We recently visited Coltrane’s On 9th for a Friday afternoon lunch. The restaurant looks pretty much as it did when Deep was there (the old Cellar location) at 2 Union Square, corner of MLK and Carter.
Maybe I just ordered the wrong items as I was fairly under-whelmed. The menu features soups, salads, sandwiches and meat and two plates.
Wayne ordered a bowl of chili ($4.95) with a club sandwich ($7.95), consisting of spiral ham, smoked turkey, bacon and cheese served on toasted wheat with lettuce and tomatoes. All sandwiches are served with fries (frozen crinkle-cut).
This was a huge sandwich and really needed to be served sliced in half. In my mind, a club sandwich is made with three slices of bread and two layers of filling. This was only one layer, like a regular sandwich. It was sizeable, just not what I call a “club”. Wayne said it was a delicious sandwich and he would order it again whether it was a real club or not.
I ordered a “pick four sides” plate priced at $6.45. My sides were squash casserole, fried okra, cup of soup (I chose the chili), and smoked gouda mac and cheese. Our server brought our chili first, which was nice. The chili itself was very good, thick and meaty. The only thing that would have made it better was for the beans to have been completely done, as they had a bit of a crunch. I had the same feeling about my mac and cheese. I really couldn’t detect the taste of smoked gouda and I felt the macaroni was a bit less than al dente; firm but not tender, more chewy. The squash casserole was delicious. I loved the taste, which had a hint of sweetness. The okra was the standard pre-heavily breaded frozen variety. I was not served bread with my meal, so I am assuming they do not serve bread as an accompaniment.
Other items on the Coltrane’s menu include Ahi Salad ($8.95), Homemade Chicken Salad Sandwich (all sandwiches are $7.95), Meat Loaf and Smoked Chicken (all meat and two plates are $8.50). Each day there is a special (Monday is pasta; Tuesday, fried chicken; Wednesday, ribs; Thursday, smoked turkey breast; and Friday, trout - $8.95).
When they start opening for dinner, we do plan to go back and try it again. They are currently open only for lunch Monday through Friday.
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