Peachy Picks The Carnegie Deli
To understand pure culinary beauty you only need to looks as far as item #14 on the menu at The Carnegie Deli: AH, THERE'S THE REUBEN.
And we thought corned beef was only enjoyed by Irish-Americans!
Peachy was dreaming about this for days before she came and she will be still eating it for days after! A total classic, this world-renowned sandwich could feed a dozen people but it is served for one. As they say that the Carnegie Deli, they are doing something wrong if you don't leave with a doggie bag and of course though we usually can eat more than you'd think by looking at our panel, last night was our biggest challenge in quantity of food ever.
Description: The "famous" open style sandwich piled high with corned beef, melted Swiss cheese and Sauerkraut was a symphony of deli excellence, and many enjoy this with the Russian dressing that comes on the side. (though Peachy has never liked Russian dressing unless we are talking about clothes...)
This happens to be dinner review #76 for Whom You Know, and as you know that was a very good year.
Not only because Peachy was born then, but also because that is when Sandy Levine's (his wife's!) family took over The Carnegie Deli. Everything is tops there, and this is the only deli we have ever reviewed because we have simple taste: we only like the best. (Mover and Shaker Mitzi Perdue agrees!)
Ever since she was a little kid in the Hartford Civic Center going to Shelly's Deli (no longer in business but the best in Hartford many years ago), Peachy Deegan has love love LOVED egg creams. As you know in our recent book review, she just learned last night that it does not actually have egg in it:
Yes, there is even a book on The Carnegie Deli and you ought to read it before you go.
The egg cream last night was fabulous and though you know we love our wine and cocktails (obviously this panel drinks The Peachy Deegan) we did not miss them thanks to the quality of this egg cream.
We tried the chopped liver, and if anyone ever uses that noun in a negative context, you should be aware that they are never talking about the chopped liver at The Carnegie Deli. They are talking about the chopped liver everywhere else.
See, the chopped liver is even smiling for the camera!
The Carnegie Deli was first featured in Tasty Tidbits:
and we are pleased to announce it has easily graduated to Peachy's Picks.
We love the corned beef, we love the egg creams and we love the rich history.
Though the rest of the world loves cheesecake, Peachy does not but she loves apple pie and even the ice cream was amazing:
We were also psyched that they sat us across from Mover and Shaker Rita Cosby's picture!
We love Rita she is a total peach. Though we understand from the book that Barry Manilow trumps all others for TBD, and you better read the book to see what MBD is. Our t there stands for THE....Barry Manilow was way before our time.
Our esteemed panel of Carnegie Deli Cheesecake lovers add:
Next, it was time to taste the latkes, which were the best I’ve ever had! The outsides were lightly crisped, and the insides were filled with perfect, warm, creamy potato. Yum! Topped with sour cream and applesauce, this was another winner! The deli salad was absolutely loaded with deli favorites like American cheese, salami, turkey and bacon, which were served in a large bowl along with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions. Although the appetizer portions were very large, nothing could have prepared me for what arrived next! I’d ordered the turkey club, and when it arrived I nearly fell out of my chair!
Now, I didn’t have a ruler with me, but if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say the club stood at LEAST 8 inches tall! The bottom portion was loaded with fresh turkey, and the top was crispy bacon, lettuce, and tomato. Not quite sure how to approach it, I flipped it over on its side and attacked it with my fork and knife! I managed to get through about a quarter of it before waving the white flag, but I’m very much looking forward to enjoying a few more meals from it! I was extremely impressed with the quality and freshness of the meat; it was fresh, flavorful, and tender – truly some of the best turkey I’ve ever experienced. After our main courses were cleared, we took a breather for a little bit and perused the dessert options.
We decided to split a portion each of the deli’s apple pie and their famous cheesecake, and they were both delectable! The apples in the apple pie were fresh and sweet, without being too sweet, and the cheesecake was the epitome of the classic New York cheesecake – rich, creamy, and immensely satisfying. The coffee which accompanied the desserts was surprisingly strong, which helped to balance the sweetness…and also prevented us from getting too sleepy after our super-sized meal!! Overall, it was a truly enjoyable dinner, and a wonderful way to take in a piece of New York history! And I personally could not be more thrilled to know from the book that it has been frequented by Friars historically.
Who says Carnegie Deli is just for tourists? Not this native New Yorker! For those craving a historic deli experience Carnegie Deli is the place to go, where quality and tradition meet. Oh, and please do not forget to bring your appetite because you are going to need it! From the minute you walk through the front door, you know you have walked into a New York institution. We started the meal with a delicious New York style egg cream suggested by our server Salim, which we learned despite the name does not actually contain an egg. Following the egg cream was a sampling of a few of Carnegie's famous "treats before you eat", which included tasty potato latkes, chopped liver and the Carnegie Deli salad.
I should mention that at first glance we were convinced the salad only consisted of a heap of freshly sliced turkey, bacon, salami and American cheese. We dug into the large salad to pleasantly uncover a whole vegetable garden waiting below, filled with juicy cucumbers, onions, and greens. From there on things kept getting better and the portions kept doubling to reveal the largest sandwich we have ever lived to see. The Jeff's Tatalah sandwich was almost to good to be true! Mounds of beautiful fresh turkey and thinly sliced corned beef perfection, topped with Swiss cheese, sweet cole slaw and homemade Russian dressing all being held together by freshly baked pumpernickel!
Yum yum yum, was first the reaction we had after we tasted this combo sandwich. We should mention the first bite did require a well thought out attack plan to tame this beast, known as the number 13 on the deli's menu. After the initial shock wore off we were able to appreciated all that distinguishes Carnegie Deli from the others, they do everything themselves! Yes, they cure, pickle and smoke their own meat in their New Jersey factory and believe us, you will taste the difference! That's not the only thing they do in house, they also bake their cheesecakes right on premise! After wrapping most of the amazing sandwich to go, we were presented with the largest piece of cheesecake in the world! Yes, everything is bigger and better in NYC! Topped with a mountain of large fresh and sweet strawberries, we can hands down say we tasted one of the best cheesecakes in our lives. Dense, creamy and sweet perfection accompanied by those glorious strawberries. It then became very clear to us why Carnegie Deli has been around for decades..the fantastic, fresh, classic Deli experience it provides for all of New York and its visitors!
As New Yorkers we sometimes forget what we have in front of our eyes, and we must remind you that you should not forget The Carnegie Deli! Though the book says 95% of their business is from tourists, we hope that with this review we can "up" the amount of Manhattan residents swinging by! New York is of course well-known for the best delis in the world and most of all the corn beef and hot pastrami sandwich; while other people come from all over the world looking for the perfect sandwich, we as residents of Manhattan are discriminating with all of the options available to us that we are aware of since we live here. For sandwiches, go straight to the Carnegie Deli, order a HUGE sandwich and show your pride in being a NEW YORKER….I forgot how big and delicious they are (my mistake Huge Sandwich!) …I couldn’t even fit the rich creamy NY cheese cake that the Carnegie Deli is famous for as well. "Woody Allen sandwich” could be at least a dinner for 2 if not 3…funny name for this massive sandwich - I would call it my favorite MR. BIG!!! Actually, all of the sandwiches here fit that criteria!
Peachy Picks The Carnegie Deli!
We think you cannot find a better place for a reuben and an egg cream!
