PrintKatz's Deli: Go for the Pastrami, Not the Breakfast
The Breakfast of Chumps
As Alan Richman recently said, there is little worth eating beyond the pastrami, knockwurst, and hot dogs at the iconic Katz's Deli. Perhaps this isn't surprising. It is a bit like going to Peter Luger and ordering a fish and salad—yes, it's on the menu but nobody expects it to be good.
Some might say there is no point in reviewing food that "misses the point" of a restaurant (I get this from time to time in my hamburger reviews over at AHT) but my feeling is this: If an item is featured on a menu, it is fair game for review.
While we generally try to report on the positive here at Serious Eats, sometimes a negative review can be as useful as a good review, especially when the place has compelling food aside from the dishes warranting criticism. If Richman found the lunch and dinner menus underwhelming, he really would have been disappointed by the breakfast.
The only thing in its favor? You get a lot of food for the money—$7 buys you three eggs, two slices of toast, beef sausage, and a plate full of steak fries plus a large cup of canned orange juice. A few bucks more and you get three pancakes and sausage which seems far less of a bargain.
The pancakes are dense, leathery slabs served with the cheapest, high fructose corn syrup-laden syrup imaginable. Speaking of leathery, the beef sausage, which should be good considering how good the dogs and wursts at Katz's are, is a major letdown—oppressively salty and tough. You will be disappointed by both dishes.
And where are the pastrami and eggs? Talk about a missed opportunity. Katz's serves some of the finest pastrami in the world and it isn't even available for breakfast.
Go to Katz's for the wonderful pastrami and the hot dogs, but go elsewhere else for breakfast.
Katz's Deli
205 East Houston Street, New York NY 10002 (map)
212-254-2246
katzdeli.com
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10 Comments:
I had a pastrami "omelet" for breakfast at Katz's a couple of months ago. I was practically the only person in the place (it was right around opening time) and I don't know if it was on the "menu" (I asked for it without looking), but it was "available".
gustoct at 11:47AM on 07/15/09
I should add that the pastrami and egg omelet was excellent.
gustoct at 11:48AM on 07/15/09
You have to order the right thing - my brother and I had breakfast there one morning - we were the only people in the place - ordered Salami & Eggs - Rye Toast (no butter) - French Fries - it was a perfect breakfast - better than what we expected - whoever ordered Pancakes - got exactly what they deserved - would you order a Steak at Nathan's -
hbherr at 2:17PM on 07/15/09
@gustoct There was no pastrami listed on the breakfast menu when I ate there.
@hbherr You are right, you do have to order the right thing. That was my point. And in my experience breakfast is most assuredly not the right thing to order at Katz's. I am glad you had the "perfect" breakfast. I don't think most diners would consider the breakfast that I had there to perfect, I certainly didn't. We do agree on one thing - Katz's is empty at breakfast. I think I know why.
Nick Solares at 4:26PM on 07/15/09
Katz's is known for one thing, but since they've stuffed so much garbage onto the menu, I think they deserve to be called out for it. It's not like leaving a half-assed salad on the menu at a steakhouse for vegetarians; this is a deliberate attempt to con chumps out of more money. Why else would you serve this tripe?
Note: They should serve more tripe.
silvermike at 12:43AM on 07/16/09
I just commented on another story about how consumers are so confused about hight fructose corn syrup, and then I read this review about the pancakes at Katz's which the author describes as being "dense, leathery slabs served with the cheapest, high fructose corn syrup-laden syrup imaginable."
This is EXACTLY the type of thing I don't get. Everyone seems to poo-poo high fructose corn syrup because its the 'IN' thing to do yet they don't know why. In this case, it would be ideal for Katz to serve 100% maple syrup, but then everyone would complain about the cost of the pancakes.
As i said in my last posting:
As a Registered Dietitian (RD) and an adjunct nutrition professor (NYU, Queens College, Columbia University/Teachers College), I can say with all certainty that everyone is a marketing movement to ban high fructose corn syrup, yet there is no scientific basis to suggest that coffee cake made with sugar is ‘healthier’ than one made with high fructose corn syrup.
As an RD I can confirm that the nutrition science community generally agrees that Americans should cut back on all sweets and calories and that high fructose corn syrup is nutritionally no different from sugar. It is the calories that count. Even the American Medical Association in June 2008 helped put to rest misunderstandings about this sweetener and obesity, stating that “high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.”
High fructose corn syrup may have a complicated-sounding name, but it is essentially a corn sugar that is nutritionally the same as table sugar. High fructose corn syrup is not sweeter than sugar; and high fructose corn syrup, sugar and honey all contain the same number of calories (four calories per gram).
This is a marketing not a health issue. Consumers are being misled into thinking that sugar is healthier than high fructose corn syrup, which is simply a kind of sugar. They are nutritionally the same and both are fine in moderation. A sugar is a sugar, whether it’s honey, high fructose corn syrup, table sugar, or fruit juices.
Kyle Shadix, MS, RD
Registered Dietitian, NYC
ChefKyleRD at 10:30PM on 07/19/09
@ChefKyleRD I am eating at Katz's, nutrition is not the issue, taste is. You are right that honey and maple syrup and cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup are nutritionally identical but they sure don't taste the same. And it should be noted that many people oppose the use of high fructose corn syrup not because of nutritional concerns but environmental ones.
Nick Solares at 12:36AM on 07/20/09
I was sadly disappointed with Katz's in general. Sigh.
lexophile at 2:30PM on 07/24/09
Nick is right on the money here about HFCS- the environmental concerns alone are enough to make me never want to eat this item again! @ChefKyleRD, you might want to check out what Michael Pollan has to say on this topic.
and yes, Katz's is gonna be rough most times of the day when it comes to food... my how the mighty have fallen- Katz's is a mere shadow of its former glory- when i was a child Katz's was unbelievably good- now, it is very difficult to get a good pastrami sandwich there. a dog on the line, crisp, is probably gonna work... but the meats are pretty ruf, the knishes are blarghhhh, and the fries nothing special. believe it or not, the new 2nd ave deli really seems to be getting their act together in the meats dept.- i actually had an excellent fatty, juicy, melt in your mouth pastrami sandwich there last week. and sides at 2nd ave are much much better than katz's- the matzoh ball soup i would say has reached it's former glory again! enjoy!
frankbooth at 9:40PM on 07/24/09
Nick- I am surprised and disappointed that you, one of my favorite writers, has jumped on the Richman bandwagon. As I posted here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/633861 you don't order the philly cheesesteak at a NY deli. That goes for pancakes too. But Katz's salami and eggs is one of the great breakfasts that imbue existence with meaning. I have shared tables early in the morning at Katz's 9yes it does get crowded early in the morning) with memebers of two of the glorious tribes of NYC-Jews (of which I'm a card carrying member) and African-Americans. The salami and eggs provide a mutual bond among peoples who don't give a
&%$# about their cholesterol level. Please try again Nick.
guttergour at 9:09PM on 07/28/09