Turkey Devonshire/Pittsburgh

My single favorite semi-unique food from here in Pittsburgh is the Turkey Devonshire. Here is a pic I took last week from a local place (Porky's Smokehouse) that makes an excellent version as an occasional special.


Obviously, this is very closely related to The Hot Brown sandwich you see in Louisville and elsewhere in Kentucky. I have only ever had two Hot Browns before and one was made with parmesan at The Brown Hotel and one made with swiss at Kaelin's. The Turkey Devonshire is almost always, but not exclusively, made with cheddar.

This is a dish that used to be extremely popular here in The Steel City, but it is becoming increasingly harder to find on menus. My single favorite place is The Union Grill in Oakland, which serves the best Turkey Devonshire I know of. Ritter's Diner has it as a special on, I believe, Wednesdays. Anybody else know a good place to get a Turkey Devonshire? My brother and I love these and would love to try them at some different places.

Peter's Place in Bridgeville offers a Chicken Devonshire, but it isn't the same. And the Monroe Hotel in Butler offers a Roast Beef Devonshire, but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

WanderingJew-
Did you eat Turkey Devonshires while you were living in Pittsburgh?

That does remind me of a Hot Brown. It looks delicious.

I've never seen it except at the Union Grill (and it's excellent).

I did see this show some time ago, though I think DeCarlo (aka Alec Berg on Seinfeld) is kind of a buffoon.

I've never never been to Lemont.

Kevin

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/fooddrink/restaurantreviews/s_458863.html

That looks fantastic!!!

April 27th, graduation at Pitt. First stop, The Union Grill for a Turkey Devonshire.

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

WanderingJew-
Did you eat Turkey Devonshires while you were living in Pittsburgh?

Yes, I had them a couple of times.
There was a diner on route 51 possibly in Pleasant Hills, Brentwood or Baldwin that had them. Also my friend was a chef and if I recall he was working at a sports bar (possibly in Millvale?) that had them too- that one was my favorite. Unfortunately since it was over a decade ago- I can't remember the names of these places. They are very similar to Hot Browns, but I'm not sure what the difference is.
(almost like trying to compare the difference between country fried steak and chicken fried steak)

Now, is it just regular cheddar cheese or is it a cheddar cheese sauce?

Robearjr-
It is definitely a very heavy cheddar cheese sauce.

WanderingJew-
If you are able to come up with the names of those places, let me know. And because both a Hot Brown and Turkey Devonshire can vary so much from place to place, the differences between them is practically negligible.

joerogo-
Have you had the Turkey Devonshire at Union Grill before?

KOK-
I did see the show where Taste of America went to The Lamont and Union Grill for Turkey Devonshires. If I remember corrctly, The Lamont doesn't even have them on their regular menu.

Frank Blandi's recipe:

http://www.post-gazette.com/food/20010215mailbox.asp

buffetbuster, I never had one period. I taking your recommendation and having my first one at the Union Grill graduation weekend.

After barely leaving the house for the last two weeks, I was really jonesing for something delicious today for lunch. So, I headed down to Union Grill in Oakland for a Turkey Devonshire.


Maybe it was because I have eaten so little lately and was ready to chow down, but it was especially good today. By the way, the cheese sauce used here is parmesan, instead of the typical cheddar found in a Turkey Devonshire.

I recently tried the Turkey Devonshire at a restaurant called Sauce in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bridgeville.

They get points for an especially tasty cheese (obviously not cheddar, it tasted like a mixture of several cheeses) sauce, but lose points for using turkey loaf instead of real turkey.  The portion size is also smaller than most.

As much as I enjoy turkey devonshires, I most likely won't order this version again.  There are too many other things at Sauce I like.  They have really good burgers, sweet potato fries and fantastic mac & cheese.

I'm still hoping anyone can suggest some good turkey devonshires for me to try! 

I only had it once--- at Union Grill---and it was quite good.

   The Bear

I know that Dunning's in Regent Square has a turkey devonshire on their menu, but unfortunately, I can't recall how good it is.

Missed this the first time around.

The diner in the Pleasant Hills area might be the Blue Flame, on Rt 51. I'm pretty sure it's still there.

The Turkey Devonshire looks like the kind of thing that can be successfully put together at home for a Sunday Night Steelers game.

Mosca


Missed this the first time around.

The diner in the Pleasant Hills area might be the Blue Flame, on Rt 51. I'm pretty sure it's still there.

The Turkey Devonshire looks like the kind of thing that can be successfully put together at home for a Sunday Night Steelers game.

That could very well be, I do remember the name of the Bar though- It wasn't in Millvale (my friend lived in Millvale and he was working there as a cook), it was in Ross Twp- It was the Oregon Bar and Grill on Babock Blvd, although I think they're out of business now.

WJ-
I'm reasonably sure that Oregon Bar & Grille is gone and has been replaced by a place called Shenanigan's.  Was in there a couple of times, including singing karaoke, if you can imagine that, but never ate there.  Now I feel I missed out.
 
RalphMelton-
Thanks for the tip on Dunning's.  I will put it on my list of places to try.
 
Mosca-
Just called Blue Flame in Clairton and they do have turkey devonshires on the menu, so I will add that to the list, too.  Much appreciated!

They aren't as far down 51 as Clairton; more like Jefferson Boro. Clairton post office, but in Jefferson. On the right going south.

Try making them at home. They are easy to make, and you can find several variations of Frank Blandi's Turkey Devonshire on the web.  Mr. Blandi started serving his sandwich in Pittsburgh in the 1930s.

I will ask my dear 83 year old mother for her recipe and post it later.

I was inspired by this thread to try the Turkey Devonshire at Tolerico's in Monroeville last night.

It was excellent. The sauce was rich without being cloying, and the bacon was crisp enough to make it easy to get bacon with every bite. Lori said that her Devonshire-loving grandfather would have been happy to eat this.

My feeble iPhone photo:


Since Tolerico's is run by the folks that run What's Cooking at Casey's in Oakmont, I would take this fine Turkey Devonshire as a recommendation for the Turkey Devonshire at What's Cooking at Casey's, if they have it on the menu there.

(Tolerico's also has a particularly fine almond torte. It's like a good tiramisu, without the coffee flavor that I dislike.)

RalphMelton-
Somehow I missed this the first time around.  That sounds like a great Devonshire at Tolerico's.  I don't get to Monroeville very often, but now I have a reason to go.  Thanks for the tip!

My co-worker and fellow Roadfooder blinky193 brought me a menu from a place in Cranberry called Freedom Square Diner that has Turkey Devonshires.  On Friday night, we stopped in to try it.

This was a fairly big portion and the cheddar cheese sauce was fine, but they do lose points for using turkey loaf instead of real roast turkey.  Still, not a bad effort.  My girlfriend (Cajun pork chops)and her daughter (coconut shrimp) both liked their food.

Besides the turkey devonshire, they also had a steak devonshire and a crab devonshire!  I think I'll stick with the original.

  Cajun Porkchops! Coconut Shrimp!  Sounds like the gals have cool new AKA's!  Makes them sound like RF superheroes.   I think I'll be " SWEDISH MEATBALL"      Dawn

You are too funny, Dawn!!!  I mean, you are too funny Swedish Meatball!

Two more Turkey Devonshires:

This one came from a special at the Carnegie Museum Cafe (it's not on the regular menu). This was excellent, with a very rich cheese sauce over tasty bacon and turkey. I found the bread a bit over-toasted for my taste, though.



I finally got a picture of the Turkey Devonshire at Dunning's:


This one was decent, but the dish was very salty. I'd seek out other Turkey Devonshires before making this one a target.