Carnegie Deli

854 Seventh Ave. at 55th Street
212.757.2245
website

NYC is known for thin crust pizzas and delis. Everyone's been to or at least heard of the Carnegie Deli and their pastrami so I guess it was finally time for me to try it out.

Just a few blocks away from Central Park, this place was hopping even on a Friday evening. Who says deli sandwiches are only for lunch?

Food
//hot Pastrami for both of us. Everything else on the menu is ancillary. Maybe on my 10th visit I'll try the hot roast beef or something. If you look around, everyone ordered pastrami too. Not for the faint of heart...I was actually intimidated by the pile of meat when they placed it on my table. A little of mustard (or a lot in J's case) and dig in! Man...I can never leave NYC after this sandwich.
//pickles. I liked both the lightly pickled and the more pickled pickles. probably just as good as Artie's although Artie's had pickled tomatoes that I still crave once in a while. Carnegie Deli is a bit easier to get to though.
//side of matzoh brei: At J's recommendation, we had it pancake style with sour cream (I added pepper because I always need pepper and/or tabasco for my eggs)

Drink
//egg cream: I read about it in an AMNY article discussing this Jewish-Chinese street festival called Egg Rolls and Egg Cream Festival. There's no egg in this drink, more like glorified chocolate milk soda, or almost cream soda? Chocolate syrup, milk, and seltzer water. There's something very right about it, must be the simple combo.

//I should try the cheesecake next time.