Sunday Sandwiches: Supernatural Sandwiches

***Update SuperNatural Sandwiches now has a brick and mortar shop. you can read an updated post here

Sometimes it can be strange......I'll get an email from and "friend of a friend of a friend".....inviting me to drop their restaurant/coffee shop/deli..... I try to avoid being put into that position by just not going. Our not doing freebies policy works in our favor as well. It helps us to be honest when no strings are attached. It keeps things simple...."we eat, then write about it."

However, on occasion something interesting comes down the pike. As is the case with "Anthony", who knows my good friends John and PeterL. He and his partners own a stand called Supernatural Sandwiches. Anthony has commented on a couple of posts and shot me an email, which I answered, getting a very....how should I say it, enthusiastic response. Bread from Bread and Cie, fish from Catalina Offshore, produce from Suzie's Farms...all of which sounded great. Even though I haven't posted on it yet, we've been dropping by the San Diego Public Market on just about a weekly basis....so I thought what the heck? Of course there was the issue of Anthony knowing the twins..... which put me into a bit of a position. John assured me that whatever I had to say....or write would not put him or his brother into a bad position with Anthony, and heck, they didn't like him anyway (Anthony, if you're reading this, that's a joke, ok?)!

So on my next trip down to SDPM, I drop by the stand, and a really, really, friendly young man greets me and takes my order. It's got to be Anthony of course. Very nice fellow and all that. Then of course, he asks me my name for the order ticket........ well, I'm not much of a liar, so I tell him "Kirk" and he doesn't blink an eye and writes my name down on my order. Great.....

The menu is a nice, tight, seven sandwiches....all of them named after mythical water creatures, kind of cute. So of course, all of the sandwiches are based on seafood.

On this day, we had two sandwiches:

And let me first say, I loved the bread, sort of a brioche toasted to perfection, not overly oily or buttery, with a hint of sweetness, and very light.

We started with the "Nessie" ($9), which at it's core is a white fish with a miso based glaze.

The sandwich itself was kind of wet, but the bread held up well. I wasn't too sure about this when I saw that it was halibut....we love halibut, but having made misoyaki style fish just about my entire life, I know that halibut was too dry to stand up to a miso glaze......

So what I had was a sopping sandwich with dry fish and a very mild miso based glaze at its core. It also looked like it could have spent a bit more time on the flat- top.

I'm sure other folks will like this.....I'd prefer something with a bit more oil and fat.....like black cod, which Catalina Offshore often has.

Our other sandwich was the "Hydra" ($9). This one is a blackened tuna (in this case albacore) with a spicy aioli and an acidic avocado based sauce.

 After the previous sandwich, I wasn't too sure about albacore, which can be a very dry fish. But in this case I was wrong. It was nicely seared, nice crust, I loved the seasonings, the aioli had a mild "zing" and the avocado sauce tempered the heat.

I really enjoyed this sandwich. It gave me a reason to return......

Last night, John joined us for dinner, and tells me right off, "hey, my friend Anthony told me you dropped by his sandwich stand a couple of weeks ago"....... And I had to crack up. Not too many Asians with a good Scottish name like Kirk I guess....

So earlier today, we're at SDPM, and I stop by Supernatural Sandwiches....of course Anthony is there and we chat a bit. Then one of the guys in the back asks me, "didn't I see you at Catalina Offshore yesterday?" Sheesh....these guys are everywhere!

This time around I ordered the "Siren" ($8), the garlic shrimp sandwich. I know this is made with Mexican White Shrimp from Catalina Offshore, so as long as it's not overcooked it'll probably be pretty good.

And it was. The shrimp were very moist, plump, and sweet. Even the Missus was impressed. The bread was the same, except this time it was expressed in the form of a lobster roll type bun, which was just perfect.

Everything went well, perhaps too much of a good thing with the garlic aioli, but I'm sure most folks will just love that. I'm thinking a bit more acid would help as well. But overall, no complaints.

I enjoyed this last sandwich, so I'll probably be back. And though I'm not one of those preaching "farm to table", I do appreciate the fresh and local ingredients. Sadly, as far as I know, you can only get these on Wednesdays and Sundays at the San Diego Public Market....for now....

Supernatural Sandwiches (In the San Diego Public Market)
1735 National Ave
San Diego, CA 92113

Wed and Sunday 9am - 2 pm

Comments

[kat]

looks good!

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - As a whole it was!

[Anthony Tran]

lol, Kirk I already know the twins don't like me...they just tolerate me until I can be replaced. Thank you for your feedback and critique. My partners and I will definitely taking your review and use it towards fine tuning our sandwiches as best as possible. Btw, from your first visit to our stand it took me until after you left with sandwiches in hand that I put two and two together and realized that it might be you. Once again it was a pleasure to meet you and catch up on a quick conversation regarding Bun Bo Hue yesterday.

[Kirk]

Hi Anthony - Likewise. It was a pleasure meeting someone so enthusiastic about what they serve.

[Lydia Wisz]

Great write up on Supernatural Sandwiches. The combination of ingredients make the sandwiches so delicious and I love the names of the sandwiches too...

[Kirk]

Thanks Lydia - They use good ingredients and I really like the bread.