PrintRuss & Daughters Meshugge Sandwich is Crazy Good
Russ & Daughters has been hand-slicing fish on Manhattan’s Lower East side for more than twice as long as I’ve been alive—since 1914 to be specific. As a lover of smoked fish and caviar I’m ashamed to admit I’ve only been there twice. This is due to an incident that occurred about 10 years ago. On the advice of a Chowhound poster I ordered top-shelf smoked salmon with wasabi-flavored flying fish roe and cream cheese on an everything bagel. The counterman gave me much tsuris and proceeded to tell me that I was crazy for ruining the salmon’s delicate flavor with horseradish. About five years later I went to R&D for caviar and was glad to see a different person minding the store.
Last week I returned to the scene of my crime against the noble tradition of appetizing food and set things right by ordering R&D’s top of the line sandwich, the meshhugge. It consists of about a half a pound of fish with the cream cheese of your choice on the bagel of your choice. Of course they don’t slap just any old fish down on the bagel. They use the holy trinity of smoked fish: Scottish salmon, sable and sturgeon. There are a half-dozen varieties of cream cheese available to coat both sides of the bagel. For a brief moment I considered ordering the horseradish variety, but didn’t want to risk being banned for life from R&D. Instead I chose plain, which played well with the fish. I opted for an everything bagel, which for some odd reason had a light sprinkling of oats on top. As the guy behind the counter piled the fish high on the bagel a family of British tourists stared in wonder. Mum was quick to tell me how much better my bagel looked than the one she’d had for breakfast earlier that day. Indeed.
She wasn’t the only one coveting my sandwich. Check out the other dude behind the counter eyeballing it like a one-eyed cat peeking in a seafood store. At $19.45, the meshugge ain’t cheap, but it’s worth every penny. It’s got enough tasty smoked fish to satisfy even the biggest of fressers. Besides, $20 is a small price to pay to appease the appetizing gods for my prior sins.
Russ & Daughters
179. E. Houston Street, New York NY 10002 (map)
212-475-8880
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4 Comments:
$20, Joe? Yikes! A little steep for a couple slices of smoked fish on a bagel...
Then again, it's only as much as 5 pieces of a la carte nigiri sushi at Ushiwakamuru. And if we're talking about that kind of quality, then I guess we're okay.
No wait, it's still nuts.
misterjosh at 4:17PM on 08/27/08
"A couple of slices of smoked fish"? He said it's a half a pound! If you think about how much sturgeon and sable go for by the pound, this sandwich doesn't sound like such a bad deal at all.
Man, I haven't had smoked sable in ages, and I was just telling a friend about it this very morning. And now I read this! It's a sign--I have to get me down to Russ & Daughters.
klg19 at 4:51PM on 08/27/08
Considering that sable is $33 per pound and the sturgeon is $44 per pound its not such a bad deal. I have had the Super Heeb with after mentioned wasabi roe and it is simply amazing. I have yet to try the Mushhugge, but these post reminds that I need to.
dcschaub at 5:33PM on 08/28/08
I just drooled on myself. gulp....I love this store. I am in love with the caviar cream cheese.
marinaNY at 9:53AM on 08/29/08