Lots of Lox

Why are there so many places in my city that have been around for eons yet I know nothing about? Apparently this lox emporium has been in existence at the same location for 30 years, nearly as long as I've lived in Miami, and I never heard of it. It has 'lox' in its name, for Pete's sake! How could I have missed it? No matter. I'm here now.

    As a norm, I don't advertise my intention to blog about a place, but the Lots of Lox staff got a little nervous when I began to take pictures since I arrived earlier than my book club buddies, Michele and Pam. Jimmy, the gruff and lovable manager, swooped in on me, and I was forced to tell him my secret. He was surprised and amused that I would want to write about his little hole in the wall.
     In anticipation of my date with a bagel stuffed with Nova Scotia lox, I had starved myself all day, and at this point the hunger was real, y'all, so I placed an order for potato latkes while I waited for the rest of my party. They were crunchy on the outside and the perfect combination of creamy and lumpy on the inside, but they were on the bland side. They came with the traditional sour cream and apple sauce on the side, which is always fun, and I enjoy the choice to use additions. However, a well-flavored latke invites you to eat it au naturel.

     When the ladies arrived, so did a bowl piled with thick slices of Bread and Butter pickles that made me giddy with delight. Pam ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, Michele a sesame bagel with lox spread, and I ached for my multi-grain bagel with cream cheese and Nova. Pam's sandwich looked classic, gooey and comforting. Michele had pleasure in her countenance while schmearing her bagel.

     And my platter came as expected- a warm toasted bagel, a large scoop of cream cheese, thick tomato and onion slices, and abundant cuts of velvety, savory, superior quality lox. It was time to worship.
     Pam and I shared a coconut cream pie for dessert that came highly recommended by Michele and our server. They were right to be so confident. It was a loose mess of cream, graham crust and shaved coconut with the definitive flavor I expect from coconut.

     I judge a deli by how nostalgic for New York it makes me feel. If you look around, you can tell every patron here is a regular. The place has a familiar atmosphere, and the food is generally solid. Indeed, for a moment or two, I was in a New York state of mind.

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Mitch's Westside Bagels

Upon entering Mitch's, the scene looks promising. Displays all along the entrance offer a wide variety of New York deli staples. To name just a few, homemade whitefish, tuna, egg and chicken salads, chopped liver and a healthy variety of knishes the size of softballs. I couldn't take my eyes off them! The dishes that paraded in front of me while I waited for my brunch buddy to arrive looked generous and hearty.

   I was determined to break my habit of ordering my usual bagel with cream cheese and Nova lox, but nonetheless I peaked at their bagel selections and counted 22... I kid you not! That alone is worthy of my respect. After much debate, I compromised with myself and ordered the Matzoh Brie with grilled onions and Nova. DJ ordered the Westside Ultimate Omelette.

     My dish turned out to be bland scrambled eggs with crumbled Matzoh crackers and the Brie nowhere to be found. DJ's omelette was tastier but only because of all its components- mushrooms, onions, tomato, bacon, sausage and cheddar. Her side of hash browns was as interesting as my eggs.

  We shared an order of almond French toast that was generously covered in nuts but not extraordinary in any other way. They were nice enough to go with our creamy café con leche.

     I can't shake the feeling that my unlucky choices didn't give this place a fighting chance.  Their menu is extensive and includes many of the classics that you expect from a New York deli with the exception of desserts. Not one homemade macaroon, not one piece of  marble cake or cheesecake. Why?

     This mystery must be solved with a second visit.

PS:  I returned to Mitch's a week later and ordered the whitefish salad sandwich on a multi-grain bagel with a side of coleslaw. The whitefish salad was creamy and the taste fresh and salty. The coleslaw was a little sweeter than I'm used to but in a good way.

     Hubby ordered a breakfast platter in spite of my warnings and my disappointing previous experience. I'll say one thing: They were consistent with their eggs. John's were no tastier than mine.

