A Trip Down Sensory lane

Greetings, Readers!

Temperature have been really heating up here lately in Los Angeles, so summer has officially and finally descended upon the city. As I've said in past years, one of my favorite foods to eat and grill at this time of year is the hot dog/sausage.

While spending time at Tony's Darts Away this past weekend, enjoying a beer and sausage, I started to reminisce about all of my favorite outings since the blog began. So let's take a look back at some of my favorites from previous year.

Hit up the links below!

The Hot Dog Days of Summer

North Hollywood's Hot Dog Heaven

So Long, Summer

Pinch Me, I'm In Beer Heaven

A New Summertime Favorite

Greetings, Readers!

As I showed last week with revisiting two places that I had eaten at and reviewed previously, there is an inherent problem with this blog: While trying to bring you all fresh new experiences and sandwiches each week, I sometimes don't get the chance to repeat at some of my favorite places.

Take for example Sweetsalt in Toluca Lake. I love this place. It's fantastic, with a great atmosphere, and it's right in the middle of a lot of great shops and stops on the main street of Toluca Lake.

So on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, we headed back to this quaint lunch spot.

The previous sandwich I reviewed from them, their duck confit, is still a standout sandwich, but this time around something new caught my eye. Something I've been wanting to try for quite sometime anywhere I could find one: A lobster roll.

Stacked between two halves of a brioche bun, this sandwich is packed with thick chunks of Maine lobster, topped with cucumbers, shallot, dill, and sundried tomato aioli. The creamy smooth texture of this sandwich is punctuated with the pop of lobster chunks and the crunch of the fresh, green cucumber. The lobster is smooth without an overpowering seafood flavor, and the cucumber helps to cut through all the other flavors offering a complementary taste.

The brioche bun, with its buttery flavor, held together until the end.

Overall, this was excellent and gives me hope for the future of lobster rolls to come. So if it's a beautiful Sunday afternoon (which for the next few months here in LA it will be), drive on down to Sweetsalt, pick up a cool drink and a refreshing summer sandwich like their Lobster Roll.

Until next week, Readers...


Lobster Roll
**** Stars
Sweetsalt
10218 Riverside Drive
Toluca Lake, CA 91602

Double Dose of Deliciousness

Mo's Royale with Cheese

Greetings, Readers!

I sit here at my desk, composing this week's blog sans glasses! For those of you who did not know, I can still see fairly well without them, though reading a computer screen is mildly more difficult.

Like nose 8 inches from the screen more difficult, so I apologize for first wave typographical mistakes.

But one thing I will not be making a mistake about is the level of deliciousness provided in this week's sandwiches. 

SandwichES. Plural.

I've reviewed sandwiches from both of these places before, so this is more like a quick update. 

The first stop was Mo's in Burbank. Previously I have stopped here while sampling the best burgers of Burbank in which I thoroughly enjoyed their Menage a Trois burger. While I did want to return to that delicious offering again, I decided to switch it up with a Royale with Cheese.

The Royale is an Angus beef burger topped with tempura fried dill pickles, with cheddar cheese, Sriracha Thousand Island and crispy pancetta between two halves of a brioche bun. The pickles and Sriracha Thousand Island added great flavors of sweetness, spicy and a bit of sour pickling tastes. All were great contrasts to the mellow flavor of the medium-cooked Angus beef.

But the crispy pancetta. Wow. Little chunks of crispy-outside, chewy-inside pork not only added a delicious bacon-y flavor, but were a great textural contrast.

The only problem with this sandwich was the bun. While adding its own sweet flavor, it wasn't much to write home about. It held together until the end and did its job though. 

For the second of this week's sandwiches, I returned to Philadelphia and a small tavern called Three Monkeys. My trip back east was a brief whirlwind, but there was still time to get a sandwich and beer with my dad. 

While I previously reviewed their Caribbean Pork Sandwich, this visit was all about the daily special: A grilled cheese sandwich on Texas Toast with 5 oz. of crab meat in the middle. 

I know, fantastic. 

The garlic and butter grilled toast was delicious, added a contrasting flavor to the very mellow and smoky flavoring of the melted cheddar cheese and the crab meat, which was well seasoned and incredibly delicious. 

As far as I know, this sandwich is only a weekend special, so if you happen to be in the area on a weekend, you should definitely stop in and see if it's available. It will be well worth your time. 

Well, thank you Readers for joining me on this double dose of deliciousness this week. I hope it was enjoyable for you, and inspiring as well so that you go out and either try these exact sandwiches or something close enough. 

Until next week...

Royale with Cheese

**** Stars

Mo's Restaurant

4301 W. Riverside Dr.

Burbank CA

Crab Meat grilled Cheese

**** 1/2 Stars

Three Monkeys Cafe

9645 James Street

Philadelphia, PA

A Stroll In The Heart Downtown

Greetings, Readers! And welcome back after a self-imposed exile last week. Apologies for that, I did not mean to deprive you of sandwich goodness, so let's waste no more time and get to this week's sandwich.

While recently walking through Downtown Los Angeles I stopped in at the Artisan House at 6th and Main Streets. Half market, half restaurant this place has a great atmosphere with a beautiful interior of exposed brick and a modern look.

Settling into a seat with World Cup games playing at the bar, I ordered a Snapshot Wheat from New Belgium and looked at their sandwich menu. With a bit of deliberation, I settled on The Artisan Burger. What better choice than to go with a burger named after the place?

Served on a wooden platter, the Artisan Burger is made from grass-fed beef, topped with cheddar cheese, organic wilds baby arugula, tomato, caramelized onions with aioli and dijon mustard. The burger was delicious and juicy, while cooked to a nice pink medium. The arugula and dijon mustard added a slightly peppery spice kick to complement the smooth and delicious beef. The buttery bun held together mostly until the end and the cheddar cheese was a great choose that still pushed some flavor through all of the other tasty ingredients.

If you're looking for a great place to unwind on a Sunday afternoon with a burger, a beer, and some sports on the television without being in a place that is overly noisy, The Artisan House is a great place to head to. If you're looking for a good burger to enjoy any day of the week though, you can't go wrong with the Artisan Burger.

Until next week, Readers...

The Artisan Burger
**** Stars
Artisan House
600 S. Main Street
Los Angeles, CA