Roast - Melville

[Siobhan]

Stopped here for a sandwich and salad for lunch. Got the Roast Beef Melt - onions, swiss, garlic horseradish on a hero roll. Very good, very juicy, nice roll.

Roasted beet salad was also good.

Order at the counter, a few small tables. Nice and clean looking. Very small parking lot.

http://www.roastsandwichhouse.com/men...

827 Walt Whitman Road.

[Jeffsayyes]

is this where Dinos was and Peace Street?
Never got to dino's, but i liked peace street most of the time. that location is a nasty location.
there was also gringos there after peace st.

[Scott_R]

That's the place.

[Jeffsayyes]

Went. it's a bit expensive (not as much as coliseum deli), but it's a damn good sandwich. I hope they will survive. they should do catering to businesses that care about their employees.

[Scott_R]

Most of the sandwiches are under $8. That's for components that are pretty much all house-made (where applicable). That's expensive?

[mcf]

We ate there tonight, it's downright cheap, if you ask me, for the quality. We shared a turkey cobb salad and a roast beef melt on sourdough. The quality of the ingredients (dark leaved baby lettuces, beautiful just firm yolk on the hardboiled egg, fabulous bacon and dressings) and the care taken with prep is so much better than other places charging more. Very friendly and enthusiastic vibe, and the place was full up when we got there, not long before closing. I don't eat bread as a rule, but the salad was very good, and so was the part of the sandwich I tasted. Two thumbs up from our house.

[Scott_R]

I went back last week; had a very good sandwich, but the fries were disappointing.

[mcf]

bummer. I don't eat fries, and I really don't eat bread, so as much I I liked the food, I pretty much don't go. The salad I had was good, though, as was the one bite of bread I had.

[Scott_R]

I rarely eat fries, but my lunch companion ordered it so I had some. I *do* love bread, though (so much that I rarely get toast when I go out for breakfast, because it's almost invariably disappointing), and their's was better than average.

On the other hand (I think I ran out of hands), I hate mayo, so much so that the mere smell of it puts me off, and most of the sandwiches here have mayo--or its close cousin, aioli--so I pretty much always ask for it to be left off.

Oh, why can't they use more mustard! The King of Condiments.

[Jeffsayyes]

if by under 8 dollars, you mean 7.99, then yeah you could make that argument. The panini's and wraps are in the 7-8 dollar range. I'm not used to paying that much for a sandwich, but as I said, it was "damn good"

[burton]

Totally agree. The sandwiches are particularly good, including specials, with lots of appealing and varied options. Soups and salads also good. Really nice people, smooth operation. More than worth the price.

[mcf]

My only criticism is not about the quality of food, but the ratio of protein to bread... not enough in between the slices, but it all tasted very good and I liked the proprietors.
Tough location, so I hope the buzz about them lasts.

[Scott_R]

Have you found that so for all the sandwiches? I've only had the panini there, which would, I'd guess, seem to have a higher ratio (the bread having been compacted by the press). OTOH, I might be biased, as I've come to the way of thinking that we're a protein-obsessed society, and that we don't need so much, though that translates into my wanting more plant matter as a consequence, not simply less inside.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/...

[mcf]

I haven't eaten all the sandwiches, but we are a carb fattened society that's too often protein starved, and while I eat boatloads of veggies, eating them *instead* of protein foods rather than with them is a recipe for public health disaster. Switching to a diet of mostly protein and fat plus veggies has improved my health in a way nothing else could.

[Scott_R]

Not trying to hijack the thread totally OT, but I've been that route and it didn't last; I've greatly reduced my meat protein intake and am in the best shape I've been in 15 years. Rather than going into the issue here (i.e., keeping it off the thread), did you happen to read the NY Times link I posted?

Back on topic. What I meant by my question about the sandwiches is that the Roast menu is separated into "Sandwiches" and "Panini's [double sic] & Wraps"; I've only had the panini. The sandwiches, listed separately, might have a higher bread to innards ratio than the panini do.

[mcf]

Have you read Gary Taubes or the online journal Nutrion and Metabolism? Unlike Bittman, they're purely and accurately scientifically oriented and accurate.

I developed severe metabolic syndrome on carby/plant based diet, and reversed all the diabetic damage I'd acquired from it over a decade now of increasingly low carb, high fat and protein eating without any meds.

I didn't have panini, but the bread slices for sandwiches were huge. The inside was good quality and tasty, but slim pickings. My meal was salad with roast beef, typical for me at home, too. Just too shy on the protein for my needs, though it's clearly how they keep prices down. That's why poor folks are simultaneously the most obese and malnourished; starchy carbs are cheap and readily available.

[Scott_R]

Taubes? This guy?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=thin-body-of-evidence-why-i-have-do-2011-05-16
I've heard him on WNYC. Again, like I said, I'd been down that route years ago.

A foodie site posted a picture of one of Roast's panini:
http://ispeakfoodie.com/wp-content/up...
It seems to have a high ratio of protein to bread.

[The Chowhound Team]

Just a quick request that this discussion remain focused on the food at Roast, rather than general conversation about nutrition and diets, which is off-topic for a regional board. Thanks.

[Jeffsayyes]

Good!

Anybody try Gimme 2 yet? across from the mall...
its much cheaper, though small sandwiches. I had a couple of sandwiches. the fries are great, and the mini brownies are fantastic actually.

[Scott_R]

Hi, Siobhan. Yep, I like the place too. There's also parking in the back if that wasn't evident (you have to go down the side street to reach it).

[Siobhan]

Didn't see it but , of course, the snow.....

[Scott_R]

there's a little break between the building that houses Roast and the one just to the south (a jeweler or something). You can't get through there to the back (those concrete parking thingies) but that show where the rear parking is, accessible from the street at the light, across from the 7-11.