Rye is located on the south side of Williamsburg and has been getting press for a while, much of it due to their meat loaf sandwich.  I can honestly say that the SANDWICH in general is one of  my favorite foods (tacos and dumplings are up there too).  Since I started eating meat again, about a year and a half ago, I’ve been open to many more sandwiches, and this is one not to be missed.

Before I move on to the meat loaf itself I would like to let you know about the dining experience at Rye.  Rye is a large restaurant in a more or less unmarked store front on South 1st Street in Williamsburg.  The location is so nondescript that we almost missed it when trying to eat here (beware the buildings are numbered strangely on this blog of South 1st).  The restaurant is dimly lit, with candles on the tables, and has a very romantic vibe.  The wait staff was friendly and informative making the dining experience pretty much perfect.  I hate to compare places to Diner (my favorite), but overall Rye has a similar vibe…maybe even a better date spot than Diner (just due to the romantic nature of the space).

klk and I ordered a lot of food this night including a salad (it slips my mind the exact details of this), a scallop over pork belly with sauteed greens (one of the appetizer specials of the night),  arctic char over a bed of quinoa and beets (also a special, and a very nice piece of fish), a fancy cocktail and a beer (a wonderful cocktail list, and a small but well curated  selection of beers), some fries, and of course the meat loaf sandwich.

All of the food was wonderful, and we were completely impressed.  The scallop/ pork belly appetizer was something really special from the presentation: a single scallop balanced  on top of a choice cut of pork belly, to the taste….perfectly cooked to the point where it almost melted in your mouth.  The arctic char was a big piece of fish which was both tasty and healthy.  The only thing we regretted ordering were the fries, and they were damn good fries too, but we had already consumed so much food.

But now on to the  glazed meat loaf sandwich.

I had seen a picture of this sandwich online and in magazines, and from that moment I knew I had to eat it.  I had no idea what was in it until I did a little more research, and it is a sandwich that includes duck, veal, pork, and shortrib.  Kind of intense for the one time vegetarian, but it is an experience I’m happy say that I’ve tried.

When I think of meat loaf I think of a slice cut off a much larger loaf, but in this sandwich you get an individually made meat loaf stuck on a delicious roll, and topped with crispy buttermilk fried onion rings.  A taste over load.

You can try to compare this sandwich to a burger, but the complexity and density can’t be matched.  This is one of those sandwiches that I feel everyone should experience.  It’s almost too decadent of a sandwich, and similar to a burger in this way, that one can only be consumed every once and a while.  While the sandwich appears to be expensive, $14, it is a huge portion of food.  I was a little surprised that it was served whole, but I guess you need to admire the size of it before you eat it.  I cut the sandwich in half because I thought  I would look ridiculous picking up something so large in a place that felt fancy.

Eating it was both wonderful and a task.  If you don’t pace yourself you won’t be able to finish it.  I’m sure it makes for good leftovers, but for me I was particularly hungry that night.  Even for the hungry it is a large meal to finish.

The texture of the meat loaf it’s self was a little more dense and juicy than I expected.   The meat and the spices seemed to only complement each other, and I think I can safely say it was the best meat loaf I’ve ever had.  The icing on the cake (or sandwich in this case) was it’s  selection of, what I think were, house made pickles.  A nice addition to the presentation, and my plate had not just one type of pickle, but three made in different brines.

Even though I don’t plan to eat another glazed meat loaf sandwich for a while I know at some point I will end up craving this unique sandwich, and at that point I know where to go.   An amazing experience, and if you are up for the challenge of this monster of a sandwich you should definitely head over to Rye.

Rye is a great dining experience, and a must try for those interested in creative dishes (even if you don’t order this sandwich I just raved about).  We were really impressed by the specials, and after tasting two non-menu items  I’m really looking forward to going back.

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Rye is located at
247 S 1st St
(between Roebling St & Havemeyer St)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

check out their menu here.

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We will see if I can keep up, but I’m trying to incorporate food and beer posts into the Great Pumpkin once a week now.  While they both won’t happen every week it’s something that I feel strongly about getting back to the diversity that I had when I started this blog.  Cheers,

• more of my food posts can be found here.
• Photo via Serious Eats.