Thursday, May 5, 2011

Starring Role for Sandwiches at Stage Deli?


Stage Deli
834 7th Avenue
New York, NY 10019

When heading to New York I was looking forward to many things, going to a Rangers game, watching Katie experience the Big Apple, and a great deli experience. New York is known for many food cuisines, but the deli has to be one of my favorites. I did some research before leaving for my trip, and Stage Deli was highly rated, so that is where we headed one of our last nights in NYC.

Stage Deli has been around for 74 years. The list of people that have come through the door of this delicatessen reads like the Hollywood Walk of Fame sidewalk. Opened by Max Asnas, a Russian immigrant,  he sold the food of his homeland and soon became the toast of Broadway. Performers would come to the deli after rehearsals or after the shows to chow down on big sandwiches. We showed up here not after going to a show, but after walking through Times Square, a different kind of show. Let's check out what we ate.


Katie started off with Chicken Soup with a Matzoh Ball. This could have been the finest matzoh ball either of us have had. It complimented the soup well, but was clearly the star of this dish. The matzoh had a great flavor and was not dry. A very good start to this meal.


Big sandwiches are the specialty at Stage Deli and that is what my Dad went with. Here is the Howard Stern Sandwich, which consisted of pastrami, brisket and muenster cheese. I would have thought that a Howard Stern would have tongue in it, because he talks for a living, but what do I know.  My Dad made a real effort to finish this sandwich, but came up short at the end. He felt that the meat on this could not stand on its own. He alternated between using mustard and Russian dressing to moisten up the meat. The bread also did not stand up to the sandwich. It fell apart before even the first bite.


My Mom really likes tuna, so it was no shock to me that she opted for the Tuna Salad Sandwich. She felt that this was average tuna. I tried the tuna and felt that it had enough moisture, and for a half sandwich they were very generous with the amount of tuna on this.



Another specialty at Stage Deli is the open faced sandwiches, such as the Tiger Woods Reuben above. This Reuben was made with corned beef, hot sauerkraut, and lots melted Swiss cheese. Like my Dad said, the meat was kind of dry, and needed lots of Russian dressing. Once that was added this sandwich was pretty good. The bread here was a non-factor, but the sauerkraut was really good. All in all, not the best Reuben I have ever had, but still good. I even finished this with no problem.

I liked the Stage Deli, but was not blown away by it. We arrived at 7pm on a Thursday and got seated right away. The service was surly, but efficient. The food really came out quick. The prices were a little on the high side, but this is New York City.

Out of five curtain calls, five being best to zero being worst, Stage Deli gets 2.5 curtain calls.

For more information about Stage Deli, click here: http://www.stagedeli.com/index.cfm

Stage Deli on Urbanspoon



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