Meow...is that a Katz?

Eating at an Iconic Restaurant with an Iconic Friend

FINALLY! I went to Katz's Delicatessen (http://katzsdelicatessen.com/) with my buddy Scott. This New York icon has been open since 1888 and serves up 10,000 pounds of pastrami..WEEKLY! Impressive, right?

Bright lights, BIG pastrami

As a big fan of pastrami, I knew I had to try this place out. Sometimes, I enjoy getting a turkey sandwich with bacon at a deli. But, as a Kosher deli, Katz doesn't dabble in bacon.

Order Up!

When you arrive, you're given an order ticket. I didn't realize that we could sit down for table service (which would have been much easier/less stressful), so we got on line to order. Scott waited for the sandwiches and I ordered my bowl of soup. It was a bit tricky to juggle everything and stake out a table, but great challenges yield great rewards. I managed to get most of the soup to the table...

Allegedly, this is Matzo Ball Soup 

I don't know if you could tell by the photo, but the matzo ball was just insanely out of proportion. It was a bit intimidating. I ate around it but didn't eat the whole thing. It was simply too much. I would have preferred several small Swedish meatball sized ones than this softball.

Lean Pastrami Sandwich

Sometimes pastrami can be way too fatty, with loads of gristle. NOT A FAN! As a precaution, we ordered the pastrami lean. Personally, the meat was cut too thick. I prefer thinly sliced pastrami. Also, they give you a lot of lip if you ask for mayo on your pastrami. Not cool! Whatever, I sucked it up and got it. Whatever it takes, right? I prefer Carnegie Deli's pastrami. Plus, they have BACON.

We also got some pickles...or should I call them salt bombs?

Salt Delivery Vehicles

I LOVE salty foods but even these pickles were too much for me to handle. Oh well.

You likely know, but this deli was famously featured in "When Harry Met Sally" in the "I'll Have What She's Having" scene. My sandwich was good but not orgasmic.

Hollywood Baby!

I'm glad I finally went here but I'm not sure I'll come back. There are simply too many incredible places I have yet to visit!

Cheers,

Liz

 

Serious Eats Require a Bib and Gloves

Dinner in a Plastic Bag Can Still Be Classy

While we were waiting at Fig. 19 for our table to be ready, I received a text message from the restaurant, The Boil (http://www.theboilny.com/). I love that restaurants are now using this form of communication to tell you when the table is ready - no more guessing or waiting around in a crowded waiting area!

I love the efficiency!

We closed out our check and headed next door to the restaurant. We were seated in the rear of the restaurant, which was nice since we were away from people coming in and out - aka the freezing cold air coming into the restaurant.

Before we ordered any food, one of the servers dressed each of us in a bib. Naturally, I had to take a shellfie (this is a selfie at a seafood restaurant, just FYI). Check out my hot outfit below.

Shellfie!

Don't be jealous of the bib - if you go here, you can get one too! We were going to order Bloody Marys but decided to get beers instead. I ordered the Abita Purple Haze. Yum!

Much Better Than Water

To start, we go an order of Cajun Fries. We ate these before we put on our gloves to eat all the seafood. SO TASTY! The dipping sauce was almost like a tartar sauce. Very good. Also, as a side note, my hands still smelled like Old Bay, Butter and Shrimp even with the gloves. This is what soap is for.

Cajun Fries

We also got an order of Oysters. The cocktail sauce and the vinaigrette were yummy. The oysters were super fresh and tasty.

Oysters!

We ordered the Combo bag of 1lb of Crawfish and 1 lb of Shrimp as well as 1lb of Snow Crab Legs. We got them with everything (The Boil Special): garlic butter, Old Bay, and lemon pepper.  For the temperature, we got Mild. This was the right call for me since spicy can get too aggressive too quickly.

Snow Crab Legs

The snow crab legs were easier to eat than the crawfish. They were SO HARD TO EAT! I never had them before and neither had Scott. Like some people I've dated, I'm not sure they were worth the effort. The shrimp had more payoff for the work required to peel them. The crawfish just didn't have much meat in them.

So many eyes looking at us!

The boil included sausage, potatoes and only ONE EAR OF CORN! We felt a bit robbed since there were two of us. I ate it and Scott seemed sad. While I was eating it, I didn't realize I was eating the ONLY one. Oops. It tasted great!

I highly recommend coming here, especially with someone you're close with. I say this because you will be a complete slob and look like a fool while you're eating. I had on blue gloves, a bib and managed to have food on my face the entire time. Scott doesn't judge, so he was the perfect companion.

Check out The Boil! Note: Cash only!

Happy Dining,

Liz

 

Hey Beauty (& Essex)!

Tequila & Tapas!

I wanted to take Amber to a "Big Night Out" dinner so we went to Beauty & Essex (http://beautyandessex.com/). Before we had some yummy tapas, we ordered a drink at the bar. I ordered the O.D.B. "Old Dirty Bramble" - it was made with Don Julio Reposado tequila, smoked blackberries, honey, ginger juice, and lemon. I tend not to be the biggest fan of tequila because so many are not good, but Don Julio? Delicioso! 

Cheers!

Liz