Tag Archives: sandwich

Throwback Thursday – National Sandwich Day

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Happy Thursday! First I want to congratulate the Chicago Cubs for finally breaking the curse and winning the World Series after 108 years. Anyways back to food it is National Sandwich Day. 

As I was watching world series history, the commercial for Subway came up with their promotion of buy 1 sub and drink get 1 free sub.  With all due respect to the bargain eats and listing of calories promoted by Subway, I am going to share two different sandwich experiences. 

Both sandwiches were purchased in the Financial District during lunch both were under $10 and it feels like eating a meal for two. Both sandwiches is a perfect quick meal as you consume protein, vegetables, with or without calcium and carbs in one shot. 

The first sandwich I had was a vegetarian sandwich from Num Pang, a Cambodian sandwich shop. There are six locations throughout the city. The shop had a great variety of sandwiches along with rice balls and drinks such as watermelon juice and Vietnamese coffee. All their sandwiches consist of freshly made semolina or quinoa baguette with pickled carrots, cucumbers, cilantro and chili mayo.  One of their cheapest sandwiches that appeared to be healthy yet very tasty was their Spicy Organic Tofu ($7.95). The sandwich was freshly made and served warm. The sandwich had a perfect balance of the firm tofu and vegetables, well worth the price.

Recently I was exploring Eater’s top 60 cheap eats in New York city right now. One of the restaurants listed was Grotto Pizzeria and Restaurant also located in the Financial District. This hole in the wall restaurant has been around since 1985. You have to go down a several stairs. As you enter the place looks like a regular pizza takeout spot where pizzas and sandwiches are separated and ordered separately. The guy behind the counter pointed me in the right direction to the sandwiches. I went with the sandwich suggested by Robert Sistema and Eater, which was the the sausage, broccoli Rabe and mozzarella sandwich. I waited and ate half of this filling sandwich ($9.75 with tax). This sandwich has to be eaten with all its components in it as it had the bitterness of the broccoli Rabe, the saltiness of the sausage and the creaminess of the cheese on a fresh roll. 

Although I am not a sandwich person, I do enjoy a really good sandwich once in a while especially from Katz, Carnegie or Russ and Daughters. Definitely want one check out other cheap eats listed on the Eater’s top 60 cheap eats. 

Flashback Friday – Neirs Tavern

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Happy Friday!! It’s been over a month since my last post, which was on an American holiday Memorial Day.  After a month of being MIA due to several food exploration dishes, I am back on the first of July – 4th of July weekend.  To begin:

Happy Birthday America!! To celebrate food and American history, let’s explore an historic venue in American history.  This venue is not in Washington D.C. or in downtown Manhattan, but in Woodhaven, Queens.

Almost 6 weeks ago I took my parents to the oldest tavern in US history now – Neir’s Tavern.  Actually I heard about this tavern from a segment that aired on $9.99 with Dave Evans where he had the tavern’s famous coldest beer in New York City.

Neir’s Tavern opened in 1829 and was restored in 2009.  The tavern has made several appearance in famous movies such as Goodfellas and Tower Heist.  I have had the privilege of meeting the tavern’s owner at the recent Queens Taste event & samples their cotton candy wings.

When I took my parents to the tavern, the location of it was not ideal but we were lucky to find parking.  Once we arrived, I felt the historical presence that this tavern has.  I definitely took advantage of the happy hour special of the $3 draft cold beer.  Also, I discovered that the tavern also has $5 lunch special that is a steal.

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Happy Hour Draft Beer $3

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BBQ Jack Wings $7.95

To start, we ordered the BBQ Jack Wings ($7.95), they were perfectly fried with the right amount of sauce.  Other popular wings also include Cotton Candy Wings, Teriyaki wings and Thai Chili Honey Wings both for the same price!

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“Tower Heist” Sandwich $9.95

My dad is a huge steak person so every non-Thai or non-Filipino restaurant he looks for the steak options.  The only option he had was the “Tower Heist” sandwich, obviously named after the movie “Tower Heist”, which is an open face steak sandwich with lettuce and tomato.  It comes with fries and cole slaw.   The steak tasted similar to a roast beef sandwich, so it was my least favorite.

The “Mae West” Burger $8.50
The “Goodfella” Burger $9.25

After reading the food reviews of the tavern and there were rave reviews on the burgers.  Therefore, my mother and I ordered two burgers that were named after an actress Mae West, who got her start in this tavern and the classic movie “Goodfellas”.  My mother settled for the “Mae West” burger, which is made up of angus beef, lettuce, tomato, red onion, mushrooms along with cole slaw & fries.  Her burger was good, fries were not as crispy as I have had in the past and cole slaw had an acidic, sour and tangy twist that is unique from the cole slaws I have had in the past.

Finally, I went for the popular “Goodfellas” burger, another burger to add to the growing list of burgers I have had in recent years.  The “Goodfellas” burger consisted of an angus burger with grilled tomato, onions, pepper jack cheese and chipotle honey mayo.  The burger also came with fries and cole slaw.  The burger could have cleanly presently and huge that it had to be dissected with a fork & knife.  The burger overall was flavorful especially with the mayo and pepper jack cheese.

At the end of this high protein dinner, the overall service was good, but they were short staff where the bartender was also our server.  I would definitely return especially for lunch and explore the variety of wings they offer.