Shopsin's
120 Essex St., New York (Essex Market, Lower East Side)
7/8/16
"If this sandwich is not a 5, there is no sandwich that is a 5." - Marlowe Greenberg
Prozack (Brisket bbq, hatch chile, jack cheese on garlic bread)
~Additions: Homemade hot sauce & antique plane kazoos??
We were all surprised to see these toys (left), given the reputation of the shop's attitude. The sandwich was warm, surprisingly crispy (middle), and absolutely delicious (right).
There are no words that can do this sandwich justice. It actually left people speechless.
First off, this is the first time Shopsin's has done take-out of this scale. This was only possible through Nick's boldness the day before in requesting it for our Sandwich Friday endeavors, and some generosity on the part of Kenny Shopsin and his crew. During my trip there, Shopsin made sure to tell me that when me did our reviews, we would be getting "one-fifth of the sandwich" (in terms of quality) than if it were fresh.
However, it seems that all of that warning was for naught; nine out of twelve people gave this sandwich a perfect 5! "If this is not a 5, then what's a 5?" said Woody, which Marlowe corroborated in the above quote. The flavor was off the charts, and there was just something inexplicably beautiful about the taste (Jackie went so far as to call it an enigma). The bread, cripsed to garlicky perfection while still retaining a delicate softness in the center, the brisket that fell apart with every bite, and the punches of cheese and chile were just plain fantastic. The star-studded sandwich also came with another show-stopper, an amazing homemade hot sauce, which added even more to the flavor as well as the perfect amount of heat.
Our sandwich guru himself, Yehuda, said that "it's expensive [at $17], but I would pay two times that amount for this sandwich." And sometimes, actions speak louder than words: in almost no time at all, people were going back for seconds. We also saved the hot sauce for next week's sandwich and some even took a bottle or two home.
As Elizabeth summed up perfectly, it was "just a damn good sandwich." Now if you'll excuse us -- after a lunch like that, we're going to need a nap.
FINAL SCORE:
5.0/5.0