There are 100 sandwich choices at Reis 100, and once you decide what it is you want to eat, you can chew on it in the brightly lit, three-tabled front room of the shop, or head next door to Bar Reis for a pint to wash it down. Both venues are owned by their namesake, known solely as Reis, and work hand in hand.While you can order a bite from the bar, you can’t bring your drink to the sandwich side.
When I first walked into the shop and perused the long, flimsy paper menu, meant to be marked like a dim sum sheet, I thought I had hit the jackpot in cheap eats.The sandwiches run $3.50 to $5 and all sounded amazing. Unfortunately, each equals about four bites, so to satiate a hungry belly, you should order at least two.
In order to tackle the choices, I decided the best thing was to gather some friends and order a pile of sandwiches. In toto, the four of us ordered 10 of the tiny treats and dug in.
“The panini was my favorite,” said Mary Laura, about the warm, gently pressed pastrami with mozzarella, pesto and baby arugula combo. “It had the most flavor without being overpowering. It was the most balanced.”
She spoke the truth about it having balance, kind of surprising with its long list of ingredients.The baby arugula didn’t stand out, and the only reason I knew there was pesto in it was because it said so on the menu.
Chris didn’t agree. He had fallen for the grilled cheese with cheddar, avocado and pickled jalapeño peppers.This gooey bite tasted like plain old melted American to me, but to him, “It had that soothing home-style feel.” I understood, but for $3.50 it could have been a bigger sandwich.
Another friend, a Russian, fought against her natural love for meat and picked a vegetarian offering as the best. It came with artichoke spread, arugula, aioli and an olive tapenade.
“I am really into hummus, and it resembled that,” she said. I had to agree that it was a fine combo The worst sandwich we got was the tofu spread with kimchee. “It had a weird coleslaw texture and taste,” said one friend. I concurred and bashed it for being soggy and boring.
My own favorite sandwiches were the chorizo torta and the manchego with truffles. The first came with beans, pickled jalapeño peppers, carrot, avocado and spicy aioli.The fiery chorizo was crispy and proved an effective foil to the pickled ingredients. Meanwhile the mushroom manchego sandwich oozed umami.The richness of the mushrooms surrounded by melted cheese had me at the first bite, making it my top choice. Because this sandwich had simple ingredients and wasn’t bogged down with extras, it worked well in a small portion.
Inherently, the ingredients Reis 100 uses are of high quality, but they just have too much going on in the tiny bun.
The clear answer to the problems that Reis 100 presented was to grab a few small bites and head next door to pair them with beer, making it part of a balanced meal.
>Reis 100
A plate of the tiny sandwiches at Reis 100.375-B 5th Ave. (at 6th St.), Brooklyn, 718-207-7874
