pesto that all of the sandwiches come with. The resulting flavor is mind-bending, spicy and creamy, with the vinegary flavor of the wing sauce being augmented by the pickles and pepperoncinis on the sandwich. The vibrant orange color of the wing sauce popped next to the neon green pesto, and the resulting drippings of sauce were an unholy swirl of colors. We followed the Gaucho with the Station 7, although we realized that the order should have been reversed, as the Station 7 is a little more subtle in flavor (although still pretty out there, as far as sandwiches go). The Station 7, named after the local fire station, is chicken "marinated" (slathered) in honey mustard, served with avocado and pepper jack on a dutch crunch roll. The sandwich was an appealing spectrum of greens, from the pale green chunks of chicken to the bright pepperoncinis. Despite the fact that the sandwiches today were smaller than what Mr. Pickles normally serves, we were quite satisfyied and unable to finish the two sandwiches between us.