Welcome to the Weekly's list of our 100 Favorite Dishes for 2011! Tune in every day until we get to número uno! Now, on to the latest entry.
Cream Pan makes many wondrous things. The strawberry croissant is legendary; but even their plain white bread is divine. The subject of today's post, as you can see by the picture, is a potato croquette sandwich: a panko-breaded, deep-fried mashed potato patty stuffed inside a roll of their own making, along with leaf lettuce,
tomato, a slice of cucumber, a smear of Thousand Island and a drizzle of
tonkatsu sauce.
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From the recitation of the ingredients alone,
those who do not know better would think that this would be a dull sandwich, or at the very least,
one that defies the rule that you don't put starch inside another
starch. But you'd be wrong to think so. This is a great sandwich. Flavorful,
filling, and rich, not to mention vegetarian (though not vegan because
of the mayo). This is a sandwich that easily surpasses their egg salad
and their katsu, which are merely okay by comparison.
And oh,
that bun. Made in-store, it's a soft roll that any other sandwich shop
would kill to have as their own. You could imagine it elevating
pastrami, corned beef, chicken salad. But here, it fulfills its truest
purpose, hugging the at-once crisp-mushy korokke and everything that
surrounds it.
The only way it could get even better is if it can be had when the korokke has just come off the fryer. But that's like asking for spare change when you've just won the lottery.
Click here for our 100 faves from 2010! The list so far this time around:
No. 71: Chorizo and Quail Egg on Toast at Sol del Sur
No. 72: Fried Brussels Sprouts at 320 Main
No. 73: G-Style Fries at G Burger
No. 74: Fried Cuttlefish at Benley
No. 75: Roti at Bangok Taste
No. 76: Wet Burrito at 301 Cafe
No. 77: Pork Curry at Miyabi-Tei
No. 78: Bánh Tieu at Bánh Mì So 1
No. 79: Any Sandwich at the Crosby
No. 80: Fish Pho at Pho Vinh Ky II
No. 81: Quesadilla Chilanga at Alebrije's Grill
No. 82: Lobster Roll at Lobsta Truck
No. 83: Nem Nuong Cuon at Nem Nuong Khanh Hoa
No. 84: Wild Boar Balinese Sausage at Valhalla Table
No. 85: Comida Corrida at Taquería La Raza
No. 86: Breakfast Burrito at Troy's Drive-In
No. 87: Mandoo at L&M Liquor and Deli
No. 88: Chicago Dog at Chicago Harv's
No. 89: Sweet Potato Tater Tots at Pee Wee's Famous
No. 90: Kaya-Stuffed French Toast at Chomp Chomp
No. 91: Egg Breakfast at Rick's Atomic Kitchen
No. 92: Sticky Rice With Chicken at Quan Hy
No. 93: Beef Koobideh at Hen House Grill
No. 94: $5 Fish Bento at Bentoss
No. 95: Milanesa Sandwich at Piaggio's Gourmet on Wheels
No. 96: Samurai Burrito at Wafu of Japan
No. 97: Carnitas Gordita at Bodega R Ranch Market
No. 98: Spam Musubi at k'ya Street Fare
No. 99: Tortilla Andorra at Anepalco's
No. 100: Lemongrass Chicken, Extra Spicy at Vietnam's Pearl
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.