I found myself in New Jersey yesterday (don't ask) and decided to finally try the LEGENDARY Donkey's cheesesteak. I believe it was made famous by the GOAT Anthony Bourdain, may he rest in peace.
First, I had to summon the wherewithal to drive to Camden, which is frankly the most difficult part of any Donkey's visit. But with the violent crime rate down 18% last year, the risk/benefit ratio now leans (slightly) in favor of making this trek.
As far as I can tell, the only thing they serve here are cheesesteaks and fries. It's definitely a dive bar, but overall emits a pretty cool vibe. The bar appeared to sport a decent selection of spirits, but obviously I wasn't there to drink.
Both the service and the clientele are friendly, though I suspect Trump carried this place by a good 15 to 20 points. But I kept my views on immigration and Medicare for All to myself, and literally had my food within 3 to 4 minutes of ordering.
That bad boy looks pretty god damn good, right? Well here's the deal. The meat is delicious--tender and well-cooked and well-seasoned. There's just too much of it. The meat to cheese ratio is off. Also, it's not chopped--it's more...slabbed? Yeah--this sandwich is stacked with giant fucking slabs of meat. Again, I had a bit of trouble locating the cheese (American in this case). The fried onions were standard and tasty.
Now on to the bun. It's a good gimmick, right? "Hey, come eat our cheesesteak which isn't served on some long peasant roll like all the other haters and losers, but instead rests inside a glorious seeded kaiser bun". Truth is, the bun is fine. Doesn't add anything to the sandwich, and probably doesn't take much away. It was a bit on the thick side for me. My suspicion is that it provides better infrastructure than a typical long roll for the GIANT SLABS OF MEAT.
The fries were good and had that Chickie's and Pete's shit on them.
I have therefore awarded Donkey's Place a respectable 4.2 Landaus. It's definitely worth a trip, but probably only one.
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