The “Battered” Pork Tenderloin Sandwich at Kelly’s Tavern, Quincy, Illinois
Part 1 is here | Part 3 is here
My Thanksgiving holiday was pretty hectic. My wife’s family had a big get-together in Kansas that we couldn’t miss, and while my parents understand how important it was that we be there, they also value our holiday time together very highly and wanted to have a Thanksgiving dinner as well. So we feasted in southeastern Kansas on the day itself, then feasted again in West Central Illinois on the Saturday following. In addition, my family is roasting a turkey tonight, and I’m smoking one for a gathering of friends on Saturday. I’ll likely be posting about all this turkey at some point, but I bring it up to say that my recent visit to Quincy, Illinois did not leave a lot of time or stomach room for trying tenderloin sandwiches. However, I really want to continue documenting them when I have opportunities to do so, so I did manage to squeeze in a Friday night visit to Kelly’s Tavern to try theirs.
Kelly’s Tavern, Quincy, IL
Kelly’s is well known for their “salad bar”–actually, they’re well known for the cheese soup and incredibly gooey cinnamon rolls available on that “salad bar”–but I’d heard their tenderloin was a winner as well. Caveat: I’d heard that from the same guy who told me that the Grove Inn was one of the best in town (see part 1) so I was keeping my expectations in check.
I arrived with my wife Mindy and our friend Mike (both of whom had already eaten), ordered a glass of wine for Mindy, a pitcher of cheap beer for us boys, and a tenderloin with fries for me. Kelly’s menu offers two options for the tenderloin, “grilled or battered.” Obviously we’re going with the fried option here, though “breaded” is the way it’s usually offered. Battered, to me, suggests a dip in batter resulting in a smooth shiny coating to the final product. I’ve seen pictures of battered tenderloins, such as this tempura tenderloin from Kitty’s Cafe my Twitter pal @chibbqking posted on his blog recently, so I expected more of an onion ring texture to the surface. This came out with more of a fried chicken coating though, which was hardly the only surprising thing about the sandwich.
Not pounded flat at all
Normally, these tenderloins are pounded flat before being breaded (or battered) and fried. This, however, was an inch plus of lean, neutral-flavored pork, battered, fried, and slapped on a bun. It wasn’t bad–it was fried well, the coating was moderately crisp with only a minor tendency to pull away from the meat, and the meat itself was not dried out at all. It wasn’t particularly good either, or at least it was not what I’m looking for in a tenderloin. The thicker piece of meat threw the surface to volume ratio way off, so there was more meat for less breading/batter. The batter did not have the texture I like and should have been better seasoned to adjust for that ratio. The fries were good, fresh-cut, but could have spent longer in the oil. I prefer them a little crisper.
Kelly’s “battered” tenderloin and fresh cut fries
The bun Kelly’s used was a fairly nondescript sesame seed bun, good-sized, well-toasted, and could have supported a tenderloin that had been pounded out to a proper hubcap-sized round. If it seems like I’m harping on that, well maybe I am. Keep in mind, this is not about portion size–the same piece of pork pounded out wide and thin doesn’t actually gain any mass in the process–but about ratio and presentation.
This is not a bad sandwich at all, and you could do way worse in Quincy. But next time I go to Kelly’s, I’ll stick with the cheese soup.
I like sandwiches.
I like a lot of other things too but sandwiches are pretty great
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