Sophie’s Cuban Improves on Their Pork and Plantain Sandwich
When I first posted the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge I listed Sohpie’s Cuban’s fried pork and plantain sandwich as one of the major inspirations. So I was pretty pleased to hear that they were going to participate in the challenge. And while their entry (the “pernil with a twist”) isn’t really all that different from the original sandwich already on their menu, it is a slight improvement- and worthy of praise. (If for no other reason than the fact they are part of the reason this is even happening.)
The major difference is this sandwich is made with roast pork (pernil) instead of the fried pork. Now, normally if given the choice between a fried something, or any other preparation, I’m going with fried. But in the case of a sandwich, the roasted pork is a lot more moist, and makes for a less dry sandwich (the one and only complaint you could make about the oh so delicious fried pork and plantain sandwich.) To their standard pernil sandwich, they automatically add grilled onions, sweet fried plantains, mayo, and their Peruvian style green sauce. Hence, “pernil with a twist.”
Surprisingly, keeping the sandwich wrapped in the foil for awhile actually improves it- so I would recommend carrying this thing back to your office. Unlike, say, the cuban sandwich which gets pressed so all the grease and fat from the meat and cheese soaks into the bread, this sandwich doesn’t get pressed- and the bread gets toasted separately. So, if you eat it right away, the bread is kind of dry and a little crispy. After a little while in the foil, the bread softens up- and the sandwich is much improved.
Oh, and ask for extra green sauce. Or ask for some extra on the side. The sandwich improves exponentially in correlation with the amount of green sauce that is added. And if there is anything this sandwich challenge teaches us, it’s you can never had too much of a good thing.
Sophie’s Cuban, Available at these three locations:
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369 Lexington Ave (btw. 41+42nd) 212-922-3576
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805 Third Ave (btw. 49+50th), Lower Level, 212-308-1024
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23 East 23rd Street (btw. Mad+Park), 212-260-8884
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:45 am, February 17th, 2009 under Latin, Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge, Sandwiches, Sophies.
15 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
15 Comments
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Great, I had one Thursday and am planning on going back today. I just hop this post doesn’t make the line too long.
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Have we come up with a suitable Freak of the Week theme song yet?
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The only thing that pissses me off about Sophies is a new rule where they only give you one container of green sauce when you get an order to go. My protests were met with a “its policy” to only give one. I could easily go through four containers of that stuff. I may have to steal a squeeze bottle from a table if they keep doing that.
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Is Sophie is reading this.. start offering it downtown!!!
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I always pay extra for the green sauce. It’s like $2 for 8 little containers. I love it, I could do shots of their green sauce.
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Had it last week. Tuesday I think, down in the crystal pavilion. The dude was sort of mindlessly constructing it and even though I told him no onions he still started to pile them on. I told him “I said no onions” and he took off some but I still had about a slice’s worth left on it. sadface
And then he ‘dropped’ the green sauce onto my sandwich. I figured it was intentional ‘cuz i was being cranky but I said “don’t worry about it” as if he were going to feign concern. lol oh well
it was somewhere between ok and good. had lots of plantains. but that dude needs to get laid.
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UPDATE:
I went to the Tina’s near my office (w 56th, btwn 5th and 6th) and asked for the roast pork with maduros and onions with green sauce. The guy happily obliged. MMmmm, green sauce.
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i feel slightly cheated. the first time i went to sophie’s, i custom ordered this sandwich. unfortunately, i only ordered it a few times, so i can’t steal credit for it. at least it reminded me to get another one today.
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so this isn’t available at the sophies downtown?
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Just had one, no bad. The pork is inconsistent, some peices can be juicy while others are a bit dry. Overall an excellent sandwich for only 6 bucks, well worth it.
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i went to the sophies on Chambers St today and custom ordered this sandwich minus the mayo with extra green sauce….will go back again…
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i just stumbled across this page by accident, so i drove into the city and purchased one. this is one bad ass sandwich. maybe because i’ve never had plantains on a sandwich, maybe because the pernil was cooked just right, or maybe just because i’m a fat bastard…but this is one of the finer sandwiches i’ve had in recent history. i kept it in the foil, as recommended, and didn’t eat it till i got home to Jersey (about 15- 20 minutes). outstanding. also, my girl got a chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomatoe, mayo, and potatoe sitcks which was also delicious with the green sauce on it. i made this trip on crutched, mind you, so maybe i appreciated it more. thank you for the recommendation.
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crutched = crutches
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Holycrapholycrapholycrap this is one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life. They’re a bit heavy handed with the mayo, but otherwise, this is OUTSTANDING.
Do the sweet plantains offer make the sandwich kind of sweet tasting? Whatever the case may be, I really need to go get that this week…