(photo by Katie)
As I’ve told a lot of my out-of-town friends, NYC is (luckily) not quite the same as the rest of the world; we are missing a lot of chain restaurants. Chili’s, Denny’s, and Ruby Tuesday’s are totally absent; many of the “common” places (Outback/Red Lobster/Olive Garden) have only one or two locations. Hell, we have one 7-11 in all of Manhattan, and that just opened a month or two back.
It had been about thirteen years since I last ate at a Bennigan’s, and when I heard one had opened near Times Square, well, I just couldn’t help myself. I had a fever – a fever for Monte Cristo.
You see, Monte Cristo sandwiches aren’t hard to come by in the city – but they are when you want them the way Bennigan’s does them. Deep fried, dusted in powdered sugar, and served with delicious raspberry jelly, it’s the sandwich equivalent of a deep-fried Snickers bar. In the eyes of some, it single-handedly represents all that could be considered wrong with the casual dining industry.
That said, it’s delicious. Absolutely delicious. It is a sandwich without parallel.
My stomach, of course, couldn’t handle it – I only made it through two of the four gigantic slices served to me. I hope to some day return, and perhaps complete the whole thing. I get the feeling, though, that Katie may attempt to bar me from ever going to Bennigan’s again, out of fear that I’ll once again order this golden brown monstrosity.