Cream Pan's Korokke Pan - Tustin

We literally buy our daily bread from Cream Pan. It makes great toast, which leads to even better sandwiches. And then, there's Cream Pan's strawberry croissants, which have become the thing people expect us to bring to potlucks. And since I wrote a blog entry about the salmon onigiri, I now have to get there extra early to claim those rice triangles before they disappear--not because my post has created any sort of awareness, but because I think everyone who has tasted them have also realized how very good they are.

So if you're already tired of me talking, yet again, about another Cream Pan product, stop reading now. This is my ode to a recent find: their korokke pan. This, as you can see by the picture, is a potato croquette sandwich--a simple thing really. A panko-breaded, deep-fried mashed potato patty is stuffed inside a roll of their own making, along with leaf lettuce, tomato, a slice of cucumber, a smear of Thousand Island and a drizzle of tonkatsu sauce.

From the recitation of the ingredients alone, you'd expect that this would be a dull sandwich, or at the very least, one that defies the rule that you don't put starch inside another starch. But you'd be wrong. This is a great sandwich. Flavorful, filling, and rich, not to mention vegetarian (though not vegan because of the mayo). This is a sandwich that easily surpasses their egg salad and their katsu, which are merely okay by comparison.

And oh, that bun. Made in-store, it's a soft roll that any other sandwich shop would kill to have as their own. You could imagine it elevating pastrami, corned beef, chicken salad. But here, it fulfills its truest purpose, hugging the at-once crisp-mushy korokke and everything that surrounds it.

The only way it could get even better is if it can be had when the korokke has just come off the fryer. If that ever happens, expect another post.

Cream Pan
602 El Camino Real
Tustin, CA 92780-4310
(714) 665-8239

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