lunch at ink sack

Yesterday we stopped by Michael Voltaggio's sandwich spot - Ink Sack - for a lesiurely lunch (oh how I love holiday vacation). We ate at his restaurant Ink (see post here) about a month ago and thought the meal was incredible.

We had high expectations for these sandwiches. He did not underperform.

The sandwiches are 4 inches in size, so we ordered up 4 of them plus the chili lime pineapple and 2 cookies. Yeah, we were hungry kids.

We started off with the chili lime pineapple. Refreshing with just a bit of kick from the spices. There was a sweet spice and a smoky spice - my best guess is cayenne and chili de arbol. I'm envisioning this as a cocktail. Yes, my head is in the right place.

Our clear favorite was the Cold Fried Chicken with homemade ranch dressing, shredded lettuce, and pickles. The chicken was rich, juicy, and crispy. The ranch was tangy and creamy.

The runner up was the Jose Andres with chorizo, serrano, and lomo meats paired with manchego cheese. The best part of the sandwich was the pepper salsa. A sweet and spicy combination of chopped olives and peppers.

The banh mi had delicious cuts of pork butt and shoulder, pickled vegetables, and chicharrones. We've had a few traditional banh mi's with stronger pickling flavors and more spice, but ink sack's version was tasty in itself. The meats were higher quality, the flavors a bite more mild, and the chicharrones added a unique crunchy texture.

The spicy tuna was light and delightful with miso-cured albacore, sriracha mayo, and strips of nori. The miso and nori add a particularly salty flavor, but after 2 bites, I was hooked. The thick cut heirloom tomatoes mellowed out the salty flavors.

We rounded out the meal with the cookies. Ok, that's a lie. I actually started off the meal with the cookies. I completely fail at the mantra "no dessert before dinner" - or in this case lunch. But I only had 1 - ok 2 - bites of each cookie before the sandwiches came out. Our favorite was the Mexican Chocolate Chip with it's flakes of salt and chunks of chocolate. The gooey chocolate was fudgy, rich, and delicious - it's perfect for all you chocolate lovers out there.

We had some cookie leftovers and enjoyed them with our Intelligentsia cappuccinos later on. Yeah, life could be worse.

Ink Sack
8360 Melrose
Los Angeles 90069
Tues - Sat 11a-8p