Rock Hill Tavern - Roast Beef Sandwich

The first time I ever went to Rock Hill Tavern, I was like 5 years old and I was with my father on one of his "outings". It was the first "bar" I had ever been inside of. I didn't know what it was, or why I couldn't also drink what my dad was drinking. I don't remember much, I remember it being very dark, and I remember Moosehead beer. It was all very boring to me, at 5 years of age... like standing in line at the bank, this was an adult place, with adult drinks. I just wanted to play with Transformers.
Such was my impression of bars for many years thereafter. Dark and boring. Thankfully, I do not still feel this way, AT ALL...  Some might even say that now, I am in a bar too much, but I say "get off my back Dr. Intervention, I need a drink." But whatever... anyway...
I never make it back to Rock Hill Tavern very much, as it is a little too out of the way for a city boy like myself, but they've got one thing that I just can't stop thinking about, and what keeps me yearning for a quick trip out of the city day after day, week after week..
THE ROAST BEEF SANDWICH.



I called up my best friend Matt to join me... he and I had "discovered" this sandwich for ourselves a few years ago, and we still talk about it often. The thing is, is that we could eat this sandwich whenever we want, I am making Rock Hill sound like its 1000 miles away.. its not. Its like a 15-20 minute drive out of the city. No big deal, but in this day and age of internet and walking distance, a place thats a 15-20 minute DRIVE outside of the city is like a day-trip sometimes. (Its quite possible that I am the laziest person that's ever lived)

Dear Rock Hill,
is there a way for me to download this sandwich, instead?

KTHX,
T. 

But seriously, people died crossing the plains with only a vague notion of prosperity awaiting them... I think I can drive down to a bar for a damn sandwich. And so Matt and I set off on our day-trip going to a bar, for a damn sandwich.

Rock Hill has changed ownership a few times in the past 25 or so years since I was there with my dad, and its not the dark boring place of my childhood memories, it just feels like a friendly, very welcoming bar that's been there for years and years. There is outdoor seating area with a lovely view, and on the day we went the sun was out and it was perfect for such an accommodation, however, we stayed inside, seated at the bar, under the giant bison head.

The Roast Beef sandwich comes with fries and you can get it with cheese, BBQ sauce, some other things that I didn't care about, and HORSERADISH (if you ask me, that's all that matters).. Matt opted for BBQ, horseradish and cheese, I omitted the BBQ from mine, and went for straight up cheese, meat, and horseradish. This may have been a tragic error, I will get to that...

The meat is sliced per order, and then drowned in a crock pot (which is behind the bar) of au jus. After a few minutes, it gets pulled from the pool, and piled HIGH on a giant roll. Lets take a moment to observe..

 we're not in Arby's anymore

Its like a mountain of mouth-watering awesome. Now granted the cheese was cold swiss, and that is THE WORST, but soon it would be melting against that hot roast beef, so I was not worried. I was provided with a small cup of grated horseradish. I had thought that they ground their own fresh horseradish, but I was corrected. It is local, (I'm guessing it's Long's) so its still fresh, and its not like some horsey sauce with mayo or anything... its pure, wants to fight you, horseradish. I smeared some around on the beef and closed the sandwich, ready to eat.

The first bite was just as I had remembered, cooked just right and seasoned to near perfection, the au jus bath ensured that everything stayed moist, tender and hot. All those delicious juices soaked into the lower half of the bun and made for some serious sandwich gold. The only thing I felt like I was missing was more horseradish, I probably should have taken a second bite to verify this, but instead I dipped into the horseradish reserve, and very liberally, slathered on a second dose. My next bite was fine, and a few more came and went with no real issue, the horseradish adding quick jab each time... Then I hit a pocket of hell. The horseradish all of a sudden stopped being so polite and started getting real. I took a bite and the first two seconds were fine, and delicious, and then I got punched right in the sinuses and it felt like my brain wanted to jump out of my eyeballs. It was shocking. It took my breath away, my conversation came to a screeching halt, I was wincing and I felt a sense of betrayal all of a sudden, and just when I thought the intensity was never going to stop, it stopped, and I was back to normal. ...Until the next bite.

I really love horseradish. Which is strange, because what with my aversion to anything remotely spicy, you'd think I would not be a fan.. But horseradish is different, its not "hot" and its intensity, to whatever degree is very short lived. Its that flavor, and that sting, and its just a fact that it is the absolute most perfect thing to put on say... roast beef, which is why I love it so.. But perhaps there is too much of a good thing, and I think I may have overstepped that line. Sure its intensity is short lived, but when its short lived over and over again each time I take a bite, its not so "short". I wonder if BBQ sauce would have helped to foil the horseradish a bit? Matt didn't seem to be having any problem at all... meanwhile I was trying desperately to maintain my best poker face and stifle burning horseradish tears so that the more seasoned (read: not baby) patrons seated around me didn't think I was a wimp.

Despite my horseradish nightmare, the sandwich was outstanding, as always. I was able to recognize that my experience was not by fault of the sandwich or the bar or anything but my own foolish and haphazard application of horseradish. We all pay for our mistakes.
I give it an 8.6
And I'll definitely be coming back again. If not for the roast beef sandwich, for the ham sandwich which is served using the same crock pot method (a different crock pot) stewed in some kind of  pineapple juice. That sounds delicious! My girlfriend will surely disagree.

The fries that came with the sandwich were also totally delicious. I mean, fries are fries, but sometimes, they are just really really good. These were crispy, lightly salted, and golden brown, and it almost seemed like they were batter fried, whatever... to me, the perfect fry.
8.0

If you feel like a drive -
The Rock Hill Tavern is located at 1684 Long Lane, Millersville (yeah, but not really) PA 17551

be careful