WRITING CULTURE 2012: Film, Food & Beyond

No matter who you are or where you are, unless you’re some sort of bread hater, you can never go wrong with a good ol’ fashioned hot and toasted sandwich hot off the grill or toaster oven or whatever tickles your fancy. If you’re looking for a place that serves sandwiches of all kinds, from your typical BLT and Tuna to more acquired tasting sandwiches made of Hot Ox Tongue, Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop, located on 5th Avenue between 23rd and 22nd Street, is a good place to go.

Not the catchiest of slogans if I do say so myself, proclaiming to be “raising New York’s cholesterol since 1929”. Maybe it was appealing back in 1920’s but for modern day New York, this may actually be a trigger for potential customers to head down the block and grab a burger at Shake Shack on Madison Park. Once you get passed the poorly thought out slogan, Eisenberg’s does have a nifty method of trying to make up for it by trying to grab the attention of pedestrians walking by. Right on the window of the shop, there is a collage of photos with the restaurant owner, Josh Konecky, and various celebrities that appeal to all sorts of people such as Jeff Goldblum from Jurrasic Park, Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers Band and Kenan Thompson from the popular 90’s television series “Kenan and Kel“. So maybe if you want to get a little taste of what the stars are tasting themselves, you might want to head on over.

Already, before even looking at the food, a potential customer can either be driven away by the small sandwich shop or drawn to it, you know, if a high cholesterol is kind of their thing. Nonetheless, once you go inside you might get a much unanticipated vibe. To me at least. Giving off a very neighborhood diner vibe with a bar where people can sit and enjoy the food right in front of the kitchen or tables for a more private and solitary experience, the shop makes you feel comfortable and right at home. Pretty bizarre for a restaurant smack dab in Midtown Manhattan on 5th Avenue to give off such a pleasant aura. Once seated, you get a nice look at the menu and being a sandwich place, it is no surprise that the majority of the menu’s entrees are sandwiches. However, there are many other choices as it has sections dedicated to burgers, platters, cold plates, sides, and desserts. Being of Latin origin I was very intrigued as to how the Cuban sandwich tasted so I ordered myself one with a side of onion rings. I have had all sorts of Cuban sandwiches since I was a boy, from a nearby shop in Washington Heights when I was four called “El Barrio Deli” up until now in college when I satisfy my Cuban sandwich desires at a place called ‘Sophie’s”. I am a full-time lover of Cuban sandwiches and who knows? Maybe Eisenberg’s can top the list of my favorite Cuban sandwiches.

The preparation was key to making this meal. All Cuban sandwiches consist of the main ingredients: ham, pork, cheese, pickles and mustard. Just these five in between two warm toasted slices of bread is good enough but good enough isn’t what I’m looking for. There’s a fine line separating a good Cuban sandwich and a bad one and that line can be crossed if the meat is not prepared right. In the places that I’ve enjoyed the Cuban sandwiches the most, chefs like to marinate the pork in a special olive oil based sauce called “mojo”. This sauce makes the pork feel moist and tender to the human tongue and tastes fantastic. If they did not marinate the pork in mojo, that might spell “Shake Shack” for the next time I’m in the area looking for some grub. However, to my pleasure, I found out they did marinate their mojo and my taste buds were going to be happy that night. To wash down my delicious Caribbean style meal, I decided to get myself a malted drink and I tell you it was the best malted I have ever tasted. Well it was the only malted I have ever tasted. For those of you that don’t know, a malted is a type of crazy ice cream soda milkshake combination. I had a taste of both the vanilla and chocolate malted drinks and they were delectable. It’s like drinking ice cream except not that kind of ice cream drink you get when your ice cream is all melted in your cone and you’re forced to sip away at it on the bottom of it. This one is a lot better.

Not bad for a Kosher spot located in the middle of New York City. The sandwich was great, the onion rings were crisp and the malted drink was A plus. For a grand total of $18.50, I wouldn’t mind stopping by again every day for lunch for the rest of my life. Until, you know, all the cholesterol gives me a heart attack. Good food, good service. Would recommend to anyone who is not looking forward to lose weight in the next ten years.