Salumi

Salumi
309 3rd Ave S
Seattle, WA

Taste is something subjective. There have been instances where I eat things people would look at me funny (offal, anybody?), while there are instance of food that, while I eat it, it won’t be my first choice, yet people seem to love it (cream of broccoli, who the !#!@#$!@^%#$ thought that was good?). Among the food bloggers here in Vancouver, I have been accused of being the pickiest one and end up disliking a lot more restaurants than my peers. However, at the same type, I think I have been fair in the sense that I provide details as to why I dislike something and, if somebody provides a reasonable explanation of why my assessment is wrong, I am more than willing to do re-visits. Of course, assuming that place is at arm’s reach and does not cost an arm and a leg…

A couple of months ago, fellow blogger Sherman (of Sherman’s Food Adventures) visited Salumi, a well known deli shop in Seattle, which claim to fame includes it being owned by the father of Mario Batali. Unfortunately, according to his post, his experience was subpar which lead to a mass of angry men (and women?) carrying pitchforks demanding Sherman’s head. For the most part, that subsided and felt into oblivion, if it wasn’t for a visit to a local cafe called Finch’s, which re-ignited that angry mob sentiment. I have known Sherman for some time already and, for the most part, I understand where he comes from when he says he does not like something. As a result, I suggested a compromise: If you believe Sherman was wrong, give a reasonable explanation as why you believe he is wrong and what he should have ordered. Of course, Seattle being ~250Km away does not mean we can take a day trip and find out right away (not to mention Salumi has a limited operating hours)… Fortunately, I was scheduled to go to Tacoma and thanks to the way my trip was scheduled, I had a window of opportunity to visit Salumi.

Now, trying to avoid Sherman’s mistake, I did a small poll which, unfortunately, was met with lack of comments. Given such small sample wouldn’t have ended up being representative of the options so, in lieu of that, I decided to do the next best thing: ask personally what is the best sandwich.

When I arrived (after circling around a couple of times; this was due to the way the streets were laid out, as 3rd merged with 4th without much signaling), at 10:50 a.m. I must add, there was already a short line. What, you guys, don’t you have to work or do something else rather than have such an early lunch? Fortunately, that gave me the chance to talk to people already in line and, rather than giving me several different answers, I was told of one in particular – more in a moment. In the meantime, here is the menu:

One thing quite evident of Salumi is that it is not necessarily laid out to be an efficient operation (from a restaurant perspective). It was literally a long corridor with a fridge first where you could see hanging cured meats, followed by the staff preparing the sandwiches, followed by a cashier and, at the very end, a small communal table. However, since people are willing to wait, I guess it is either really good or the hype has gone over their heads.

When it was my turn, I ordered two sandwiches. I originally intended to eat half and half and save the remaining halves for Mijune (of Follow Me Foodie – her post on Salumi, here!), whom I promised I will bring some. However, that plan partially changed based on the suggestions. In the end, I ate half on-site and brought the remaining plus the second sandwich (which we ended up sharing with Mijune). So, for the first sandwich, their porchetta sandwich – “Salumi’s tribute to the Pig. Pork butter-flied and stuffed with our own sausage meat and spices“.

As you could see from in one of the previous pictures, they have cold sandwiches and hot sandwiches – hot/cold, of course, refers to the temperature. In the case of the hot sandwiches, it mostly meant cooked; while cold meant cured meats. Unless I overlooked something the sandwich does not necessarily match the description, i.e., there wasn’t sausage in the straight sense of the word. However, this is one of the instances where I will overlook the description and focus instead in the actual product.

The bread was crispy, not too dense which served as a good container for the fillings. The peppers and the onions where meh. I did not feel it added much, specially considering the onions were white onions rather than red onions, which I think would have added a bit more sweetness. However, again, the key here is not those additions, but the pork itself. And, I will have to admit that is a pretty good darn pork! At first, I thought it was something akin to pulled pork sandwich. Meat-wise, they were but, at the same time, they are different: they were actually chunks of well cooked and seasoned pork meat. They were juicy (had to use several paper napkins and was making a real mess while eating it) and did not have that dry meat feeling (something that can occur with, say, overcooked brisket). After eating half, I had to hold myself as, otherwise, I would have ended up eating the whole thing!

The second sandwich is the muffo, which contains “more than one meat” along with cheese and a tapanade. I got this one partially on purpose: it was one of the ones Sherman and Viv had and “complained” it was brought out from the fridge. That was indeed the case, in fact, the sign says it is prepared in the morning and, I guess to keep it cool, they are indeed stored in the fridge. However, for a $9, I have a bit of mixed feelings. I thought it was a bit too salty (doh, cured meats plus olives!)… OK, saltier than expected. Furthermore, the bread was a bit too chewy; however, the 2+ hours drive can account for that issue. If I ate the cured meat by itself, it would be great. Combined… Well, it was still good, just that, not as good as I thought it could be, specially considering its $9 range and it being in the same dollar range as the porchetta..

If I go by my experience alone, I would say there are some items that are better than others and, if you stick with those, you can’t go wrong. In retrospective, since Sherman did not order the “correct item in the menu”, once again, I understand where he is coming from, specially considering his thoughts about the muffo were mostly the same as mine. So, sorry Sherman, you will have to go back and, this time, order the porchetta… Road trip… When, then?

To close this post, as a funny note, there was a special for that day that I am not sure how it would taste but, as described, strange would be the best word. How about egg and spaghetti in a bun?

Tagged under: Sandwich • Seattle