Pork Tenderloins

I spent most of today on a quickie roadtrip to Lima OH to sample the hamburger at the famed Kewpee in downtown Lima. On the way, I made a detour to Nick's Kitchen in Huntington IN in order to have one of their renowned breaded pork tenderloins for lunch. Since the only BPT I'd ever had before was from Culver's ( bah ), I felt certain that I was in for a treat, and I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed. The sandwich was enormous; I've never seen any sandwich with those dimensions before. Crispy outside, juicy and tender inside - it was everything I expected it to be. Good fries too. I got to meet the owner and she was very nice; she even gave me a Nick's coffee mug when she found out that I was a roadfood.com poster. A very satifying lunch stop. BTW, the burger at Kewpee was okay, but nothing really special. Gorgeous 1930s art-deco building, though. 

I'm tired of the "parallel universe" on the other thread about BPT's. Lets honor the original Hawkeye John who started this thread with 31 pages and 180,000 views.

Some tenderloin purveyor's will charge you a fee for a second bun on a gigantic tenderloin. Its like the fancy restaurants that charge a "plate fee" for a split entree.

This is Pork's Hometown Restaurant in Winfield, Southeast Iowa. Its the hometown of some travel writer from Iowa. The tenderloin is at least 12 ounces fully cooked. The $0.50 for another full-size bun may be worth it. 

 

This is Grumpy's Tacos in Chariton, South-Central Iowa. Its another 10 or 12 ounce tenderloin. The $0.35 for a second bun may sound like a bargain, but its just a dinner roll pulled out of a bag: 


A consensus (DavyDD and myself) all-world tenderloin destination, the Suzie-Q in Mason City, was a location of a good return visit for me. The road into Mason City is the most unplanned mess of human development, but the city center is really nice. The owner operator may be little too friendly with the neighborhood people who take up space in his diner where seats are at a premium. This was the special when I rolled in, a Spic'n Span melt, its the battered loin with grilled onions and melted cheese on toasted bread. They managed to cram even more flavor into their tenderloin: 

 
 

A place in treemont  IL has excellent pork tenderloins sandwiches.

Today we (my wife and I) drove over to St. Paul to view the St. Paul Winter Carnival ice sculptures in 5 degree weather. That's another topic for discussion. On our return we decided to stop at a cafe for a pork tenderloin sandwich. The destination was the Crystal Cafe where they claim hand made tenderloins but we got there 1/2 hour after its 2:00 PM Sunday closing. OK, the idea was set in mind and we needed a fix. Our drop back place, and a back track to Minneapolis was Elsie's in Nordeast Minneapolis. I'd been there a few times because my company department had a holiday outing there with bowling and potluck but I had never eaten in their restaurant. Their pork tenderloin headlined the sandwich menu. It was served typical Nordeast style battered with toast. Nordeast (northeast for you non-Scandinavian knowledgable people) is an old time blue collar European ethnic neighborhood northeast of downtown. I probably could have asked for a bun the traditional way as one Nordeast pub, Sully's served it for me, but I decided to go along with their way with choice of white, rye, whole wheat, 12 grain or sour dough. I chose sour dough. I also selected the cheddar cheese option which is so prevalent in Minnesota as well. It tasted fine but I suspect it was not hand made at Elsie's.

We're working our way through the north side of Minneapolis. There is a common theme about pork tenderloin sandwiches on the north side.

1. They are generally battered instead of breaded.
2. They are served with toast instead of a bun.
3. They are served sliced in half.
4. They tend to be thicker and less "tenderized" with a mallet or tenderizer.

This one is from the Crystal Cafe in Crystal, MN, an inner ring north suburb of Minneapolis. It is batter fried with thick cut Italian bread toast. It is about the thickest cut of meat I've had. In that regard you get your money's worth. I think it is hard to fry thick cuts of meat since you have to fry longer to thoroughly cook the meat which tends to darken and almost burn the batter or breading and soak in more grease. Thicker cuts of pork loin also tend to be less tender.

Up the road from Exira and Hamlin is Audubon, Iowa. Home of the Chatterbox Cafe and the Hamburloin:

They want $5.25, just the tenderloin is $4.00
Thanks to BlizzardStromus for the tip earlier in this thread.

Trzhotel, how did you like the hamburloin?

A family emergency had me driving straight through Indiana to Wisconsin. This was a Roadfood negative trip with no time for fun. On the way, I stopped in a town called Howe.  I found a little place that looked the part of a local place to eat. Pick-ups in the front lot....

The place was closing but I told them that I heard so much about BPT's in Indiana and that I have never had one before.  The waitress was a real sweetie and said they could do it.  I told her I like to check out places and do what 'we' do, take photos.
While waiting, there was a table of people to the side and I took pictures of the wall near me with its decor. One of the persons noticed this and asked if I was from Chicago..?  I said no. ( Did it matter?) I told them I am from around NY and was driving through.

