Just ordered from Katz for Father’s Day!

Okay, as I anticipated I finally heard back from Katz’s. They’ll send a new order out tomorrow for delivery on Weds. She said their rule of thumb is if the meat is still cool to the touch then it’s fine. So it should be here tomorrow - the first batch. So his Father’s Day brunch/lunch was menudo and Margaritas (plural - just two).


That’s quite a compliment, @catholiver! Thank you!

I was an old CH and always loved your posts. Lived vicariously :slight_smile: Need to get back to your glorious city. Best, C

@Sgee, Re: Sarge’s vs. 2nd Ave. Deli. When it comes to pastrami, no contest. Sarge’s is way superior. They make their own while I read somewhere that 2nd Ave. gets their pastrami from a kosher supplier (Hebrew National?). What I order at 2nd Ave. is knoblewurst. Sarge’s doesn’t have it.

By the way, we’ve had the smoked salmon and smoked sable platter(includes cream cheese and bagels) at Sarge’s and had it delivered. Surprisingly, very good.

1 Like

I looked at Sarge’s and was sad :slight_smile: that they don’t ship. LOL.

@catholiver, They certainly do ship nationwide. 18% off nationwide orders.

P.S. That photo is no exaggeration! When Mr. R. and I eat there, we share one sandwich. To practice further portion control, the first thing we do is remove about half the meat which we take to our apartment, refrigerate, and then take back to NJ. Plenty for another sandwich. At that point, the pastrami is cold, so that’s when the steaming comes into play.

Oh wow. And, yes, Bob and I always share so this would be a double-share. Thanks, my friend. I value you.

@RGR thanks for the lowdown on Sarge’s! Next on my pastrami hit list & I love they’re open 24/7 too.

Aaaugh my smoked salmon list just got longer again :sob:: :laughing:

1 Like

Is this RGR of the LES Food Tour, from CH? That’s a very useful piece you wrote back then – thanks!

@CeleryVictor, Yes, the very same! I enjoyed creating that LES tour. Glad to hear you found it helpful.

2 Likes

Yet another update. Yes, the original order arrived about 1PM and we had just finished lunch :slight_smile: As expected all the frozen packing had melted and was at room temp. But the pastrami was “cool to the touch” so we’ll have some tonight. The breads don’t feel awful. But the kicker - and I don’t mean that as a good thing - is the the knoblewurst that I ordered and was listed on the packing slip is labeled in its packaging as “beef salami.” Argh. So I’ve emailed Katz’s again. Oh, and mentioned what had been going on to the UPS guy. He thought it was odd that they didn’t deliver it on Saturday because they DO. More later, kiddos.
PS: I feel a NYC trip.

2 Likes

Okay, here we go! The pastrami is FANTASTIC!!! It came vacuum sealed with instructions for reheating. Basically a low-tech SV. In five minutes it was perfectly warm. The rye bread, from Rockland Bakery, was understandably subpar having been sitting around for way too long. But I’ve been reading some things about Katz’s and pretty much no one likes their rye. The bagels are H&H and again suffered from the amount of time and high temps. But we toasted half of one this afternoon and it honestly wasn’t bad. Better than the recent Costco ones we got. Oh, and some research I did showed me that the “beef salami” is actually the knoblewurst. (Not made by them but “for” them.) And the mustard was to die for. I finally just left the lid off so I could dip a fingertip occasionally. The new order will arrive tomorrow (well, I hope it will). Here are some pix.

I would probably order again. I’ve not had problems with UPS in the past.

We’ll be having bagels/lox/etc. probably for tomorrow lunch.

2 Likes

Ugh, Langer’s pastrami is damn good, but it is not this.
That looks amazing for having traveled all the way across the country.
Thank you for sharing your experience!

Langer’s Pros: is there a way to get pastrami that is more like this at Langer’s? Do I have to ask for “the fatty part”?

I would recommend trying ‘Daughters deli’ -was really impressed at how juicy it was with out being overly fatty (They are the Navel cut)

1 Like

And sat in a box in 90 degree weather for two more days.

I’m really glad to know that this looks good to someone like you who clearly knows more about such than I ever will. Thanks

Damn that looks good!!!

Can’t wait for a knoblewurst report!

Knoblewurst coming up :slight_smile:
Really, really good. I poked a bunch of holes in it (I always do that, don’t really know why) and Bob grilled them. Along with some shishito peppers. Some white corn cut off the cob. And a bagel which, while over toasted, was really quite good. All those Costco ones and the first pack of their rye we’re give to some homeless folks. Hope the next package arrives before lunch but dinner is fine also. Have everything but the bagels, lox/etc…

2 Likes

New shipment hasn’t arrived yet. Made a sandwich of leftover pastrami and leftover knoblewurst (I just love that word!) on our own bread with that great mustard. Mmm.

1 Like

New package arrived.

3 Likes

I took the packages, cut in half and froze. A better size for the two of us. Today’s lunch was some toasted homemade bread with some Katz’s mustard on. Treated it like a cracker and had it with some slightly warmed pastrami. Perfect .

1 Like