Sandwich Sundays Presents: The Monk

The Monk

homemade

B+

The evolution of our signature vegetarian sandwich continues. We're calling this the Monk because it's an abbreviated version of the Monkey, and also because it's a little more serene and thoughtful. Can a sandwich be thoughtful? We think so. We tightened up the veggie selection to create a balance of fresh flavors and textural variation, and maintained the slightly rich, satisfying foundation of cream cheese topped with sunflower seeds. On top of that, there's a layer of thin cucumber slices, then meaty slabs of heirloom tomato and super-thin rings of raw red onion. On the ceiling: Inglehoffer creamy dill mustard with lemon and capers, a true treasure. Getting everything in one bite happens naturally, and it's quite delicious—sweet, juicy, cool, creamy and crunchy, with just a bit of sharpness from the onion and the rainbow tastiness of the mustard. The only reason this isn't an A sandwich is the bread, which is utterly delicious but too big and too crusty-hard to bite through. A thick and broad French loaf is hard to resist but not the best beast for sandwich building. Maybe we'll try it on a baguette next time. 

Prime Roast Beef

Prime Roast Beef at The Blind Pig

theblindpiglasvegas.com

A

Two straight French dips on allsandwich? Sure, why not. This classic style of sandwich deserves to be recognized, especially when it's elevated as is the case at the new Blind Pig. Thinly sliced prime rib, still a beautiful medium rare, is layered on this crusty French roll with crunchy fried shallots, melty provolone, and a nostril-tingling horseradish cream. Every bite is beefy as it should be, and the melty-crisp textures are sublime. Then you get the toasty bread in warm, savory jus, too? Yep. That'll do, Pig.

Texas Dip

Texas Dip at Roadrunner Saloon

roadrunnerlasvegas.com

B

A classic French dip doesn't need to be toyed with. As long as the beef is lean and juicy, the roll is fresh, and the little cup of jus is hot, you're good. The Roadrunner may call this a Texas Dip, but it's still just what you're looking for: thinly sliced sirloin—a bit too well done as a perfect dip should be rare to medium rare, but not a big deal, especially in this Vegas video poker bar—is generously layered on this long French roll, dabbed with a bit of creamy horseradish that you can't see but can certainly taste, and covered with melting Jack cheese. It's a big, beefy bite, and yes, that jus is hot. Just right.

Baja Vegetarian

Baja Vegetarian at Sausagefest

sausagefestfoodtruck.com

A

If you're lucky enough to come across the Sausagefest food truck in Las Vegas, attack it. The flavors are magnificently huge, and maybe most impressively, they stay that way if you go the vegetarian route. This is a veggie version of a smoked apple and sage sausage, and every morsel pops with sweet and savory awesomeness. Inside its soft bun, it's topped with the truck's Baja style selections: avocados, tomatoes, onions and smoky chipotle salsa. It's spicy, it's fresh and it's crazy delicious. You'll never know or care that this baby is meatless.

Crunch Burger

Crunch Burger at Bobby's Burger Palace

bobbysburgerpalace.com

B+

In the pantheon of famous chefs doing burger joints, Bobby Flay falls securely into the "not fucking around" category. Note the sesame seed bun, no brioche or ciabatta or other, well, fuckingaroundness. Note the massive amount of American cheese—straight-up, tangy, processed—melted all over this simply seasoned burger patty, which is, by the way, medium rare and super juicy. Of course, he's Flayed it up by adding Lay's potato chips, his own personal touch. It's nice, lending salt and texture to a basic, delicious burger. If you order this instead of one of the creatively topped sandwiches at Bobby's Burger Palace, you're gonna have to sauce it up at the table with jalapeño green stuff, the A-1ish burger sauce, chipotle ketchup or something else. This burger is a bit too basic, but what's there is executed perfectly. We'll be back to the new Vegas location to try the other burgers soon.

Pancake PBJ

Pancake PBJ

homemade

B

This is how we do peanut butter and jelly over here. That's crunchy peanut butter, homemade plum jam from a friend, and the silver dollar buttermilk pancakes are just right. Boom.

Chicken Crinkle

Chicken Crinkle

homemade

B

This homemade sandwich is a byproduct of a recent menu taste testing for Pterodactyl, a project we're very excited about. Anyways, the meat here is grilled chicken thigh that had been marinated in a gochujang-based sauce. The spicy-sour-sweet flavors were not quite strong enough on this attempt, but that's easily remedied. Even so, the chicken is tender and juicy and delicious—thigh meat is so forgiving—even if it's piled a bit sloppily on this potato bun. Those are butter lettuce leaves and crinkle cut French fries, adding some nice, fresh textures. Invisible is a smear of the homemade cognac mustard. So there's plenty of bite here, though the fries muddle things a bit. It could be refined a bit into a killer sandwich … but this is not the creation this particular chicken was made for. Stay tuned.