Katz's Deli

We are down to our last few days in NYC, and have walked past this famous NYC institution dozens of times as it's only 4 blocks from our apartment. We're always a bit wary of the high profile landmarks, as they attract lots of tourists which tends to result in poor service and overpriced food. We finally decided to check it out.

It has been going since 1888, back when the LES was a Jewish enclave. While most have since left to other parts of the city, a few remnants of the Jewish culture remain.

First of all, the place is massive, you walk in and the counter runs along one entire side of the room. The back wall is covered with hanging salamis, and the other wall is covered with pictures of famous people who have visited over the years. 

Katz is best known for their meat sandwiches, especially their pastrami. The sandwiches are huge, probably 100mm high and stacked full of juicy, tender meat. Other than bread, mustard, pastrami and the obligatory whole pickle, that's all it is. But man is it good. It's probably the best pastrami I've had (although the bulk of my previous pastrami experience originates in Coles/Woolies deli). The pastrami juices partially soak the bread, and with a side of creamy coleslaw it makes for a mean traditional Jewish-American meal.

We were bracing ourselves for a long wait, but we got straight in at 7pm on a Sunday night, and were eating 10 minutes later. It's also featured in some movie that I'm too young to have seen, supposedly had Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in it or something. Definitely worth the visit.