Beef brisket sandwich (Tommy DiNic's)

Last time I went to Reading Terminal market, I did the touristy thing and went straight to DiNic's to get a roast pork sandwich. While I still fully believe that most things that are tourist attractions end up being pretty second rate, that sandwich was supremely good... juicy, flavorful, and filled with pork so tender that it'd tempt even the most orthodox of Jews. Oh yes, it's like the Moses of sandwiches (not that he tempted anyone into doing anything inappropriate... I don't think?). But as I walked up to the counter to pay for my sandwich that time, something caught my eye... a beautiful slab of fatty beef covered shamelessly with a layer of burnt crust. My knees grew weak as buyer's remorse set in. I knew I had to have that sandwich.

Fast forward four months and I finally go back to Reading Terminal Market since my sister and her friends were visiting Philly (I really have no reason to go there by myself). Like a man possessed, I bolted to DiNic's. I didn't care what anyone else said... fuck everything else in the market, we were standing on that stupid-ass line no matter how long it spanned, and we were getting me a beef brisket sandwich with provolone and broccoli rabe. End of story.



I patiently stood on the line for thirty minutes, fidgeting around like a little kid who has to pee really bad (out of excitement). I imagine my face looked something like this when I got to the counter ಥ_ಥ (tears of happiness). I was then told there were no more greens. Whoa whoa whoa... hold up. But the person before me got them! Are you telling me that if I had clenched my butt cheeks, thrown down the hammer, and sauntered just slightly faster to the line that guy could've been me? Seriously, f7u12... insert rage guy. I begrudgingly accepted sweet peppers and paid with my head down ಧ_ಧ to conceal my tears of disappointment.

Except it really isn't that bad either way. The sweet peppers themselves are absolutely delicious, I was just really curious about how the greens would play out against the flavor of the provolone. So it's not like the kind of disappointment where your parents forgot your birthday, but where they got you the wrong flavor of cake or something. It's really just me being a bitch about something insignificant. The bread is the same, which is to say average and suitable for the job... nothing noteworthy or memorable. The beef though, it delivers. A fine mixture of delicately shredded fat laden beef sits atop a base of provolone, just stewing in its own beef juices, this is what all sandwiches should be built like. Combo'd with the peppers and you get a mildly sweet and savory flavor profile packed in a dense hoagie of meat.

Yep, the beef brisket at DiNic's is another sandwich that'll have you changing your pants. The juices... they are inevitable.