The order arrived and as I went up to pay, the person who was concerned about my residency in Chicago turned out to be the owner. My money was good enough for him, but since I mentioned NY, he asked if I was Jewish, but not using that term...  (Everyone in NY is Jewish).  It was then that I really bit my tongue as I wanted to say that I am a Muslim,( not!) and my name is Abdul Kalil Hassan. I should have gone further and said that after I take these important photos, I'm going to take pictures of ....airports.

 So how was the sandwich? It was the best pork tenderloin that one can buy from Sysco/Rykoff, just a step above a breaded veal patty. The onion rings came from the other side of the freezer. The shake was okay, but you'ld think that they could have filled it to the top.


Keep driving.........


mark

Hawkeye - I have a question..Every so often I buy very thinly sliced rib chops.  I smash them down, remove the bone and pretend I'm making a tenderloin sandwich.  I bread them and fry them.  The question is .....Am I pretending? 

In Indiana, do you only use the actual pork "tenderloin"  for your pork tenderloin sandwiches or do they also take the whole pork loin and thinly cut slices and pound them out?  The actual pork tenderoin is very small in diameter...Seems like a slice off the whole loin would be a wider one and yield a larger flattened piece of meat. Perhaps moister as well?

DoggyDaddy,

The near perfect roundness is a dead giveaway of a SYSCO kind of freezer product. I-80 in Indiana is a BPT disappointment. I had a bad on like that in Angola, IN off I-80.

Baah Ben,

Hawkeye the OP disappeared from this thread 4 years ago long before I signed onto Roadfood.com. To answer your question there are three cuts from the back of the hog, the pork tenderloin, the pork loin and the pork chop. The pork tenderloin is the tenderest of the three and the pork chop is a coarser textured meat. Few restaurants use the actual pork tenderloin. Most, especially those with platter sized hang over the bun tenderloins use the pork loin. The smallest pork loin cut I had was a 4 oz. one from Darrell's Place in Hamlin, IA. The largest was was St. Olaf, IA close to 16 oz. breaded. Most are 6-8 oz. cuts. I suppose they call them tenderloins since they do pound them flat to tenderize them for about a 3/4" cut down to 1/4 - 1/2". Pork loins are acceptable. Pork chops don't quite match the experience. You can make a pork tenderloin large by butterfly cutting it. Same is achieved with a pork loin. I explain it all here in great detail with photos...

http://web.mac.com/davydd/Site/BPT_Tutorial.html

The tutorial itself is worth the five stars.
 
Davydd, is there much of a taste difference between the various breading combinations?
 

===The near perfect roundness is a dead giveaway of a SYSCO kind of freezer product. I-80 in Indiana is a BPT disappointment. I had a bad on like that in Angola, IN off I-80. ===

Baah,

It's a culinary wasteland along that stretch. I used my GPS set to the Roadfood choices and while in Ohio it was showing Ben's Chili Bowl....5 hours away!!! That was my closest choice. Odd.
The best thing I could find along the whole route was Popeye's.

mark

 

Mark, sorry you had such an unpleasant BPT experience in Indiana. As soon as I saw the picture of that lil' round patty, I knew it had to be bad news. The BPT that I had at Nick's Kitchen was at least 3 times the size of the one you had, and it sure wasn't round. In my opinion, any food item that comes from Sysco or Rykoff is a total waste of time.                              Bob  

I had a very good BPT for lunch today, and I didn't even have to leave Cook County. It came from the Chicago Heights outlet of Schoop's Hamburgers, a small sit-down chain with locations all over northwest Indiana and a few in Illinois. It's a long-time family-owned operation that's famous for its' old-fashioned burgers ( wide ones with crispy edges! ), but as I discovered today, their BPT ( a recent menu addition ) is nothing to sneeze at. While not in the same league as the BPT at Nick's Kitchen in Huntington IN, it was still pretty impressive; a helluva lot better than that sad excuse for a BPT at the Culver's chain. It was a good-sized sandwich, served nice n' hot. Crispy on the outside, tender and juicy inside. I'll definitely be going back for more of these.

If you find yourself in Naples,Fl and got to have a BPT there is Alice Sweetwaters . I had recently what I believe to be the best BPT ever. This is from a long time Iowan who has searched for the best BPT for years!

nocarolina


Mark, sorry you had such an unpleasant BPT experience in Indiana. As soon as I saw the picture of that lil' round patty, I knew it had to be bad news. The BPT that I had at Nick's Kitchen was at least 3 times the size of the one you had, and it sure wasn't round. In my opinion, any food item that comes from Sysco or Rykoff is a total waste of time.                              Bob  

That was the least of my horrible experiences for the trip.
It was one of the few times that I forgot my basic rule of asking about such things. From all that has been written in the past I assumed that I would be getting something authentic. The place looked exactly like they had the ability, there was a notice on the wall saying that sweet potatoes were available for the night.... In retrospect, they probably were canned.

