Food Field Trip NYC: I'll Have What She's Having

Katz's Deli Corned Beef Hash

B and I just returned from an over-the-top theater (Book of Mormon, Good People) and dining (Le Grenouille, Gilt) whirlwind tour of New York to celebrate our five year wedding anniversary.  We usually plan our food destinations well in advance with an (over) abundance of diligent research.  While this was certainly true for the majority of meals on this trip (more to come on those later this week), I wanted to rundown our impromptu venture one morning after we found ourselves shut out of Clinton Street Baking Company, and left in a deluge of cold, spring rain with no working smartphones to help us with a dining plan B.  So we trudged a few blocks up Houston Street, dodging puddles and cabs, and stumbled into Katz's Deli.

We opened the door, were handed a ticket, and brusquely forwarded to the counter and instructed to order.  This sounded simple, but was quite complicated, as each item was ordered from a a multitude of stations that seemed to stretch into eternity.  Soaking wet and in sour spirits, we were not amused, but we reluctantly went from station to station to order.  To put the service in context, this experience makes the servers at Carnegie Deli seem polite and gracious.

We waited for our food amongst a sea of blue and white collar locals, hipsters, and camera-wielding tourists, which I suppose (reluctantly) included us.  That's when B noticed a sign directly overhead that proclaimed that Katz's was the setting for the famous scene from the classic movie When Harry Met Sally.  How could I have forgotten that?!  For some reason this found bit of movie history made me look at Katz's in a more positive light.

And then, finally, after having placed my order twice (my first request was either ignored or forgotten), I was ready to feast on the homemade corned beef hash.  The heart attack sized portion was rich and meaty, offset by the crunch of green peppers.  The hash had a subtle heat, but it was even better with a few squirts of the deli mustard sitting on the table.  While not the brunch we set out to find, Katz's was certainly an experience.  And despite the nonsensical service, at $14 for the corned beef hash and a Diet Pepsi, I would return.