Syracuse Sandwich: McDonald's McRib

Who: McDonald’s What: McRib
Where: Route 31, Cicero Phone: 698-1134‎ Website: McDonalds
Parking: Yes Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No     

     After a botched attempt to make overnight baked French toast, Christine and I had to venture out to find something to eat for dinner. We decided to go shopping first and on our way back into Cicero, grab something quick from McDonald’s. I knew I was going to order the much talked about McRib sandwich when we pulled up to the drive up window. Christine went with her usual two cheeseburger meal, number four, if anyone cares. Christine loves McDonald’s and everything they have there for the most part but she doubted my choice. I didn’t listen and went ahead and ordered it. For those of you who don’t know what the McRib is, it is pressed pork in the shape of ribbed meat slathered in bbq sauce topped with onion and pickles on a seeded bun. I ordered it for three reasons: they haven’t had it on the menu in years, I’ve never had one, and I needed to review it.

     We drove our meals home and ate them over an episode of Criminal Minds. I opened the box holding what is suppose to be one of the greatest menu items that McDonald’s has ever had and began the McRib experience. Right off the bat I was disappointed after the first bite. The bun reminded me of the buns from Burger King which I don’t care for. The meat patty was bland as all get out and the bbq sauce that coated it followed suit. The only thing I could taste was the overwhelming vinegar flavor from the pickles. I normally like a pickle slice or two on a burger but there were a handful of them on top of the rib meat. The onions were nonexistent in flavor, probably masked by the pickles. Once I finished the sandwich, I was left disappointed and confused as to why these are supposedly so popular. I ate my crispy golden fries in an attempt to salvage a poor meal.

Rating: Edible – I guess I don’t get the hype.

Syracuse Sandwich: Blue Tusk's Three Pigs and Provolone Piccante

Who: The Blue Tusk What: Three Pigs and Provolone Piccante
Where: Armory Square, Syracuse Phone: 472-1934 Website: Blue Tusk
Parking: Street Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     While a friend was in town to visit family and have an engagement party last week, he invited Christine and I to join him for dinner at the Blue Tusk in Armory Square. The Blue Tusk is primarily a bar but has an extensive menu that has quesadillas, salads, soups and deserts along with different meats and cheeses from throughout the world. Of course where there is meat and cheese, there are sandwiches. Blue Tusk menu is dominated by sandwiches and paninis so this place was right up my alley. To order you go up to the food only counter and place your order at which time you get a buzzer like you do at most places when you’re waiting for a table. There is no assigned seating, you just have to find room but there were many open tables in the back of the place while we were there. Christine isn’t a huge sandwich fan but she was able to find something she might like, the roast beef and Stilton with lettuce, tomato, onion, horseradish and mayo on Pastabilities’ Italian stretch bread. You might ask what Stilton is; Stilton is a mild cow’s milk cheese from England. I decided to go out on a limb and order a very complex sandwich. Three Pigs and Provolone Piccante features prosciutto di parma, mortadella, sopressata, with roasted red peppers, banana peppers, red onion and extra virgin olive oil on Pastabilities’ Italian stretch bread. There are a few ingredients listed that I will explain: mortadella is baloney with pistachio nuts from Bologna, Italy, prosciutto di parma is salted air cured ham from Parma, Italy, and sopressata is spicy air-dried salami from Calabria, Italy. So to sum up my sandwich, I had three meats, three veggies, and some cheese. For sides they have Dirty brand potato chips and homemade potato salad. I chose the latter while Christine picked from 10 different flavors of Dirty chips.

     When our buzzer went off, I ran up to the counter to grab our food because I couldn’t wait to try it. I’ve wanted to come to Blue Tusk for a while because of the menu but never go downtown really. Christine enjoyed her sandwich and ended up bringing her chips home because it was so filling. I started with the potato salad which was very light, not too heavy on the mayo. The potatoes they used were red skin and the skins were left on. A small cup was the perfect portion to go along with my large sandwich. The Italian stretch bread is the perfect vessel for lots of fillings and olive oil because while the crumb is soft and airy, the crust is chewy but not tough. This allows for it to hold a lot and not get soggy or floppy. The best way to describe the taste from the combination of the meats is if you’ve ever had an Italian meat sub. Only this tastes ten times better because the meats are of very high quality. The peppers and red onion along with the olive oil gave supplied the moisture this sandwich needed along with a Mediterranean style taste. I couldn’t get enough of this flawless sandwich but I did have one problem, I want to taste each of the meats on their own. It’s not the sandwich’s fault at all, I’ll just have to go back and get the sandwiches that feature each one on their own.

