In Adams, sandwiches with panache

SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2012

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ADAMS —It’s a little hard to find, but it’s well worth the effort.

McDermott’s Midtown Deli is on Route 11 just north of the center of the village. It’s housed in a small building that it shares with an insurance agency and a real estate brokerage. The deli also shares the sign by the road with the other businesses.

The real landmark is the gigantic fake gorilla at the Fuccillo car dealership across the street. After driving right past the deli and the gorilla, we did a quick U-turn and found a parking spot in the deli/insurance/realty lot.

Inside, we discovered a cozy sandwich shop with several small tables along the walls and three high-tops down the center. The counter and open kitchen take up nearly half the place.

Paper and plasticized menus are on every table, and selections are written on blackboards on the wall. Choose from specialty sandwiches, tantalizing paninis, traditional deli sandwiches (with extra meat and double meat options) and meal-sized salads (antipasto, Greek, Caesar, black and blue steak, and julienne).

Good signage tells you where to order and where to pick up your food. Signs on the walls provide additional information, including bread choices, salad dressings and house-made sauces.

We entered our order at the counter and picked out soft drinks from the cooler next to it. We grabbed small containers of potato and macaroni salad and squeezed our lunch party of three into a high-top for two.

We got two of their cleverly named specialty sandwiches. All sandwiches come with choice of a small bag of Jean’s potato chips or dill pickle slices.

“Jersey Joe” ($6.99) consisted of turkey, roast beef, Swiss cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing. We ordered it on wheat bread. It was a large, tasty sandwich with plenty of fresh meat and really good cole slaw that gave it a nice crunch. The perfect amount of Russian dressing added a nice flavor without overwhelming.

“Pig Shack” ($6.99) was made with ham, bacon, cole slaw, mayo and barbecue sauce with our call of sourdough bread. It tops the list and is labeled their most popular specialty sandwich.

Like the Jersey Joe, it came wrapped in deli paper, and was happily delivered to our crowded table by the young gal who had just constructed it behind the counter. The bread was fresh, as were the ham/slaw/bacon overstuffed between the thick slices of sourdough. The flavors melded together to provide the taste of Southern barbecue right there in midtown Adams, N.Y.

There are other house specialty sandwiches: McDermott’s club, BLT, McDermott’s Dagwood and Morgan & Brandy (lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, roasted red peppers).

I’ve been hooked on Cuban sandwiches lately. A Cuban is a traditional pressed sandwich made with ham, pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and sweet and spicy mustard. I had mine on sourdough bread.

It’s a grilled sandwich that originated in Cuba and more recently became popular in Florida communities with large immigrant populations. I’ve had them there, and McDermott’s was a decent representation of how a Cuban should be made.

A Cuban is one of their panini selections. Others include Reuben (corned beef or turkey), ultimate grilled cheese (provolone, cheddar and American), chicken or tuna salad melt and portobello mushroom served on ciabatta bread.

For a full-fledged salad we got a large tossed salad ($5.75), made with iceberg lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumbers and croutons. The salad, nothing out of the ordinary, was delivered in a clear plastic to-go container which made it a little clumsy to eat.

For a salad dressing, we chose a new one to me, “cusabi.” Cusabi is made with wasabi (Japanese horseradish), pureed cucumber and lemon juice. A unique dressing—the spiciness of the horseradish playing against the coolness of the cucumber. We’d get that again next time.

The potato salad and macaroni salad were just average. Both were a little heavy on the onion. The potato salad looked like some of the potatoes had been pureed; the mac salad had a greasy look rather than being mayonaissey. Maybe both had spent too much time in their little plastic containers.

However, we found the bread to be noteworthy. It comes from New York Bakery in Syracuse, which has been baking breads in the European tradition since 1951.

Lunch for three came to $35.16 for three hearty sandwiches plus an entr�e salad, the potato and macaroni side salads along with three drinks.

McDermott’s also does catering, providing specialty meat trays, fruit platters and salads made to order.

McDermott’s Midtown Deli has been around for two years now, and has a good thing going in Adams. Overall, the quality of the food was good, the service quick and friendly, the atmosphere pleasant and welcoming.

Stop by if you’re down that way. Look for the big blue gorilla, and McDermott’s is right across the street.

You can contact restaurant reviewer Walter Siebel via email: wsiebel@wdt.net.

McDermott’s Midtown Deli

10412 Route 11

Adams, N.Y

232-3333

Check out their page on Facebook.

A pleasant little deli/sandwich shop serving specialty sandwiches, paninis, traditional deli sandwiches, meal-sized salads and side salads.

HOURS: 10 a.m. to 7p.m. Monday through Thursday

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Our sandwich recommendations: Pig Shack, Jersey Joe, Cuban