Jewish Deli Night @ Mezze

Mezze, Micah Wexler's Mediterranean restaurant on La Cienega, recently launched a Sunday night only special menu of matzo ball soup and pastrami sandwich.  The regular menu is also available on Sunday evenings, but these two Jewish deli classics are hard to resist.  Fortunately for Dine LA fans, they are both on the Mezze Restaurant Week menu if you eat at Mezze on a Sunday.

The Matzo Ball soup ($10) was excellent.  The matzo ball was light and fluffy and the broth was intense and rich and sprinkled with chicken cracklings.  Large chunks of chicken meat, carrots, celery and onions all lurk beneath the surface of the broth.  This is not a dish you are going to want to share.

The Pastrami Sandwich ($15) was also quite good, although the bread was too soft for my taste.  The pastrami meat was well seasoned but mild if eaten alone.  It is the house-made mustard that truly gives the sandwich a kick.  The combination of the sliced pastrami, the mustard and the bread does form a wonderful sandwich.  If they had bread from Langer's, it would be a true home run.  The meat is thickly sliced and the portion is filling without being huge.  Good stuff.  Perhaps Chef Wexler should consider opening up a deli as a spinoff and give Canter's a run for its money in the neighborhood.  With Langer's not open for business in the evening, the matzoh ball soup and sandwich is the best Jewish deli for miles around, if only for one night a week.

Mezze: 401 N. La Cienega Blvd, Mid City. | 310.657.4103 | mezzela.com

Corned Beef Hash @ Brent's Deli

Corned beef hash.  Such a simple dish combining potatoes and corned beef, yet it can be difficult to find the version of your dreams.  I recently tried the version at Brent's Deli in Northridge figuring if they had one of the best corned beef sandwiches in Southern California, that they would have one of the best corned beef hashes.  Alas, corned beef hash nirvana is not to be found in Northridge, or at least not at Brent's Delicatessen.

While their corned beef sandwich vies with Langer's for the best in the region, the corned beef hash was lacking.  The portion was large and it was served with a side of potatoes, so the issue was certainly not leaving without enough food, as my waitress noted that nobody leaves Brent's hungry.  Rather the ratio of potatoes to corned beef was off as there was not enough potatoes.  Even worse, the corned beef was pureed, giving it no texture.  The dish came out more like a corned beef patty than corned beef hash.

The poached eggs on top were perfectly cooked and ran wonderfully over the hash.  There was ample choices of bagels and my egg bagel with butter that was served with the corned beef hash was also quite good.  It was sadly the main event that fell short.  I'll still keep Brent's in my Jewish deli sandwich rotation, but my search continues for the best corned beef hash.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments.

Brent's Deli: 19565 Parthenia Street between Tampa and Corbin Avenues, Northridge. Phone: (818) 886-5679. Website: www.brentsdeli.com

Junior's Deli, 50+ years of sandwiches

Juniors has been serving Jewish delicatessen food to the Westside from its Westwood Blvd location for over fifty years. Back when Juniors opened, the PicWood Bowl bowling alley stood where the Westside Pavillion is now, across Pico Blvd from Juniors. Unlike Langer's, whose neighborhood has become mostly Hispanic over the years, Junior's is still located in a heavily Jewish neighborhood and its customer base is mostly local.



On a recent visit, I got a deli platter with corned beef and pastrami and some rye bread cut in half. I made my own sandwiches. The corned beef was a little thicker and fattier than I was expecting, but was still good. The pastrami was nicely peppery.


The sandwiches were better than I had remembered. Juniors meals come with pickles in a bowl (free refills) as is standard at Jewish delis. The pickles were fine but nothing special and were all of the same variety.

During my recent lunchtime meal, the customers were older, 50 years and up.

Parking can be tough on Westwood Blvd as meters fill up, but Juniors has a parking lot. A pet peeve of mine is that the restaurant validation is only good for 30 minutes, which is really only enough time if you are picking up takeout. Not giving customers an hour is a chintzy touch.

A good option on the Westside, especially as it is open later, but not pilgrimage worthy like Langer's or Brent's.

