By Tam Nguyen, Nguoi Viet
I thought you always needed two pieces of bread to make a sandwich.
My Bruxie patty melt made one Monday special. Photo by Tam Nguyen/Nguoi Viet.
I was wrong.
Seeking something different for lunch, I searched my phone for local restaurants one day while on assignment. Up popped words I never had seen before: gourmet waffle sandwiches. I decided to give it a try and headed to the Bruxie in Irvine, Calif., one branch of a seven-restaurant chain that claims to have “a new take on The Sandwich.”
And it does.
Using a waffle the restaurant calls “light, airy, crispy and not sweet,” the people at Bruxie have managed to turn just about anything into a sandwich. Got a taste for a tuna melt? How about hot pastrami? Or a roasted turkey club? All are possible, and it seems that just about anything can be molded into a sandwich on a waffle.
After struggling to find a parking spot at the Irvine location, I finally headed in to Bruxie, jammed with lunchtime diners. The smell of fresh waffles hit me the minute I entered. I must have looked a bit confused when confronted with the menu choices, so the clerk at the counter made some suggestions.
How about buttermilk fried chicken on a waffle? Or a hamburger? I passed on both. The clerk then recommended the Monday special: the patty melt. That sounded good, so I ordered the patty melt along with fries ― waffle-shaped, of course ― and strawberry lemonade. I passed on one of the other specialty drinks at Bruxie: pure cane sugar soda.
After about 15 minutes, my order arrived, steaming hot and smelling like a grilled onion burger. The patty was cut in half, topped with grilled onions, cheese, and their special sauce inside the folded waffle. At first bite you first notice the crispy waffle and the special Bruxie sauce that tastes like a sweeter thousand island salad dressing.
The beef patty was medium cooked and seasoned to perfection. The grilled onions and cheese added flavor to the patty, and the waffle stayed crispy to the last bite. The special sauce was delicious and added abundant taste.
The waffle fries and lemonade were pleasing but not spectacular. That’s a word reserved for the sandwich.
If it weren’t something special, why would I be craving a return visit to Bruxie next Monday?
For information on locations and the menu, go to www.bruxie.com.
