Restaurant Review: The American Cheesesteak Co.
THE AMERICAN CHEESESTEAK CO. 781 Davie Street ~ americancheesesteak.com Twitter: @thecheesesteak ~ Instagram: @thecheesesteak Co-Diner: Tim Golem
I thought that we were going to be moving away from an abundance of bread and cheese... But I guess that isn’t quite the case when there’s cheesesteak sandwiches on the menu! I had been looking forward to trying The American Cheesesteak Co. ever since seeing it on season 2 of You Gotta Eat Here! and I finally got my chance. You’ll find it downtown in a happening area full of many restaurants. This place is the late Chef Anthony Sedlak’s restaurant. We popped in on a Friday night and I was a little bit surprised that it wasn’t busier. They run a casual system where you order at the counter and then go to sit wherever you want. The space is a modern take on “fast food” with white-painted exposed brick and plenty of chrome. I especially liked the pop art style pieces on the walls. We approached the counter and looked over the selection of nine different cheesesteaks; some traditional and some specialty. A cheesesteak is a type of sandwich that was invented in Philadelphia, hence the name “Philly cheesesteak.” The main components include shaved prime rib grilled up with melty cheese, served on a hoagie-style bun. This was the first place selling them in Vancouver. They serve beer and milkshakes, but I simply chose a Dad’s Rootbeer ($3.00). They also offer some interesting sides beyond the typical french fries, which include deep fried pickles and poutine. We easily went for the ACC Fries ($4.50) which sounded delicious. A pleasant staff member took our order and then we found a table to sit at.
Tossed in garlic butter + parmesan.
They boast that their fries have been triple fried for the perfect crispy texture. And they sure looked amazing! I liked the golden crispiness of the fries but I also found them a little bit dry. The flavour of these wasn’t as exciting as I had hoped. The parmesan was nice but the garlic butter didn’t really come through.
The main event, of course, was the cheesesteak. I knew that I wanted the Bigshot ($13.00) from the Specialty section right away. They also sell interesting takes on a Korean bulgogi and Vietnamese bánh mì that I would be interested to try.
Sautéed wild mushrooms, provolone, truffle aioli, crispy onions.
To me, this sounded like the best way to enjoy a cheesesteak by far. However, I noticed some discrepancies. This particular sandwich was also featured on You Gotta Eat Here! and the ingredients used on the show (in 2013) seemed to be somewhat different/better than what is currently offered in the restaurant today. On the show, the sandwich was made with a mix of crimini, oyster, and king mushrooms, waygu beef, fontina cheese, truffle mayonnaise, and fried shallots. (Sounds incredible, am I right?!) It doesn’t seem that wagyu is on the docket anymore, nor the fontina. None the less, this cheesesteak was very good. And giant!! The bread was warm, soft, and crusty, but not too bready. I can’t confirm what types of mushrooms are being used currently, but they were tender and tasty, a perfect compliment to the truffle aioli. Speaking of the truffle aioli, its big truffle flavour was my favourite part of the whole sandwich - delicious! The cheese was mild and melty and the onions were crispy and abundant. And then of course the beef itself was very good. Savoury and tender, it was cooked to perfection and was the star of the show. I would easily order this again.
Lastly, they have a special dessert called Coney Island Frozen Custard, so we had a single scoop ($5.00) of that.
What makes it different from ice cream is that it’s made with eggs. We got the french vanilla flavour (classic) and it was nice. Very creamy and bursting with bright vanilla flavour. I enjoyed this place. The sandwiches are legit good and they are doing Philly cheesesteak right. While I was a tad underwhelmed in some areas, they have other things on the menu that I look forward to trying out.