Back on the Cheesesteak Treadmill

I had an errand to run today that took me through Havertown, Pennsylvania, which is where Centrella’s Deli and Italian Market is located. I’ve read good things about their cheesesteaks, so I decided to stop in and take one out on my way home.

Their standard cheesesteak comes with American cheese, but I upgraded to Cooper Sharp. As I’ve mentioned here before, it adds more flavor to a steak than basic American and melts to an excellent consistency, giving a nice coating of cheese to the chopped meat. I also went with my usual fried onions.

While waiting for my order in Centrella’s, I was pleased to see that they had a number of items from Liscio’s bakery. They are one of the elite bakers of steak and hoagie rolls in the Philly region.

But when I arrived home and unwrapped my steak, I was a little surprised and disappointed to discover that it was on an unseeded Liscio’s roll. Their seeded rolls may be my favorite. This one was an average steak roll. I’m not sure if I could have upgraded to a seeded roll. I asked about the cheese situation when I placed my order, but didn’t think to inquirer about whether there was a choice as far as the roll goes. I don’t see anything about it on Centrella’s menu either.

What came on the roll was outstanding. There was an abundance of chopped meat, and the Cooper Sharp cheese and fried onions were well blended into it. The seasoning was also right on the mark. In terms of flavor, this was one of the better steaks I’ve had lately. But the downgrade from a Liscio’s seeded to an unseeded roll prevents me from rating it as highly overall as two or three other cheesesteaks I’ve posted about.

As I keep saying, the roll can and often does make or break a cheesesteak. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say it broke this one, it did prevent it from being a top tier steak.