Pastrami Queen, Manhattan, New York City, New York

Before setting off on your weekend in New York, I sent up various flares asking for suggestions on places to eat lunch and pre-theater dinners near our planned stops, all of which would be in midtown or the Upper East and West sides. I got a lot of great recommendations, far too many for a two-night trip, close to the area in question. I also stepped into a level of vituperation against various restaurants well in excess of the usual trash talk.

One of the great recommendations was the Pastrami Queen on the Upper East Side. (There are several locations, and this and the one on the Upper West Side are kosher.) It was perfectly situated. On our second day, a wet and cold day, we rose, had breakfast at the New York Luncheonette and an impromptu supplementary research bagel at Gourmet Bagels, then walked up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where we spent over two hours before walking back over to Lexington and headed south to our hotel of the same name. Anyway, the Upper West Side Pastrami Queen was right on the way.

We walked in and found an empty two-top, sat, and shook the water from our coats. We looked over the menus that the tireless and irrepressibly cheerful server provided. We’d had a generous breakfast and it was a wet, cold day, so we both chose the soup and a half sandwich option ($23), chicken noodle with turkey on rye for Nancy

and matzoh ball soup with

hot pastrami on rye for me.

Nancy’s soup looked exactly like mine except for the matzoh ball, but my photo was even more out of focus. Our soups both had surprisingly thin broth, but they both hit the spot after the wet cold walk down. Nancy’s turkey was unremarkable, except that she enjoyed it with a little mustard.

Let’s take another look at the pastrami.

Now that’s worth a thousand words! Anthony Bourdain went to the Pastrami Queen and reported:

Pastrami Queen is a really good pastrami sandwich — if not the best, among the very best. Just a good, nice mix of fat and lean. It’s the real deal, served warm on fresh, soft rye bread with the right kind of mustard. Good pickles. I get a cream soda. It’s a quintessential New York meal for me.

I can’t add a lot to that. The pastrami sandwich was a hit, and the amount of food was just right between a good breakfast and an upcoming early, pre-theater dinner. We each had added a pickle (no charge) and a Dr. Brown’s ($2.60 each). I’ll let you guess who had the diet cream soda and who had the root beer. As we were leaving I kicked myself for not ordering a Cel Ray.

Much as I enjoyed the Pastrami Queen, I feel that I almost have to apologize for going there. Many people were zealous in support of Katz’s, where I have eaten and which is indeed very good. It would, however, have been a cab down and back (the thought of 1,000 National Guard troops and state troopers on hand actually detracted from rather than added to the minimal attractions of the subway) and additional time and expense. I appreciate the suggestion, though. More sober support went to Sarge’s, another place I’ve enjoyed before, and it would have been less of a hike but a hike nonetheless. I actually might have gone to the new Second Avenue Deli branch on the Upper East Side if (1) I’d known it was there, and (2) it had been a cold but dry day (I recall their soup being good), but I didn’t and it wasn’t. And while I don’t keep kosher — with such a porcine diet one might say that I keep traif religiously — I do like to support kosher delis. The Pastrami Queen fit the bill in all particulars.

I can’t honestly say that Washington is a great city for Jewish-style deli’s, so Pastrami Queen was a real treat. The actual kosher places in Washington run towards Israeli and vegetarian food. The best local pastrami — and it is very good pastrami indeed — actually is at two barbecue places, Silver and Sons and 2fifty Texas. I’ve given Best Sandwich to 2fifty because they use Manifest Bread’s utterly sensational rye, the best rye I’ve ever tasted, but Silver and Sons’ beautiful seasoned short rib pastrami is a work of art.

I digress. If life takes you to the Upper East Side and the mood for a great deli sandwich seizes yous, saunter on over to Pastrami Queen and treat yourself to a delicious sandwich.

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