Check Out All 5 of Cer Te’s Crazy August Sandwiches
At the beginning of the month, Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th) announced that they would be offering a whopping 5 specially designed sandwiches every Monday and Tuesday throughout the month of August. Lunchers would then be asked to vote on their favorite, and the winner would be offered every day in September as Cer Te’s official entry into the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge. It took me two weeks to get it done, but I finally tried every one of the five entries.
Check them out after the jump…
Colonel’s Heart Attack: Southern Fried Chicken Breast, Mac n Cheese Melt with Collard Greens served on a Biscuit. On description alone I would expect this one to my favorite, and it seems like most MLers gravitated to this one from Day 1. Sadly it wasn’t really any better than the sum of its parts. Don’t get me wrong, it was good enough to demolish every single bite (how could I not?) But not so much better than you would expect. The biscuit was really tasty, and surprisingly stayed together far better than I expected (although I’d still recommend snagging a fork and knife.) But the other three ingredients were a little under-seasoned. Sure, who doesn’t love a fried chicken breast, and why wouldn’t it taste good on top of collards and mac & cheese pearls. But the whole thing would have been greatly improved with a little salt. (Of course that’s easily fixed, and maybe it has been since I ate the sandwich on Day 2.)
Portobello Lettuce Tomato (PLT): Smoked Portobello, Arugula, Roasted Tomatoes with a scallion and caper aioli on a sliced semolina club. This vegetarian take on the club sandwich is the least exciting of the five, but it’s the only cold option (and probably the healthiest.) Even so, if this sandwich sounds good to you (aka you love portobello mushrooms), you’ll love it. Not as good as Cer Te’s previous vegetarian entry into the Sandwich challenge, but still a tasty sandwich.
Croque Monsieur: Jambon, gruyere on brioche with a thyme béchamel. In early voting, the croque has lagged behind- but after trying it, I have to think it’s because nobody has ordered it! If you like ham and cheese sandwiches, this could be the best one I’ve ever tried. The thick bechamel toppping puts the whole thing over the top. Could I eat this every single day? Probably not without doing significant damage to my body. I guess I’ll have to settle for every other day.
Florentine BBQ: Melted short ribs with Bel Paese and an arrabiata tomato chutney served on a tuscan round. This one could have used a little more meat (then again what sandwich couldn’t…) But it was still tasty. It’s basically just a fancy version of a BBQ beef sandwich, with a nice sweet tomato based BBQ sauce. Very tasty, and the cheese added a nice creaminess. (These guys just don’t know how to make a bad sandwich.)
Gulfano (Southwestern Cuban): Braised shoulder pork, Tasso ham, Tomatillos, Jalapeno Mustard and Monterey cheese on a pressed Panini baguette. Another fan favorite, how could this thing be bad? The braised pork shoulder is perfectly executed, and while the bread might be a bit too hefty for some- I’ve got no complaints.
Cer Te never ceases to amaze me. Is $8.95 too expensive for a sandwich? In most cases, yes. And some of their offerings are not as filling as they could be. But their willingness to adapt to the comments of the Midtown Lunch readers, their never ending supply of (amazingly gross!) ideas makes them my favorite sandwich spot in Midtown. You have another three weeks to sample these 5 creations, and then vote for your favorite on Cer Te’s blog. The winner will be sold throughout the month of September. Right now I’m torn between the Cubano and the Croque. Might have to go back and try them again…
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:55 am, August 10th, 2009 under Certe, Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge.
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11 Comments
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yeah, “The Colonel’s Heart-a-croque”.
Zach..you got hosed on the F. BBQ… the one I had last week had about 4x the meat of yours
They must think I run a food blog (god forbid)