What you can find on a 9 mile walk

Lesson learned...it is not nice to take your house guests on a 9 mile walk through the city. There was a groin injury and countless blisters suffered by our guests, but there were some good things. We certainly saw lots of the city, especially lots of the east side. It would have been a bit shorter if my 2006 restaurant guide was indeed up to date. Alas, it was not, and we were forced to back track to a new (and undeniably better, even though we didn't actually taste any food from our original choice of restaurant) restaurant. The "new" and "second" option for lunch on our hike from hell (actually, I'm not sure anyone would characterize it as such, but I felt really bad since it wasn't really advertised as a 9 mile walk) was Katz's Deli. We were on the lower east side and we wanted a deli, so we were in the perfect place for the best deli sandwich, EVER. EV-ER.

Apparently, we were the only ones in the dark about the deliciously unbelievable deli gem. I had actually heard of it, but it was not what I had thought of when I had heard of it previously. And with all of my Zagat grazing, I'm surprised I hadn't made a bee-line for Katz's 6 months ago. Regardless, I made it, and I'm in love.

It's a much different deli experience than I have ever had in the past. You walk in the door and get a ticket, much like a raffle ticket, and told not to lose it (if you do, it's a $50 charge). There's a bunch of tables, a huge long deli counter and lots of guys working behind it. You can get in line at any of the "carvers" - which was a little confusing although there were signs everywhere. We also found that there were a few tables that had waiter service, but I actually think I kind of liked the do it yourself nature, plus we didn't have to wait long at all. The carver then marks your ticket with what you ordered and you pay as you walk out the door.

So my absolutely favorite deli sandwich is: turkey, corned beef, cheese (preferably muenster or provelone), cole slaw and russian dressing on rye. Not seeing it on the menu, I just went to the counter and ordered turkey and corned beef with russian dressing (that too was not on the menu, but I figured it would be reasonable to expect they could make it, which was true). I'm not sure why I didn't get all of my favorite ingredients, but I figured I'd test the waters, you never know, too many things and your order may come back wrong or if you're not familiar with the restaurant the flavors may compete too much with another (if they don't have it on the menu, there may be a good reason why). While the "carver" is carving the meat for your sandwich he cuts a little taste nugget for you while you wait. To wet your appetite I guess, at least that's what it did for me. The most tender juicy turkey (warm) that I had ever had, and a corned beef that wasn't too corney and just perfect (also warm). The dressing wasn't mayo based (I don't think at least) and I was a little afraid I wouldn't like it. But turns out that was fan-freakin'-tastic too. Anyways, there were three of us and we got 2 sandwiches and an order of fries. The other sandwich in our party was their famous salami.

Now, I've always been a salami fan, one of those things that (in the words of my dad), "I like so much I can't eat." And this is one of the best salamis ever, I think it was because there was a hint of garlic in it. Regardless of what it was, it was delicious. And apparently everyone else knows how good their food is, because there are a million pictures on the wall of all the famous people with Mr. Katz (I'm guessing it's Mr. Katz in all the pictures, but I'm not really sure who Katz is). It is also where the famous scene from "When Harry Met Sally" was filmed...you know the one..."I'll have what she's having."

So the food was awesome, but unfortunately, I thought sadly to myself that it's so out of the way for us, that I'm afraid it's only going to be a "when we have visitors" type place. Which makes me very sad. It was the perfect food to feed our bellies through the trek through the city. Next time I promise to do a little more planning ahead of time, although, this time, we found the best deli ever (and yes, it's way way better than the Carnegie Deli). Maybe I shouldn't be in charge of plotting the route. Just finding the restaurants.