Juniors: 2379 Westwood Blvd @ Pico Blvd. West LA. Phone: (310) 475-5771. Website: www.jrsdeli.com

Langer's Deli, still the LA deli champs

Langer's Deli was founded in 1947 at the corner of 7th and Alvarado, in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, across the street from MacArthur Park. It has been famous for decades for its pastrami sandwiches, especially the #19 with pastrami, swiss cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing, which is the most popular item on the menu.



Deli denizens are often partisans of either corned beef or pastami; I happen to be a corned beef guy, so while I had been to Langers several times before, it was always for the corned beef. On my most recent visit, I opted for the #54, the Pastrami & Corned Beef Combo, and then seperated the sandwich into a half a pastrami sandwich and half of a corned beef sandwich. ($16.25) (Pictured above, with the pastrami half on the left and the corned beef half on the right). The corned beef was juicy and flavorful and the pastrami was peppery and thickly cut. This is a great option for folks who when asked which they want, respond both.



Overall both sandwich halves were delicious. Langers may have the best of both pastrami and corned beef in Southern California. Their sandwiches are served on twice baked rye bread, which give it a nice crispy crust. I also got an order of french fries, which were presented attractively and more importantly were crispy and good. Langer's is only open for breakfast and lunch, from 8 am - 4 pm on Monday through Saturday. They have free validated parking around the corner from the restaurant, at 7th and Westlake.


Langer's also has curbside pickup, in which you can phone in your order, tell them what time you will be there and then they will bring your order to you while you wait in your car, right in front of the restaurant. I have successfully used this system in the past and it is easy and reliable.

Whether you are there for a pastrami or corned beef sandwich or both, you are in the right place for a delicious lunch. Very much worth the drive; although now with the Red Line only a block away, you could take the subway.

Langer's Deli: 704 S. Alvarado, @ 7th St. Los Angeles. Phone: (213) 483-8050. Website: www.langersdeli.com

Brent's Deli

Los Angeles is blessed with many Jewish style delis and each has its own partisans. Nate & Als, Juniors, Canters, Factors, and Langers in particular all have their supporters. Brent's in the West San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Northridge has long been one of the top delis in the greater LA area. They opened a second successful outpost in Westlake Village in the far west Valley in 2006.

Brent's has been open for 40+ years, an eternity in restaurant in years in Los Angeles. Restaurant years are like dog years - if you make it to 10 years in this town that is a big deal. 40+ years is a rarity, a Methuselah in a land of babies (although many of the surviving Jewish style delis in Los Angeles have also been around for decades).

It is located in a bland strip mall in Northridge, next door to a dive bar called the Stovepiper Lounge. Driving down Parthenia Street it is easy to overlook the Brent's sign. They have two green and white striped umbrellas outside the entrance. Business was booming on the recent Sunday I visited. The waiting area was crowded with patrons waiting for their taste of corned beef, pastrami, matzoh ball soup or bagels and lox.

I opted for my traditional Jewish deli favorite, a hot corned beef on rye. It came with a side and I opted for apple sauce in lieu of cole slaw. Some steak fries were also on my order. Seating is in comfortable booths and service was fast and efficient. A menu was brought to the table immediately upon being seated and my order was taken within a few minutes. While I was waiting for my sandwich the waitress brought over some sliced pickles. The pickles were good but not as good as those at Nate & Al's in Beverly Hills. They were cut more thinly - into quarters rather than halves, and were also all of one type.

The sandwich arrived and it was worth waiting for. The corned beef was delicious and generously portioned in the sandwich. I briefly considered eating only half and saving the other half for dinner. That thought did not last long for soon I found myself digging into the second half of the sandwich. The meat was thinly sliced and there was not too much fat, but enough to give it flavor. The rye bread was a little too soft but that was not a fatal flaw. The steak fries (additional charge) were great - soft inside but not mushy. The Heinz's ketchup was sweeter than it usually is. I'm not sure as to why that was, but I am not a fan of too sweet ketchup so stuck to salt as my condiment of choice for the side of fries.

The meal was approximately $20 and a fair value. When in the Valley and the deli itch strikes, scratch it at Brent's. The shlep is worth it.

Brent's Deli is located at 19565 Parthenia Street between Tampa and Corbin Avenues. Phone: (818) 886-5679. Website: www.brentsdeli.com