Spring House in Winter Weather

Greetings, Readers!

I hope the last two weeks of the holidays have left you satisfied, relaxed, and ready to start off 2014 with a bang.

2013 led to a lot of amazing sandwich experiences, and I'm looking to take you through another year of them.

Wrapping up 2013 with my visit to Philadelphia, I had a number of great experiences, and one of the top ones was my trip to Spring House Brewery Tap Room in Lancaster, PA.

Part of a full day of brewery tours in eastern Pennsylvania with my brother, Spring House was our first stop. To accompany the ten beer sampler, I decided to go with the Reuben. On a cool December day, this filling sandwich sounded like the perfect companion to some of the amazing house brews.

To be fair, every sandwich sounded excellent. I was also leaning towards the French Dip.

The Reuben is a straight forward affair at Spring House: Sliced Corned Beef, sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing and Swiss cheese on lightly grilled rye bread. Sometimes being simple is the best way to take it. For this Reuben, the corned beef was cooked well and full of mouth-watering flavor. The spices in the meat shone through even with all of the other flavors competing for the spotlight. The Swiss cheese was melted thoroughly and offered its smooth smoky flavor, a delicious contrast to the sour bite or the sauerkraut and the sweet taste of the Thousand Island.

My only complaint, and it's minor in this situation, is that I would have preferred the bread toasted/grilled just slightly longer. This factor should in no way deter you form this sandwich though.

This was a delicious choice to accompany the beer sampler we had and a great way to keep warm on a cold December afternoon.

If your'e able to swing by the Tap Room, I highly suggest getting this sandwich as well as their extensive ten-pour sampler so you can try every one of their offerings. My favorite was the Big Gruesome Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout. It's a real knockout and thoroughly delicious.

One more stop to go in my trip back to Philadelphia, but we'll continue that next week.

Until then, Readers...


Reuben Sandwich
**** Stars
Spring House Tap Room
25 West King Street
Lancaster, PA 17603

http://www.springhousebeer.com

The Burgers of Burbank (Part 6)

Greetings, Readers!

Two weeks ago I mentioned that on one of the days of our burgering adventures, Bryan and I had taken on the challenge of eating five different burgers in an afternoon.

The first burger that we sat down for at The Great Grill Restaurant caught my eye immediately when I opened the menu as it was a combination I never would have dreamed of: a peanut butter burger.

That's right. No joke here, folks. The 50's Nutty Burger features a 1/4 pound beef patty with lettuce, thousand island dressing, and a healthy dose of peanut butter.

I know, I know. Thousand Island dressing AND peanut butter? That sounds like it could be a recipe for disaster, but with writing a blog called "The Danger Sandwich" you have to go out on a limb and risk your life sometimes.

The main thing about the burger is that the peanut butter flavor is such a dominant flavor on the sandwich. For the most part you can't even taste the beef patty, and if it wasn't for the texture you wouldn't even know there was meat on the sandwich.

Every once in awhile you could get a little taste of Thousand Island dressing, but it wasn't as gross of a combination as you would think, especially since the peanut butter quashed any competing flavor from that ingredient.

The second burger we tried, The 1/4lb Great Burger, was more like a 1/4lb Average Burger (zing?). Sure bacon, avocado and cheddar were added to the 1/4lb patty, and this time around I could definitely taste the beef aspect of the hamburger, but nothing stood out. It was a pretty standard burger that didn't have me dying to come back for more.

This visit was definitely a disappointment. Where the promise of experimentation with burgers (the 50's Nutty Burger), and the possibility of deliciousness with a good old stand-by (the 1/4lb Great Burger) I initially had high hopes, but sometimes even the prospect of burgers can let you down.

Next time, I'll have a few burgers from our 5-in-one-day outing that will make these two look like an easily forgotten memory of sandwiching.

Until next week, Readers...


The 50's Nutty Burger
* 1/2 stars
The 1/4lb. Great Burger
** Stars
The Great Grill
126 N. San Fernando Blvd.
Burbank, CA

It's Reuben Time

Greetings, Readers!