mark

There is only one solution to my inability to find this sandwich in CT., I will have to make my own version.  I have both tenderloin and loin chops. I think that the chops will be excellent for this.  Watch this space..... I am confident I can make a delicious and photogenic  BPT.

mark

doggydaddy

nocarolina


Mark, sorry you had such an unpleasant BPT experience in Indiana. As soon as I saw the picture of that lil' round patty, I knew it had to be bad news. The BPT that I had at Nick's Kitchen was at least 3 times the size of the one you had, and it sure wasn't round. In my opinion, any food item that comes from Sysco or Rykoff is a total waste of time.                              Bob  

That was the least of my horrible experiences for the trip.
It was one of the few times that I forgot my basic rule of asking about such things. From all that has been written in the past I assumed that I would be getting something authentic. The place looked exactly like they had the ability, there was a notice on the wall saying that sweet potatoes were available for the night.... In retrospect, they probably were canned.

mark

Reminds me of many years ago traveling through the mountains of Oregon. Came into a small town with one diner and stopped for lunch. Menu items were written on paper plates and tacked on the wall. Hmm, homemade chili, bet it's good said I to my companion. After ordering it we waited, and waited for our chili. Shortly the front door opened and in came a youngster with a large can of chili in his hand.

You were warned.....
If you want to do something right, you have to do it yourself.  It's even better if you don't know what you are doing when the item has never been eaten or prepared before. I will cook unencumbered by the thought process.



I also made onion rings as a side, along with other dishes in the 'Lunch/Dinner...? thread...

mark

Good job, DD!!

The Chatterbox wasn't the best in the area, but still a good tenderloin. The veggies left juice that soaked the breading after I set it up for the picture.
The tenderloins with toppings are just goofy items at the end of the menu for me. Its not really meant to be eaten that way. Often, the toppings make the sandwich to vertical, like the Hamburloin, or don't really effect the jumbo tenderloins like Joensy's of Center Point and its Boss Hog Tenderloin with bacon and a cheese slice:


 
The best topped tenderloin I have had was from KC BBQ in Des Moines. The sauced-up pulled pork really hits the spot over the big dry salty tenderloin here:


 

I recently had the BPT at Nick's Junction in Roanoke Indiana , just 10 miles east of Huntington Indiana. Nick's junction is owned within the same family members that also own Nick's Kitchen and Nick's Country Cafe ,both in Huntington. The tenderloin was very good along with the onion rings and was basically the the same as in the other restaurants. Roughly 7" to 8" in diameter hanging out over the sides of the bun with beautiful golden brown breading cooked just right - yummy and very satisfying.
 
I've tried all three of Nick's restaurants now and like and recommend them all. I personally slightly prefer Nick's Country Cafe as the tenderloin breading seemed to have a bit more flavoring to it - but that may just be my aging taste buds.
 
They're suppose to have good burgers too, so I hope to try them in the future as my time (and finances) allows .
 
For any RoadFooders traveling in the area Nick;s Kitchen and Nick;s Country Cafe are only open for breakfast and lunch till 2 pm while Nicks Junction is also open for supper.

Spooters in treemont Illinois has the best IMHO

I may have to start skipping ordinary tenderloins and start just ordering the most ridiculous thing on the menu from now on. This is the Tyson Whole Hog from the No Name Cafe in Promise City, Iowa.

The Tyson Whole Hog is a hand-breaded pork tenderloin with sliced ham, bacon, cheese, onions, lettuce, pickles. I decided to skip the mayo because I'm on a diet. Its only about 8 ounces of fried tenderloin. I would not recommend eating this while driving.

I just had a good one at Scotty's Brewhouse in Bloomington, Indiana close to Indiana U.  Scotty's seems to be a university hangout with others in West Lafayette (Purdue) and Muncie (Ball State).  It was not as big in diameter as some but it was thick and meaty.

plb


I just had a good one at Scotty's Brewhouse in Bloomington, Indiana close to Indiana U.  Scotty's seems to be a university hangout with others in West Lafayette (Purdue) and Muncie (Ball State).  It was not as big in diameter as some but it was thick and meaty.

 
Scotty's recently opened another outlet in Indianapolis.  Some of their sandwiches border on the bizarre.  My wife had a burger with jalapenos and peanut butter last autumn (Indonesian/Thai burger?).  Seems it was a winner in a customer-submitted contest.  She liked it.  A bit too noisy, boisterous, and overpriced for my 6th decade tastes, methinks.  Wish I'd tried the BPT.
 
http://www.scottysbrewhouse.com/

gregsgoatfarm,

I was there early so I missed the crowd.  They had a huge menu, but I only got to the third page or so when I found the BPT.  You're right; it was expensive by Indiana standards. 

Anthony Bourdain joined the Facebook Pursuing Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches group. Has the deep-fried breaded pork tenderloin sandwich arrived?

In this day and age baconization is required, so someone needs to wrap the tenderloin in bacon prior to breading and frying.  Then it will truly have arrived!

And I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's already been done.

Brad