This may disappoint the great kendynamo.
The sandwich: Turkey Joe from the Millburn Deli, Millburn, N.J.
The construction: Sliced turkey with Swiss cheese, Russian dressing and cole slaw on sourdough rye bread. There are three slices of bread in all — I believe it goes bread>turkey>bread>cheese>cole slaw>dressing>bread — and the sandwich is cut into thirds.
Important background information: The Millburn Delicatessen is a beautiful place, and something of a sandwich oasis. It’s also not terrible far out of the way when traveling from Westchester to DC, assuming you’re circumventing the five boroughs by starting on the Tappan Zee Bridge.
There are bright colors and delicious-looking meats and pre-made sandwiches everywhere. Everything in there says amazing deli. Only thing is, I struggled to figure out their system — they had a red take-a-number thing with an LED sign, but as soon as I came in one of the deli men asked for my order. But I wasn’t ready!
This happens to me sometimes: I panic. As a former deli man myself, I want so badly to accommodate my brethren behind the counter that I just sort of blurt out an order instead of carefully considering what it is I really want. I remember it being something of a pain in the ass when I would have to wait on someone who couldn’t make up his mind, so I overcompensate and often wind up costing myself.
That’s how I came to the Turkey Joe. It seemed like the Sloppy Joes are the thing to get at the Millburn Deli, and turkey was the first one on the list. Sort of a choke-job on my part.
What it looks like:
How it tastes: Like cole slaw. There’s turkey and cheese in there somewhere, and if I think about it I can kind of pick out the creamy sweetness of the Russian dressing, plus the bread is soft, fresh and excellent. But the overwhelming flavor here is unmistakably the cole slaw that’s dripping out the sides of the sandwich and onto my pants.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s really good cole slaw — I’m guessing it’s housemade, and it’s definitely not the soggy shreds that come out of big plastic jugs at many delis. The cabbage maintains its crunch and its got a nice, sweet, vinegary flavor to it.
But someone tell me: Is the big revelation here just that cole slaw is really good on a sandwich? Because I knew that already. And beyond that, it’s hard to figure what’s special about the Turkey Joe here. Again, that’s not to say it isn’t tasty; it is. I guess I’m just eager to know why it’s considered a destination sandwich by so many in Jersey.
Dividing the sandwich into three is a nice touch. Creating triangles rather than squares gives the eater better angles at which to bite into the sandwich, a concept I toyed with way back in Sandwich Week.
I suppose I should note something about the extra slice of bread in the middle of the sandwich — club-sandwich style — which I support in principle because screw Atkins. But the bread was thin enough, and weighed down enough by the massive heap of cole slaw, that it was difficult to distinguish on the inside of the sandwich.
What it’s worth: I think it cost $7.25, and there was a lot of sandwich here. I was only able to eat two of the three sections in my first sitting, which meant I was able to eat more — and get more cole slaw on my pants — around the time I hit Baltimore.
How it rates: 76 out of 100. A tasty and well-constructed sandwich, but static in flavor. Needs bacon.
