Three Little Pigs...Made Up A Sandwich

Greetings, Readers!

Having visitors come to Los Angeles is always a great excuse to use for actively seeking a new sandwich shop.

My sister was in town recently, and after a visit to the Rose Bowl Flea Market we all headed to Alhambra to the 38 Degrees Alehouse and Grill.

Besides having an incredibly tantalizing menu, the other reason for visiting 38 Degrees was their nearly overwhelming list of beers on tap and in bottles. Having visited near the end of one of their tap cycles, a few beers that I had originally picked were actually out of stock, but eventually I was able to get my lips on a glass of Stone Brewing Co.'s Grapefruit Slam. It's a delicious, highly-hopped beer with a taste of grapefruit that complements the hops perfectly. If you like IPAs, this is a beer you must try.

As for the sandwich, let's face facts here, how could I not pick something called Menage a Pork?

I know, I've mentioned recently about doing an entire month of just vegan or vegetarian sandwiches, and I promise that's still on track. I just have more planning and research to do. So for the time being...pork.

Did I mention this sandwich was also called Menage a Pork? I think I did, but I wanted to say that again. Composed of ground pork and chorizo, the thick patty is topped with pepper jack cheese, chipotle aioli, baby arugula, and bacon jam.

BACON. JAM.

There are a variety of different flavors going on in each bite of this sandwich. The  chorizo and pork patty is delicious and juicy, with the chorizo adding a bit of spice to the sandwich. The chipotle aioli adds more of a mild spicy flavor to the mix while the baby arugula adds the contrast of greens with a peppery bite.

The bacon jam is delicious but also an interesting experience. It's a little sweet, but at the same time you get the crunch from bacon bits and the usual smoky bite of bacon. It's an amazing, and surprising, addition to the sandwich and makes me wonder what other sandwiches it would serve as a good match for.

Regardless of bacon jam's other applications, it works wonderfully well with this sandwich and elevates the Menage a Pork to one of my favorite pork sandwiches. Ever.

If you happen to be out in Alhambra to visit 38 Degrees, it might be worth your time to stop by Banh Mi My Tho which is only a few minutes away. I reviewed their Banh Mi back in September of 2010, and it is still ranked as one of my favorite Banh Mi sandwiches. Though you could always try 38 Degrees' Boar Banh Mi, which will be my next sandwich here.

Alhambra is now easily shaping up to be one of my favorite sandwich areas in all of Los Angeles. So make sure you take the time to visit this area for its delicious sandwich offerings.

Before I wrap up this week's blog, I'd also like to mention a new addition to the blog for the time being. In the right hand column of the blog I've not only added my twitter feed (Follow me for frequent sandwich updates) but I've also added a widget tracking my National Novel Writing Month progress. Whether it is about sandwiches or not, check out my progress each week and keep the high fives coming so I make it to the 50,000 word count goal.

Until next week, Readers...

Menage a Pork
***** Stars
38 Degrees Ale House and Grill
100 W. Main Street
Alhambra, CA 91801

Warm Nights, Hot Sandwiches

Greetings, Readers!

With the high temps in Los Angeles lately, it's pretty obvious that summer is here in full force. And as we all know, with summer comes one of the most American things of all time: Baseball.

Well, that and Apple Pie, but this isn't a pie blog. Sadly.

For those that have been reading this blog for quite some time, you may remember my review of the Dodger Dog which originally was a big undertaking, but still mildly enjoyable. Having the Dodger Dog again last year, it seems that ballpark management had decided to make the dog even more gargantuan with a bigger dose of toppings and doing away with the all-beef frank for a pork by-product.

It had become a complete mess, and was definitely less than appetizing.

Heading to the ballpark this past weekend to see Cliff Lee pitch against the Dodgers, I was looking for ballpark food to enjoy on a warm summer evening. Avoiding the Dodger Dog like the plague, I had noticed that the ballpark had a new option: The Big Blue Burger.

Of course with most food from a baseball stadium, you have to be wary about what could happen to your stomach. This burger was topped with chipotle aioli, a huge slice of pasilla chili pepper, tomatoes, caramelized onions and blue cheese.

The first bite had caught me by surprise even though the burger piqued my interest while in line because I hadn't expected much. They didn't skimp on any of the ingredients, but neither were they overpowering or too much. The blue cheese flavor shone through, but didn't overpower the smoky beef, or the slightly roasted flavor of the pasilla pepper.

The tomato wasn't bad either. Not a mealy slice, this bit of tomato was juicy and definitely had some noticeable flavor to back it up.

The bun though seemed to be in that limbo space between toasted too little and just right so it came off as a little stale (which it very well could have been). Again though, with not expecting much to begin with, this was a small problem with the burger and seemed as if it could be easily remedied with a few extra seconds in the toaster.

All in all, this was a pretty decent example of a burger, and is definitely a top choice to eat if you're ever at Dodger Stadium.

Unless of course you are able to get to the South Street Steaks stand inside the park. Then of course, you can't miss out on their sandwiches.

Until next week, Readers.


Big Blue Burger
*** Stars
Dodger Stadium
Los Angeles, CA