In the old days, pre-stroke, I was a regular at Lee’s Sandwiches, 3300 N. Classen. During my visits, while munching on a banh mi sandwich or two, I would reminisce about the tasty good times I shared with Lee's, and look forward to future visits to come.
Or so I thought.
Last week, I longed for those special times and tastes, wanting to reexamine Lee's enriched bread, mouthwatering meats, and strands of cilantro that have dogged me these few months. Determined, I set out for this grand sandwich place.
Even though it is a California company, Lee’s Sandwiches occupies its own genre in the local sandwich game, providing its own unique thing and then some in the form of Asian and European-style banh mi sandwiches. There's nothing else like it in OKC, and as far as I know, never will be.
So there I was, back at Lee’s, longing for my old favorites while searching for a new one. As I walked through the door, I was presented with some fresh pastries and other baked goods.
I quickly grabbed a 16 oz. bottle of Ca Phe Sua Da Original Café Latte Concentrate—it’s a mouthful but it will readily get you going – and a plump Coconut Raisin Roll.
As big as a dinner plate, the Coconut Raisin Roll was simply incredible. The sweet skin of sticky coconut goodness with slivers of raisins was rich and delicious and should be required eating for anyone who claims to like food.
I chose two sandwiches to reacquaint my spirit with Lee's.
For my new experience, I went with the Tuna Almond Baguette, which almost sounds like a sleek fishing boat. Ahoy-hoy!
This sandwich is a baguette filled with tuna, almonds, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise, with pickle, pepperoncini, red onions, and mustard. Crunchy on the outside, with soft and tasty tuna in the middle, it was the top catch of the day!
I then turned my attention to old reliable: one of my favorite sandwiches of all time – The Grilled Pork sandwich.
Proving that some things never change, the Grilled Pork was as delicious as ever, firing on all cylinders! Prepared on a sumptuous 10-inch baguette, it had grilled pork, daikon and carrots, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno, as well as their soy house and house mayonnaise.
Truthfully, it was the most fabulous sandwich that I've ever stuffed into my mouth.
The baguette is, of course, wonderful, but the meat and other fixings were truly out of sight: the sliced pork was thin, fatty, and pleasing, while the wonderous veggies provided an acidic and mutually ripe companion, giving the sandwich a wide berth of tastes.
It was a truly remarkable sandwich, as I knew it would be.
As I wiped the corners of my mouth, I deposited my waste and went back to the car, wanting another sandwich in case I died immediately, never knowing when my next trip to Lee's will be.
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Follow Louis on Twitter at @LouisFowler and Instagram at @louisfowler78.