     Finally, I couldn't leave a second time without surrendering to the call of those massive knishes so I ordered a Philly Cheesesteak knish to go. I should've ignored that call. The potato didn't taste fresh and the steak and onions must have stayed back in Philly because I only found a few sorry slivers of some kind of meat buried in the potato mash.

  And about the desserts mystery, I did find a selection of cookies and boxed rugalach sitting on the counter next to the cash register. As if dessert decisions could be made on your way out of a deli. It just doesn't work that way.

     So much for second chances.

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Katz's Delicatessen

When Harry met Sally, she taught him a stern lesson on feminine wiles that none of us will ever forget, and it happened right here!

     Katz's, down on the Lower East side of Manhattan, is the oldest delicatessen in NYC (est. 1888), and it reminds me in some ways of a high school cafeteria. It's chaotic, a bit grungy and there's no time for personalized attention. I have to say I enjoyed the quick, terse exchange with the man at the counter when placing my order, but if you don't care for the no-nonsense New Yorkers or you don't know how it all works, you can get pushed, shoved, and swallowed up in this place.

     When you arrive, two bouncers greet you politely and hand you a ticket on which your life now depends. As you place your orders at the different counters, the servers behind them write down the prices of your items. If you get to the cashier without your ticket after you've eaten, the Kat'z SWAT team (the bouncers) will block your exit and conduct a body cavity search, I think.

     My husband likes quality cold meats, and I had spent several weeks prior to our trip selling him on the idea of trying Pastrami for the first time! (crazy, right?) When we arrived in New York, he was still not sold on rye bread, but turns out Katz's uses a 'light rye', a milder version of the original. If you are able to find the slices of bread lost in the colossal amount of meat, the combination is quite good. And oh, the meat!  I've never been a Pastrami lover, but after stealing a taste, I can't forget the endless moist, pink thick slices beckoning from Hubby's plate. And they don't serve the sandwich with the token pickle on the side; it's a plate with an assortment of pickles on the side. I had a field day!

    Once I was done picking at my husband's plate, I dug into my whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and lox. Seems like an ordinary thing to order but this is a habit I can't break when I visit a Jewish deli. I wish I had broken it on this occasion. It was good enough, but the lox was not of the best quality, I'm disappointed to say.

     In my desire to expose hubby to wider cuisine horizons, I ordered Blintzes for us to share. Again, they were ok, but somehow they were missing something. The thin pancakes were perfectly cooked, brown in all the right places and with that oh! so subtle hint of crispiness. They were stuffed with uninteresting cheese that couldn't make its mind whether to be lumpy or smooth. I had to ask for sour cream. Really? I also thought they could have shown a little more love with a fruit jam of some kind.

     John said it best: "Glad we visited; now we can check it off the list." 

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Way Beyond Bagels

     New York Deli meets Wendy's!
     One crisp, bright Sunday, on our way to the Morikami Japanese gardens in Delray Beach, we found the charming little Way Beyond Bagels in a strip mall nearby. It's nothing more than a U-shaped counter displaying an endless array of the freshest deli salads, breads, meats, sweets... all the items that make up a delicatessen menu, and all made in-house.
     You have to stand in a long but fast moving line and place your order quickly. No time to window shop once the attendant is ready to take your order.

     I ordered a multi-grain bagel with cream cheese and Nova lox and a diet Dr. Brown's Black Cherry soda, which triggered nostalgic memories of my NYC hangout, Carnegie Deli. The Nova was meaty and as good as you would find anywhere. John ordered a pretzel dog and a Coke. He was somewhat overwhelmed by the massive menu and played it safe.      We shared a four-layer chocolate cake with ganash frosting that was begging for a glass of cold milk. 

It's all served in a fast-food tray and presented to you at the register.
     Seating is scarce and extremely tight inside the tiny place, but there are a few additional tables outside. I prefer my deli experience to be a bit more sophisticated, but it turned out to be a refreshing upgrade on fast-food. You can't help but like this tiny joint!

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