This sandwich was an experience. Not so much the sandwich itself, which to be honest was largely forgettable, but the restaurant itself. Allow me to explain.
As soon as Jeni and I found the place, I could tell we were sort of in trouble, as there appeared to be a line out the door. My suspicions were confirmed when we had to force our way through several people standing outside and into one of the loudest, most cramped, and most full restaurants I've ever been in. The place was tiny, and there was almost no room to move around, but somehow three waiters and the owner/maitre'd, Brian Keyser, were able to navigate. I put my name on the list and waited...and waited...and waited. We were told it would be about 25-35 minutes, and I'll say one thing; having a former waiter as a maitre'd helps, as he was exactly right on the wait; 35 minutes later (and 35 minutes of standing outside in ugly, muggy, humid NYC summer weather because there was no place to stand in the restaurant itself), we were seated at a tiny corner bar i.e. not a table. Needless to say, I had a feeling that the sandwich was not going to live up to the wait.
And it didn't. The picture makes the sandwich look bigger than it is, and the flavors, while tasty (it was pretty much pork and cheese; hard to argue) weren't outstanding or anything. In fact, Jeni and I were both pretty underwhelmed by all the cheeses we had, which was sad considering that Casellula is supposed to be famous for artisan and fancy cheeses. The dipping sauce you can see see on the right was actually rather spicy (lots of jalapenos) and was arguably tastier than the sandwich. Still, the pork was pretty good, and it wasn't as if I heavily disliked the sandwich or anything. It just wasn't worth the wait.
However, once we were seated, Jeni and I had a blast. Why? Well, we had a fantastic waiter who was extremely knowledgable about cheese and wine, funny, and really took care of us. There was a sense of community in the place I haven't felt in a restaurant in a long time (apparently it's packed every night, and almost always with locals). And, the deserts. Jeni and I felt that we had to try a Grasshopper sundae with creme de menthe liqueur poured on top, and it was scrumptious. But then our waiter brought us, on the house, one of the best deserts I've ever had in my life.
These are, get ready, Goat Cheese Hazelnut Truffles. Sounds crazy, but these were as good as if not better than any chocolate truffles I've ever had. They were incredibly rich, crunchy, and substantial; I felt full after the one that I had. Were these worth the wait to get into the restaurant? Maybe, yes.
So, the sandwich? 3.3 out of 5. The truffles? 10 out of 5. :)
So, honestly, I don't think I can really recommend Casellula unless you're in the area at 2 in the morning (which is apparently when things quiet down in the restaurant), but it's a fun experience. And those truffles...
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