With breakfast now out of the picture, we decided to skip straight to lunch.
Katz's Delicatessen
World famous for their massive sandwiches, Katz's deli was a mandatory stop on the trip. 6000 reviews on Yelp can't be wrong right?
First things first, this spot hit every check box on the New Yorker stereotype list. Probably "Ay!" and "Fuggetaboutit" 10 times before I even stepped in the door.
You walk in and are handed a ticket, this is your ticket to order, pay and get out. Don't lose it or you'll be charged a $30 fee when you leave... or you could attempt to tackle the huge security guard standing at the door.
The guys behind the line are yelling at customers, and you gotta be quick with your order. But, from the moment you walk in the door, you're hit with the most amazing aroma of spiced meat, and you don't give a shit about all their rules.
We ordered a combo sandwich - half pastrami and half corned beef. Came out to about $25 after tax and tip. $25 for a sandwich?! One SANDWICH?! Yes. But damn if it wasn't worth every penny.
The sandwich that has ruined all other sandwiches
Piled high with meat, and nothing else. Put mustard on if you'd like. Meat heaven and nirvana all in one. The corned beef was great, well seasoned, but the pastrami, oh good god the pastrami. If there was a pleasure town, one bite would take you there on the fastest Hyperloop ever built.
You're kinda fucked though if you eat here, as no sandwich will ever be good enough for you ever again. Everything will be compared to this sandwich and you will never find anything even close to adequate. This is the Flowers For Algernon sandwich.
Peter Luger's Steak House
A few hours later after finally digesting the sandwich, we cross the bridge into Brooklyn for dinner. Peter Luger's is old school New York, with rough around the edges waiters and stiff cocktails, and what is considered by many the best steak in the world; dry aged for weeks, and seared under the eternal flame of manhood.
Meh.
I'll get into the steak in a bit, but first apps.
On the recommendation of a coworker, we ordered the tomatoes and bacon. Super thick 1/2 inch bacon charred on the grill, served with hearty steak tomatoes and the house steak sauce. This was probably the best bacon I've ever eaten in my life. None of that millionaire's bacon bullshit like in SF, covered in sugar and molasses, this was just bacon and smoke. The house sauce tasted like a sweeter cocktail sauce, and worked really well with the tomatoes and bacon.
Best thing at a steak house are the tomatoes and bacon
After the preliminaries, we got into the main event. We ordered the $100 Porterhouse for 2, hash browns and creamed spinach. When I say main event, I mean it. The steak came out still sizzling as our waiter spooned hot melted butter over the slices and served us each a few pieces. Hot and drenching with butter, that first belt was a revelation. How could meat taste so good? The aging process gave the beef a funky hyper-umami'd flavor that was unparalleled. Then I ate the second bite.
Meh.
Where's the salt? I mean, the best steak house in the world can't properly season their beef? Come on! Salt isn't just to make something salty, it helps bring out the flavors of anything you're eating. No wonder they give you such a huge boat of steak sauce, you need it to get any flavor out of this $100 slab of meat, but damn it I wanted prime grade steak not steak drenched in cocktail sauce. Disappointing bite after disappointing bite, I came to the realization that steak is like a hand job, it's pretty good, but you can probably do it better yourself.
The sides were also rans, nothing notable, skip the hash browns.
Did run into Eddie Huang of BaoHaus and Fresh Off The Boat fame though! Totally fanboyed over seeing him, but he was cool when I asked for a picture.
Did run into Eddie Huang of BaoHaus and Fresh Off The Boat fame though! Totally fanboyed over seeing him, but he was cool when I asked for a picture.
No Asian peace signs for Eddie
Oh yeah, and we went to the 9/11 Memorial museum and met up with some friends too... but this a food blog so I'll spare you the details. Here's a few pictures:
The last pillar
Always Remember.
A Table for Tu and A Table for Bryan
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