ACZoom  ·  Archive-2016

Food Rating: Value Rating:

205 E Houston Street (corner of Ludlow St), New York, New York.

Given that the smoked meat available at Schwartz's in Montreal is my number one food choice, there needs to be some mention of corned beef and pastrami in New York too - the other big city in the world for cured meat.

Katz's Delicatessen is pretty good. It certainly exhibits quite a few quirks and oddities that provide a quintessential New York experience - but the food is good too, better than some of the other similarly famous pastrami and corned beef places in New York City. It has been in business since 1888 - a long time - which is usually a very good indication of a good restaurant.

When you enter the place, you are handed a ticket - hold on to it, and get it filled in when you order food - loose this, and they they will charge you $50! Diners also have to enter and exit in a single file.

The meat is quite good - nice, spicy enough - certainly still not comparable to Schwartz's - Schwartz's is more spicy, more tender, but Katz's is a pretty good alternative. And like all things American (US-American), the quantity is outrageous - too much meat. So, too much for one person, but great to share between 2-3 persons. And smoked meat fans won't need to be told this, but these sandwiches are best with rye bread, with mustard, and nothing else. Black Cherry soda for a drink, or hot black tea (well, hot black tea is probably just me). The sandwiches go for around $15, not including tax and tip.

A web search for Katz Deli will yield lot of good information - be aware that the main Katz Deli site itself is very badly designed - popups and force viewing of slides, etc. Painful navigation will lead you to the full menu - a PDF file that has some pages straight, others rotated 180 degrees.

Katz's Deli is located in lower east side in New York City, and it is a 10-15 minute walk from the Grand St (B, D) or Essex St/Delancey St (F, M, J, Z) subway stations. 205 E Houston St, corner of Ludlow Street.