A Place Like Home

Greetings, Readers!

Lately, I've been in the process of working on the changes coming to the blog here, and os have had less time to actually pursue new and exciting sandwiches.

But that doesn't stop me completely.

Nearly three years ago, I wrote about a place called HyMart in North Hollywood. It's a great Mediterranean sandwich shop tucked into a strip mall at the south end of the North Hollywood Arts District.

It's a fantastic place, and while I've visited it numerous times since my review, I've never had the urge to write about them again since because I usually get the same sandwich.

While different from the initially reviewed sandwich, The Chicken-iliki is a real stunner. It contains hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, pickles, cucumbers, Greek olives, avocado, feta cheese, lemon, olive oil, mint, basil, pepper, tzatziki yogurt, and tahini sauce all on display with the delicious and tender pulled chicken.

The sandwich is an explosion of flavor in your mouth. Each flavor complements the other without being overpowering, and the chicken is flavorful, tender and
juicy. Despite the amount of ingredients, this sandwich is light and refreshing, perfect for a summer afternoon in valley heat.

I could go on about the sandwiches here at this excellent small business, but really the amazing added touch, and the other reason why I will always share the secret about this amazing sandwich shop, is the service.

The people who run and work in this shop always offer up a happy greeting when you walk in. From the second you step inside their door, everyone is happy to see you, as if you're a member of their family and they haven't seen you for weeks. Every time I walk in their, one of the owners always greets me by name (though most of the time it's not the right name, I thoroughly appreciate the extra welcoming).

If you get a chance to check out HyMart (also known as Georgi's Place), definitely stop in. Not only are the sandwiches delicious, but you'll immediately feel at home.

Until next week....



Chicken-iliki
**** 1/2 Stars
HyMart Sandwiches
4795 Vineland Avenue
North Hollywood, CA 91602

Back In The Saddle, Again

Greetings, Readers!

I have bounced back from the sickness of last week, and was able to get out and get sandwiched properly this week.

You know, even with all of the options you've all given me over this past year, some nights it's just too hard to decide where to sample my next entry. Do I want a burger or a cold sandwich, do I want ham or turkey, etc.

Fact is, Los Angeles has way too many options.

But, wanting to keep it low key the other night, I stopped by a little place called Alcove Cafe in Los Feliz.

For those of you that may know Aroma Cafe in Studio City, this is the sister cafe. The menus are similar and so is the atmosphere: quaint outdoor cafe in which you feel like you're dining in someone's backyard. I love it.

Perusing the menu, the turkey hummus melt was the first to catch my eye: smoked turkey, hummus, aged cheddar cheese, and basil all cooked between two slices of sourdough bread.

You get your own choice of bread, but let's be real here. There's only one choice.

The sourdough bread was perfectly grilled. It had a great crispy bite to it, still kept all of its delicious sour flavor, and even maintained that slight buttery flavor from grilling. And all without burning the bread.

The turkey was slightly smoked and thickly sliced. There's a generous portion on this sandwich, and it was much appreciated.

The melted cheddar was gooey and loaded on to match the healthy portion of turkey. Even with the cheddar being aged, this cheese wasn't as sharp as you would expect. It added that slight taste of cheddar to accent the other flavors appearing in this sandwich.

If there is one problem with the sandwich it's the hummus. Now don't get me wrong, it's delicious. has wonderful flavor and really worked for this sandwich. The problem is that it overpowers everything else between the bread.

At times, you almost can't taste the other ingredients.

Regardless, I would still recommend this sandwich at Alcove, because it's by no means 'bad' at all, but it could be a lot better without so much hummus. So next time I think I might ask to scale back on that a bit.

Until next week, readers!

Turkey Hummus Melt

*** 1/2 Stars

Alcove Cafe and Bakery

1929 Hillhurst Avenue

Los Angeles, CA