The Pastrami at Saul's

I've had a giant hankering for pastrami for the last week, probably because of sneaking peaks at the posts about it on the New York board.

Out of desperation I bought some today at Saul's. They are using Neiman Ranch meat, slicing it to order, and the package was warm when it was handed to me.

Tonight I warmed up some rye bread, slathered it with mustard, and loaded it up with the pastrami. The meat looked good, well marbled with fat, and very moist. More importantly, it tasted fantastic! The seasoning on the outside was nicely peppery. The meat was rich and smooth--I think the word unctuous may have been developed just to describe this food.

I'm not a Saul's fan, and I've been disappointed by their pastrami in the past. I don't know if the improvement in the pastrami department means that any of the rest of their food has changed. The last time I ate there was for breakfast, because it's a favorite place of friends with a child who has tantrums if she is taken somewhere without either hamburgers or freshly roasted turkey on the menu. Breakfast was just as annoying as I remembered Saul's to be--haphazard service and unimpressive food.

I'll go to Saul's willingly now--though I may never stray from the pastrami.

[mrs bacon]

"Lean pastrami" is an oxymoron.

[TopoTail]

Funny you should mention pastrami at Saul's. I just got home after having . . . pastrami on rye at Saul's. I ordered it juicy, but got it lean, and you know what? It was still totally delicious. Nosherboy said "too much clove," and I remember thinking that when they first switched to Niman, but I that never entered my brain tonight. It was a killer sandwich.

And the service at Saul's is SO much better than it used to be. Used to be you would have to wait 20 or 25 minutes for a sandwich. Tonight it was crowded, but fast. I also appreciate that they have returned to their old cole slaw. A while ago they changed the slaw and it sucked. If I remember right it was pickled. Anyway, I said, "What happend to the cole slaw?" The waitress invited me to put it in writing, which I did, as, I gather, did lots of other people, because they brought back the old creamy slaw.

Can't speak to anythign else on the menu, because I always order pastrami when I go there.

And while we're on the subject of pastrami, I went to Katz's maybe ten years ago, expecting a religious experience. The guy hacked off hunks of incredibly fatty meat, piled them on a slice of rye, and slapped another slice of rye on top of the steaming pile of fat. We're not talking slices of meat. We're talking hunks of (did I say) fat. The meat was falling all over the plate--no way to pick the sandwich up. And then the bread started falling apart from all the . . . fat. I'm not somebody who's afraid of a little fat, but this was ridiculous! The sandwich was a disaster. I couldn't eat it.

[Melanie Wong]

Love the rich and fatty pastrami, hand-sliced at Katz's. If you tip the counter guy a buck, he'll hand you a sample slice to try and you can judge if you want your sandwich made from that piece, or cut from one fatter or leaner. Guess you didn't know that. The meat falls all over the place because the sandwich is enormous and the pastrami is properly steamed and served hot so that it has a luscious, soft texture. I usually eat about half the meat by itself, then the rest between bread later in the day. Wish I had one right now!

So if Saul's isn't anything like that, I'm not interested. Katz's pastrami is available at the two locations of The Grove in San Francisco...but in miniscule portions.

[rworange]

That's funny. I was getting hungry just reading the description of the Katz pastrami ... I had a lean, well-behaved pastrami today at Roast Haus or something like that. I wanted Katz's

[ChowFun_derek]

...and I much prefer pickled slaw ("health salad")to that ubiquitous creamy crap they call cole slaw here....

[ML8000]

The positive changes at Saul's probably relate to the change of ownership that happened few years ago.

[Robert Lauriston]

I think that was 1988.

[ML8000]

There was a more recent change. Former employees.

[chocolatetartguy]

Yes, there was some change a couple of years ago. My favorite hostess, the sassy Russian woman, disappeared.

I'm not saying it's a great place, but some things I think they do well: brisket, matzoh ball soup, chocolate pudding.

[rworange]

They also make good beet horseradish and herring in sour cream. The herring in wine isn't very good though.

[nosherboy]

I heard about Saul's and went to Berkeley to have a pastrami sandwich and some sliced meat. Too salty, with too much clove in the spice mixture.

JillyJu

That description of the pastrami is dead on target. It is the winner of all their meats.

I went for breakfast today (Oy, no!) and picked up the meat trio platter for dinner (pastrami, corned beef, brisket).

Even after eating breakfast, the smell of that warm pastrami was irresistible so I tried a bit immediately. Everything you said.

It seems that Berkeley has rubbed off on Saul’s. Either that or Alice Walters stopped by and whacked someone with a recycled newspaper.

There is Acme bread (maybe that’s why Acme is making Kaiser rolls), Monterey Fish Market fish, Niman Ranch meats (burgers, meatloaf, pastrami corned beef), organic roast beef, and Grand Bakery challah. Trumer Pils beer, brewed in Berkeley, is available (it’s one of my recent favorites).

They even serve loose leaf tea. The English Breakfast in the heavy …. heavy … metal tea pot was pleasant, although not amazing. And, get this, Saul’s serves organic, shade grown, and fair trade coffee. They are a restaurant on the Local Harvest website. I tell you, California finally gets to the best of us (or is that the worst of us).

Their menu says

“The reason we at Saul’s, in Berkeley, don’t consider ourselves a “New York Deli” is that the European culinary tradition is only part of our story. We are equally inspired by Jews who did not pass through Central Europe but assimilated into Greece, Spain, Turkey, and Middle Eastern cultures.

And Berkeley has some pretty nice traditions of its own. Like an emphasis on food that comes from producers who have a record of wholesome and sustainable practices. Saul’s always seeks to provide food that comes from these special producers, minimizing the effects of the multinational corporation on our food supply”.

