Baby, You Wanna Sammich?

Yesterday, Jason Kottke posted what he felt is necessary to the perfect sandwich. After going back to the sandwich's humble beginings, he states:

The keys to a good sandwich are the three Bs: bread, balance, and...ok, there's only two Bs, but they're important. Aside from the main ingredient (turkey, tuna, chicken salad, etc.), the bread has the power to make or break a sandwich. The first thing you taste when you take a bite is the bread, so it had better be good and it had better be fresh.

Balance, or how the various parts come together to make a whole sandwich experience, is even more critical than the bread. Too much meat and the sandwich tastes only of meat....Too much mustard and you overwhelm that beautiful pastrami. The mighty sandwich should not be a lowly conduit for your mustard addiction; why not just eat it straight from the jar?... Make sure the ingredients are distributed evenly throughout the sandwich. You should get a bit of everything in each bite...it's a BLT, not just an L on toast. If the sandwich maker is doing his job right, you should be able to taste most of the ingredients separately and together at the same time.

He goes on to nominate his favorite New York sandwich destination: Mendy's and from the comments come a barage of other choices. We agree with the comments about the Cuban sandwhich at Cabe Habana, pretty much anything pressed together at 'inoteca and Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop (especially as Todd points out, for the all-important pickle accoutrement). We also nominate: the enormous veggie burger at Tiny's Giant Sandwich Shop, the grilled cheese, avocado and tomato at the Hampton Chutney Company and the peanut butter and Nutella at Peanut Butter & Co.

Do you agree with Kottke? What makes a sandwich great - and what are your favorite sandwichs in the city? And, for the love of Andrew Krucoff, your favorite cheap ones?

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Martha Burzynski in Food on October 26, 2005 10:12 AM

Comments [rss]

bto

Tiny's moved to a bigger space at the corner of Rivington and Norfolk.

As far as spelling goes, it's sad that Gothamist has writers who can't spell. It's even sadder that after numerous readers have pointed out errors, the "corrected" article still contains 4 spelling errors.

Dave H.

I tend to frequent that neighborhood relatively late, but isn't Tiny's Giant Sandwich shop out of business? It's seemed shuttered the last few times I was on Rivington.

joe christoff

hey, can you understand what the post said?

if so, then get on with your life. this isn't a spelling bee, and no one is grading people's posts. we are exchanging ideas, not taking middle school grammar, and no one likes being corrected so rudely over inconsequential things.

Biz

Guys- can someone stop being lazy and fix these spelling mistakes? It's pathetic...

Brightliner

Bread is waaaaay overrated. It's fairly tasteless and there's always too much of it. When I make my own sandwiches, I use waffles. Preferably fresh from the waffle iron. (Good Eats had a great episode on how to make waffles.) Crispy, much tastier and less bulky than any bun or roll, except pita bread, which is still rather tasteless.

tien

i would think the 3rd b would be bacon.

anon

Can you please fix all the typos? Thanks!

anon like you don't know me

I never hear anyone talk about Homer's World Famous Malt Shop on the UWS as cheap eats... their menu is extra cheap. Last time I stopped in, I had a soup-and-half-sandwich combo for $5. And they serve beer! Look:

http://www.homersworldfamous.com/menu.html

It's too bad their website is utterly ridiculous. Anyway, the place is totally worth checking out on a random weeknight. (For the love of God, do not visit that neighborhood anytime past 6pm on a Friday or Saturday)