After my successful first day in Cleveland, which I wrote about in last week's entry, I was still up for seeing more of what this city could offer me in terms of delicious sandwiches.

But the question becomes, how do you really even attempt to beat one of the best pulled pork sandwiches you've ever eaten?

You take on a Reuben.


But the trip to get this Reuben was not exactly easy. I was taken on a tour of the backroads of a rural area outside of Cleveland and I'm not going to lie here, Readers, but this shop may be one of the hardest places to find.

Ever.

Having arrived at Columbia Beverages & Deli though, I was pleasantly surprised by their deli counter and the sandwiches offered, even though I may never have given any of the other sandwiches a second look as soon as I noticed the option of a Reuben.

This sandwich is stacked high with corned beef that honestly just melts in your mouth. It's full of spiced and briny flavor that just beats up your taste buds with every bite and there's just so much of it that it took me a little bit to decide how I should even take the first bite.

The Thousand Island dressing and melted Swiss cheese add a great smooth flavor to the sandwich that are more mellowed compared to the flavor of the corned beef. There's a good amount of both ingredients ont his sandwich, but not too much as to overpower the flavor of the meat.

Topped off with a dose of crunchy sauerkraut and lightly grilled rye bread, this sandwich was excellent. The bread was also thickly cut which helped the sandwich hold up with so much internal deliciousness.

I wish more sandwiches had this kind of thickly cut bread.

Overall, this sandwich was excellent. A great Reuben, filled with so much that holds together until the end and despite filling you, leaves you wanting more.

If I had to go on my own, I probably would have gotten lost, but it would have been worth it to find a sandwich like this.

That's 2 for 2 Cleveland...what will you have next week?


Reuben Sandwich
**** 1/2
Columbia Beverages & Deli
25011 Royalton Road
Columbia Station, OH
(Corner of Rt 252 and Rt 82)

Delicious Revelations

Welcome back Dear Readers!

A lot has happened over the past week, and most notable of the bunch is that the look of this blog has changed. I thought adding a delicious looking burger to the background here would drive home the idea of the ever-present, yet still elusive, DANGER SANDWICH so much better.

Also, The Danger Sandwich Twitter account is growing. If you haven't started to follow me yet, you should get on that train right over here.

Now, onto the sandwich...

Prior to my sandwich expedition this week, I was on a hike through the old LA Zoo ruins. It's pretty amazing to see the fixtures and cages still up (sans bars) and you're able to check out their interiors. It's amazing how small some of the cages actually were.

Following this adventure, I made my way to Burbank and was looking for someplace to eat, and lo and behold, I stumbled upon the Corner Bakery.

Yes, I went to a chain restaurant, and originally, I didn't think I would even review this sandwich.

So why am I?

Because this sandwich actually got me really thinking about this blog as a whole, and put these sandwiches into perspective.

With next week's blog marking one year since I began this little adventure I've been thinking about what I've learned about my desire for sandwiching., and I've mentioned before that part of the fun in doing it is the experience of the atmosphere and the company with which I sandwich (say that five times fast).

But I also think it's something more, and this relates to the reason why my chain restaurant sandwiches have been somewhat...lacking.

And as I took another bite into my Grilled Reuben Panini from Corner Bakery, I realized that it's not just the sandwich, not just the atmosphere, not just the experience. It's also the little glimpse of local culture that you get with each bite.

Whether it's the Philly Cheesesteak or the French Dip or the Cubano, each one of these sandwiches is an enlightening experience that shows you a glimpse of local culture.

And that is fascinating to me.

Just like exploring a bit of lost local culture in your own backyard, a sandwich can enlighten you to a part of your own city that you never knew about.

Oh and this sandwich in particular? Grilled caraway rye bread, with lean corned beef, sauerkraut and thousand island dressing.

The sandwich was good, but it was missing that little extra something.

Until next week, Readers...

*** Stars

Grilled Reuben Panini

Corner Bakery Cafe

www.cornerbakerycafe.com