Rating: Delicious – I can’t wait to go back, Syracuse needs more of these types of places.

Syracuse Sandwich: Applebee's Slow Simmered Beef Sandwich

Who: Applebee's What: Slow Simmered Beef Sandwich
Where: Route 11, North Syracuse Phone: 452-5670 Website: Applebee's
Parking: Shared lots Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     A few hours before we arrived at the War Memorial to see Dane Cook in concert, we stopped at Applebee’s for dinner. Earlier in the day I had checked out their menu so I knew what I would order once we got there. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few new items including a new wrap and a new sandwich. The Slow Simmered Beef Sandwich sounded good and reminded me of the way I make pulled pork, in the crock pot. Slow simmered beef is piled high on a buttery bun with jalapeno slaw and fried onion strings. I’ve had pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw on them before so I figured that this would be very comparable. We ordered a sampler to start to eat while we waited for our entrées.

     When the waitress delivered our food, she couldn’t tell the difference between Christine’s burger and my sandwich. The picture on the menu of the sandwich showed strings of saucy beef, not a solid piece of meat. When I got the correct plate, I could see why she had the problem. The meat was molded into a patty form and the sauce had all been absorbed by the meat taking away from the “shine” it would give off when light hits it. While the meat didn’t look mouth watering appetizing, I held out hope that it would taste good. With the slaw piled underneath the meat and the fried onions strings on top, it looked like a well put together sandwich. The taste on the other hand just simply wasn’t there. The meat was very bland and while it was moist, the sauce had no flavor. The jalapeno slaw was over powered by the spiciness of the pepper, I understand that it is suppose to taste like jalapeno but I think the ratio of cabbage to jalapeno was off. The slaw deteriorated the bottom bun because the bun wasn’t toasted enough to combat the amount of liquid. This made the sandwich quite difficult to handle let alone eat. The fried onions added little to the sandwich and were kind of an afterthought if anything. It seems they were only added for appearance and not to enhance the sandwich. Perhaps if they were really crispy they would have at least added texture but they were soft for the most part. I’m becoming more and more annoyed over time with big box restaurants, they are only safe to go to if you go with their original menu items that they are known for.

Rating: Edible – Like I said, stick with the originals.

Syracuse Sandwich: Texas Roadhouse's Mushroom Jack Chicken Sandwich

Who: Texas Roadhouse What: Mushroom Jack Chicken Sandwich
Where: Erie Blvd, Syracuse Phone: 445-4086 Website: Texas Roadhouse
Parking: Yes Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     After visiting Christine’s Aunt in the hospital last Thursday night, Christine’s parents, Christine, her cousin, and myself decided we would go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. If you’ve never been, you must go because the atmosphere is fun and the food is always great. On a side note: if you are allergic to peanuts do NOT go there because there are peanut shells on the floors as well as peanuts at every table. There is a large sign on the door to prevent people from entering if they do have that allergy. Alongside the peanuts, every table gets a basket of hot buttery rolls that are served with cinnamon butter. I could literally just eat the peanuts and rolls as a meal. Naturally, I went straight for the sandwich menu and although limited, I was able to find something. The Mushroom Jack Chicken Sandwich caught my eye right off the bat and I decided I had to order it to make up for the lackluster chicken sandwich I had at Johnny Rockets just days before. The sandwich comes with a large grilled chicken breast with sautéed mushrooms, melted jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, and red onions.

     When I whipped out my phone to take a picture everyone realized I ordered a sandwich opposed to ribs or steak because of the blog, but I really did want it regardless. The lighting isn’t the best inside so I had to use my flash in order to get a half decent picture. It kind of looks like it is glowing. All of the sandwiches are served on Texas sized buns which means they are large but they do a great job of holding in all of the ingredients. Steak fries and a pickle spear come as sides with every sandwich as well. At first bite I could already tell that this sandwich was way better than the one I had recently. The chicken was freshly grilled and had charcoal marks all over it meaning it was cooked over a fire grill opposed to a flat top. The cheese was smoky and did a wonderful job of keeping the individual mushrooms from falling out. The lettuce, tomato, and onion were all fresh and the onion especially had some real snap to it. The sandwich was huge and by the time I finished it and the fries, I was more than stuffed.

Rating: Tasty – Texas Roadhouse is fun and their food it great. What else could one ask for?

