Happy Birthday Swoops!

So I entered my mid-20's officially this past Thursday, and spent the weekend following my birthday with my family in Orange County and Pasadena.  The LA/OC area is home to my favorite pastrami sandwich.  If you refer back to my first posting regarding the Mariposa Pizza Factory, I really love pastrami.

As a true San Diegan I hate everything LA: Dodgers, Raiders (circa 1994), Kings, Lakers (esp Kobe Bryant), Clippers (NBA in general), and since 2005 the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (the rest of Orange County is okay in my book, GO DUCKS!).  So it came as a surprise that one of my favorite sandwiches is located in this metro-area.

The Hat, as the restaurant is named, opened in 1951 in Alhambra and has since grown to ten locations serves up a variety of sandwiches, but is best known for it's "World Famous" Pastrami  Dip.  I chose the Brea location for this meal.

In traditional SoCal fashion, I opted to use the Drive-Thru (note the reflection of beautiful Betsy above).  The Drive-Thru is an invention of In-N-Out which first used it in 1948 in Baldwin Park.

Ok so I ordered my usual, the Pastrami Dip, and decided that since it was my birthday weekend I would indulge; an order of onion rings.  So I pulled up to the window, paid, and noticed two bags waiting for me...I was a little surprised, and thought Maybe they're giving me the car-behind-me's order too, SWEET!.  This was not the case, I looked back, NO CARS!!  I receive the order and proceed out of the lot, when I notice my gas light turns on...I know for sure I will be passing two gas-stations minimum on the drive back to my aunt's house, but my car is full of the aroma of hot pastrami and fried onions!  I decide to pass on refueling and drive strait to the house to eat.

I arrive at the house, famished after a late night of drinking, not eating breakfast in the morning from whiskey-gut, and a four and a half hour drive from Merced to Fullerton, get in, sit down and open the bags.  First the greasy one, turns out to be a lunch-size paper bag full of onion rings, like a lot, like three orders of rings from Applebees.  I was amazed at the quantity; but only for about 3 seconds until my gut redirected my hunger to sandwich.  I open the other bag and sure enough is the behemoth of a sandwich, cut perfectly in half, with pastrami hanging out all sides.  I was so into this sandwich, that I finished half before remembering the blog and taking a picture!

 So let me break this Legen-wait for it-dary sandwich down for you.
Pastrami Dip:
-8 inch french roll
--splashed with au jus on one side, slathered with mustard on the other
-pickles (cant have a good sandwich with out pickles)
-1/2 pounds, yes, half a pound of deliciously moist, perfectly marbled pastrami
-DONE
So, finished half the sandwich when I decided to break out the ketchup and start on the rings. These were probably the crispiest fried food I've ever tasted (I dont say that lightly, especially because I'm more of a battered fried rather than dredged fried kind of guy) .  These were so crispy that when I ate them cold for a midnite snack, they were still crunchy!

All in all, this was one of the best sandwiches I've eaten in a while, it had been well over 8 months since I had had it last, and well exceed my cravings for it that started a week before when I finalized the trip to SoCal.  It took me two showers and a 2 mile run for me to fully process this sandwich, and not feel greasy anymore (and yes those two showers were in the same 24 hour period, who do you think I am, Jaron?).

This was so good, I had to go to the Pasadena location on Sunday for lunch before I left, and forwent getting Bah Minh while I was in the region.

I leave an open challenge to anyone to find a better Pastrami Sandwich in California, if you do please PLEASE get me on facebook or text me up or something and we'll have lunch.  Please check out their menu and if you're near a restaurant go in for a sammie.  If you're a vegetarian you're probably SOL and should stop reading my blog.
Check out their webpage at:
http://thehat.com/index.htm
Until the next time, I bid you adieu and good eats!
Swoops