If you read Monitor reporter Nick Reid’s latest Downtown column – which we know you did – you learned that Wellington’s Marketplace, the foodie’s paradise on North Main Street, is up for sale.
In light of this news, we figured we’d better get over there while it still exists in its original form. Reid reported that Wellington’s has near-perfect reviews online and, shockingly enough, we had never tried anything from there.
While it’s very possible that the place changes hands and still remains the same store, you never really know what’s going to happen in the business world, so we stopped by last week to see what all the online reviewers have been raving about.
Wellington’s is mainly a shop to get fine cheeses and wines, but it also serves lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. We stopped by a couple minutes past lunch cutoff time, but we were lucky enough to talk our way into a sandwich. By this time of the day, the only option left was a white albacore tuna sandwich, so we said, “We’ll take it.”
The sandwich came with tuna (shockingly), mayonnaise, capers, lemon, onion, celery, lettuce and tomato, available on rye or sourdough – we went with sourdough.
The first thing we noticed was the crunch. Between the crisp lettuce, celery and onions, there was plenty of texture to liven up this traditionally soft sandwich. In the opinion of this particular Food Snob, the crunch factor is one of the most important elements a good tuna sandwich can have.
We don’t eat many things that come with capers, but after trying this sandwich, we ought to start looking for more. The capers added a nice briney flavor to the mix – many lesser sandwich shops might use cut pickles to provide that brine, but risk overpowering the sandwich with pickle juice in doing so.
Another thing that must be noted is the bread. The thick slices of sourdough were lightly toasted, adding the perfect texture for this sandwich. The bread wasn’t full-on toasted to the point of getting crumbs everywhere, but it was enough that it wasn’t just soft, soggy bread.
Despite all the flavors, the tuna was still the star here. Although it likely came from a can (doesn’t all tuna?), the whole thing tasted incredibly fresh. It was a refreshing alternative to the heavy, soggy tuna sandwiches we’re so used to getting from pizza joints (not that we don’t enjoy a heavy, soggy, cold fish sandwich from time to time).
The menu said there was lemon in it, but we didn’t notice it – probably due to all that tuna and whatnot. Despite that, it’s not like we sat there going, “Needs more lemon!”
In fact, this sandwich didn’t need more of anything. We’re comfortable in saying that this was the best tuna sandwich we’ve had in Concord, and it’s really not that close (so other eateries may want to step up their games).
We can only hope that if and when the place sells, this tuna sandwich doesn’t move away with the current owners. If it does, we may just have to move with them.
In the meantime, get down to Wellington’s and try something yourself.
