#5 In-House Smoked Turkey

Tat's gets busy at lunch.  It's understandable, it's hands-down the best place in Pioneer Square to get enough food in your belly to get through the rest of a work day.  The difference between Tat's and Salumi is that at Tat's the line moves.  The regular to tourist ratio is HIGH and the folks who work at Tat's know what's up.  You want a sandwich.  They make it happen.

It was almost 1pm and I hadn't eaten, so I checked the Tat's Line Cam on a whim.  There was no line in sight.  I walked over and decided to move down the list of Hoagies.  I was still thinking about the Italian I had a few weeks ago.

Next up, the "In-House Smoked Turkey."  I wasn't excited. I thought about skipping it.  If I'm being honest with myself I'll say that if I wasn't doing EVERYTHING at Tat's I would never in my life order this sandwich.  Turkey is fine, sure, but a Turkey sandwich at a restaurant inevitably means turkey breast, which is a close second to chicken breast on list of meats I don't ever want to eat.  Bred to the point where all fat (ie: flavor) has been removed from an already lean cut of meat, turkey/chicken breasts don't have much going for them.

The menu description says "In-House Smoked Turkey Breast w/ Swiss.. The Best! Make it a club and add thick-cut bacon."  I tooked their suggestion and got everything and the bacon.

It's a hefty sandwich.  The smoke on the turkey is there for sure, but in the context of the sandwich it's very subtle.  The Swiss is almost imperceptible, but it holds everything together.  The bacon is a good call, it fits well into the sandwich.  The balance of ingredients/meat/bread in this is perfect.  I am way more excited about this sandwich than I'd ever have imagined I could be.  Like the Italian it's clean and filling, perfect for when you aren't in the mood for a gut-bomb.

There's a few details about it that could be improved - diced yellow onions are a weird touch here, where thin sliced red onions would have been amazing.  The yellows were just bitter and came in a large dice.  That's about it, though.  Tat's nails it yet again.