Egg Salad from home

     Last week I made Christine some hard boiled eggs to go along with her breakfast in the morning but since I made almost a whole carton, I had enough to make egg salad. I’ve only made egg salad a handful of times but I think this latest attempt came out pretty close to the way I want it to. For one sandwich I used two hardboiled eggs and chopped them using an egg slicer both length and width wise. By doing this there should be small square/rectangle pieces of egg white and egg yolk. I mixed in a dash of salt and pepper, paprika, a tablespoon of mayo, and a tablespoon of yellow mustard. Once this was mixed, I put it in the fridge until I had to go to work. I brought white bread to work along with the mixture, the reason I didn’t make the sandwich at home was because it would be soggy by lunch time. The consistency was perfect, not too runny like you will find from most restaurants. The key to keeping it creamy and not runny is to cut down on the mayo and mustard. I found my sandwich has a little too much mustard taste so I think next time I will maybe use a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon. Also, a piece of lettuce or some chopped celery would have added a nice crunchy texture. I guess it is a work in progress but it still tasted great as it was.

Syracuse Sandwich: Johnny Rocket's Chicken Club

Who: Johnny Rockets What: Chicken Club
Where: Carousel Mall, Syracuse Phone: 474-7406 Website: Johnny Rockets
Parking: Shared lots Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     Christine had been craving a grilled cheese from Johnny Rockets so when we were at the mall earlier this week we decided to fill that craving. It was a few minutes after five and the mall wasn’t really busy so we had no problem getting a seat when we walked in. I didn’t really know what I wanted even after having the waitress give us a few minutes to decide. Christine ordered quickly and I was forced to make a quick decision. I thought about getting grilled cheese because it is so tasty, but I also thought about the blog so I had to pick something else. I ended up picking the Chicken Club but wasn’t really satisfied with that choice. I was hoping it would be as good as the BBQ Chicken Bacon Melt that I reviewed back in June. We received our very acidic lemonades and our order came out shortly thereafter since the place was pretty dead.

     A club sandwich is a meat in between two slices of bread with bacon, tomato, and lettuce piled on top with another slice of bread on top of that. Obviously other toppings could be in place of the regulars but Johnny Rockets stays with the classic style. The sandwich comes on toasted white bread with a smear of mayo under the top slice of bread. The vegetables tasted fresh while the bacon was warm and salty. The disappointing factor in this sandwich was the chicken breast. I could taste that it was frozen chicken, not that it was fresh and then frozen, but cooked and then frozen like you can buy in the store. I know the BBQ Chicken Bacon Melt had the same kind of chicken but the other flavors masked the cheap taste of the precooked breast. I don’t think precooked chicken breast can stand up on its own when it has to be the star. I can’t expect much from an almost fast food type place but I had the feeling when I ordered this sandwich that I would be let down and I was. I ate one half of the sandwich and took out the chicken breast in the second half leaving me a mock BLT.

Rating: Edible – The third time wasn’t a charm, but first and second were so I won’t give up on JR’s.

Syracuse Sandwich: Liberty Deli's Turkey Pastrami

Who: Liberty Deli What: Turkey Pastrami
Where: Irving Avenue, Syracuse Phone: 476-8214 Website: None
Parking: Shared Lots Accepts Credit Cards: Yes Take-Out: Yes Delivery: No

     I miss going to Liberty Deli on a monthly basis as I used to when I worked on the boulevard. Luckily for me I was downtown at a training session so during my lunch break I was able to swing by and pick up a cheap sandwich. I was tempted to drive out to Brooklyn Pickle, which I still haven’t reviewed, but this was closer and it was on the way to my old branch where I wanted to check out the remodeling that is being done. When I walked into Liberty, a guy was lingering around the counter but says he wasn’t ready to order so I was able to swoop right in and put my order in. I got caught off guard by him letting me go because I didn’t really know what I wanted either. But I went with a safe choice that I have gotten many times, turkey pastrami on marble rye. Turkey pastrami is one of my favorite meats and I happened to come across it by accident when Liberty was out of regular pastrami one day. While I still love regular pastrami, turkey pastrami is lighter and better for you. To complete my sandwich I added lettuce, onions, and mayo.

     If you read my last review of Liberty you’ll remember that Harrison Bakery supplies their bread and that last time the crust was too tough. This time the crust was fine and the crumb fluffy like before. The turkey pastrami was Boar’s Head brand which by now, if you read my blog, is the best brand of deli meat. The curing process gives the turkey a peppery flavor but doesn’t overwhelm or take away from the turkey taste. If anything it just enhances the turkey and makes it just that much more flavorful. The mayo gave the sandwich the little bit of moisture that it needed while the lettuce and onions provided the crunchy texture with some added bite from the onions. I was happy with my sandwich and for $4 it was certainly worth the cost.

Rating: Tasty – I’m glad I was able to get my Liberty fix.