Sunday, August 14, 2011

Hoboken Sandwich Tour

Hoboken, NJ might now be best known for its cakes as the home of Carlo’s Bakery where “Cake Boss” is filmed. However, it was once famous for the bread bakeries that provided its Italian residents with a fresh loaf each day. In my opinion, if you have fresh bread then you are more than half way to a delicious sandwich! From all of the different bakeries come different loaves, each with its own sandwich following.  And I can't wait to check out all of the different versions of these classic subs.
 From Lto R: Fiore's Italian Combo and Roast Beef & Mozz, Park & Sixth's Park & Sixth and All-Star

 My friend Tim has lived in Hoboken for a while now and decided to host this taste test so that we could all try some of Hoboken’s finest. We tried two sandwiches from each shop and rated them from 1 to 5, with 5 being the perfect sandwich - bread, meat and cheese all delicious and in the perfect ratio. Technically, Park & Sixth closed their Hoboken location but because the sandwiches were such favorites we brought takeout from the Jersey City store which is near our apartment .

 Piccolo's CheeseSteak

Here are our results:
Fiore’s Roast Beef and Mozz: House roasted beef  thinly sliced with freshly made mozzarella - More of a standard style roast beef with thick slices of mozz - bread was good but bottom got very soggy - 4 stars

Piccolo’s Cheesesteak: Sandwich steaks topped with cheese and sauteed onions - Not even close to the Philly style but it was delicious with a great ratio of steak to bread that reminded you this was a steak first - 4 stars

Fiore’s Italian Sub: Italian cold cuts with lettuce, tomato, peppers topped with oil & vinegar dressing  - Really nice Italian cold cuts tasted freshly sliced, peppers were a bit spicy for me - 4 stars

Park & Sixth’s All Star:  Chicken Cutlet with Bacon, lettuce,  tomato and basil Mayo  - The most unique of the bunch, lettuce and tomato were nice with the crisp chicken cutlet - 4 stars

Vito’s Super Hero: Italian cold cuts with lettuce, tomato and peppers topped with oil & vinegar dressing - The mozzarella was the clear star in this sandwich - 4 stars

Piccolo's Italian Fran
Vito’s Hot Roast Beef Hero : Thin sliced House roasted beef with fresh mozzarella and brown gravy - The gravy warmed this sandwich which as nice but it didn't go as fast as the Fiore's version - 3.9 stars

Park & Sixth’s Park & Sixth:  Braised Beef brisket with fresh mozzarella and gravy - Might have been the sloppiest, the gravy definitely got the bread a bit mushy but wonderful flavor on beef compared to roast beef versions - 3.75 stars

Piccolo’s Italian Frank: Deep fried hot dog served with sauteed onions - The least favorite of the bunch, the hot dog was very good as far as hot dogs go, more like a spicy sausage taste - 2.3 stars