Well, none of us ever considered Saul’s a New York Deli. They are taking that Spain business seriously since there is vihno verde available. . Nice looking Middle Eastern platter that the guy next to me was eating.

The thinly sliced brisket was meltingly tender … but nowhere in the class with the pastrami.

I like fatty corned beef, so while Saul’s lean corned beef was fine and probably the best in the Bay Area, again … not even close to the pastrami.

Breakfast was not horrible, except for the fresh fruit cup. Wendy’s outclasses Saul’s on the fruit cup.

Fair scrambled eggs with whitefish, snap peas and onion. Sort of tasty, but leaden latkes. The applesauce is supposedly home made, but if they used Mott’s you couldn’t tell the difference. While Saul’s says they make the sour cream, and it was nice and tangy, there was only a tiny dab. Barely enough for one bite of latke. Two bottled pickles are served when you sit down. I think they are Ba-Tampte, but could be Bubbies, given all the local producers.

Service was awful, but not in an endearing way.

In the case below the register, they have some cool looking jelly candies and colored rock candy (and when was the last time you’ve seen rock candy). They have been tempting me on my recent visits and I know somewhere along the line, I’m going to buy some.

Have never tried their egg crèmes or phosphates yet because the food horrified me so much in the past.

Some interesting items on the menu were:

Mega mushroom – a triple decker piled with sautéed mushrooms grilled with cheese
Gotham Bay Kosher Hot Dog with sauerkraut (Couldn’t find info on a dog with this brand name so it might just be a fanciful description for a NY dog).
Ukrainian Blintzeh – a very light crepe filled with farmer’s cheese

However, like JillyJu, it’s going to be hard to get past the pastrami. Great tip. Tip of the week, if not the year so far, IMO.

To keep in the back of your mind … they are open on Christmas eve and Christmas.

Link: http://www.saulsdeli.com/index.html

To me, Saul's is more Berkeley's diner than it is a deep deli experience. No, it's not a roadside, greasy spoon, Hank Williams on the jukebox diner, but it's the kind of basic place I would expect in North Berkeley It's a place I go for breakfast and sometimes for a surprisingly tender brisket at dinnertime. For this function it usually works pretty well. Service varies from brusque but efficient to downright awful.

If I'm really craving pastrami, I'll go to (Miller's) East Coast West on Polk St. if I can.

My dad ordered a pastrami and corned beef combo at Miller's East Coast WEst a couple weeks ago. He said it was good but not as good as his sandwich a couple months ago. The pastrami was leaner and not as spicy and the corned beef was less salty this go round.

Link: http://chowhound.com/chowbooks/index....

[lintygmom]

I don't care if they consider themselves a NY style deli or not--it's nice to have Sephardic stuff, too. But what they serve from NY style ought to be edible. And once they enlarged the store it simply stopped being so. Glad to hear it *might* be on the road to recovery.

Interesting!!!
Promising!!!
Does anyone know whether Niman Ranch makes Corned Beef also?
.and does Saul's serve it?
Now if we could only get a good "Jewish" bakery!!!
A "Yiddishe" Acme..breads with crackly crusts and moist interiors! Rye, pumpernickel and corned rye...
Now that would be a great foundation for a sandwich!

Niman makes corned beef. Very good but lightly cured so you don't need to soak it as much or maybe at all. I'm pretty sure I've seen it at Trader Joe's intermittently.

Doesn't Acme #1 have NY-style corn rye one day a week? They often have challah.

I saw Niman Ranch Corned Beef on their website over St Patty's Day. It's still up so it may be a year-round item. I had it a couple of years ago and loved it. It'll cost you, though.

Link: http://www.nimanranch.com/p/813-9/c/B...

I used to get the reuben at Sauls all the time, don't think it was NR though, but it sure was stringy and tough and fatty. Like many other people, I just don't go there anymore.

The menu says Niman corned beef, so sounds like it changed.

Maybe after they doubled its seating space, they had to improve the quality of the food to fill the place up.

I always thought the whitefish salad and the chopped liver were good.

Link: http://www.saulsdeli.com/lunch.html

yeah, it may be time to give them another chance. I alos liked their bagels and their beet salad.

Wonder if Saul's uses Niman pastrami? The website only specifies the source for the corned beef. Guess it would be credited if it were.

Link: http://www.nimanranch.com/p/852-9/c/B...

My impression was that they were indeed using Niman Ranch. The sign inside Saul's says that they are. When I had my yummy pastrami experience last week, I presumed the improvement was the result of it being NR.

First, thanks again for the great tip.

The take out menu does say that the corned beef is Niman Ranch. I'm just wondering if Melanie meant to ask if they used the navel cut.

From her description of David's navel cut, I would say no because the Niman corned beef at Saul's is very lean (but tender).

And the pastrami has SO changed at Saul's. Don't know when, but if you haven't been there for a while, read the OP because it is so on target.

This is getting too confused. The website and apparently the take out menu identify the corned beef as Niman. The website does not identify the source of the pastrami, and I was wondering if it were Niman also. I was not asking if the corned beef at Saul's is navel cut. Niman makes *pastrami* from navel cut, but again, we don't know if Niman supplies Saul's. Corned beef, Niman or otherwise, would not be made from navel cut.

Before this gets more mixed up, I'll just call the restaurant if I want the answer.

Well, you can call to confirm, but both the in house menu and take out menu say it is Niman. I said that in my post which is why I was confused why you were wondering about the source.

But as you know, I certainly don't remember every word on Chowhound, even my own.

Let me try this one more time.

Your post said that the take out menu identifies the *corned beef* as Niman. You did not identify where the pastrami comes from. Does it also say that the *pastrami* is from Niman?

Sorry, I went back to your post of May 7, rather than the one today, and it identifies the beef used at Saul's as Niman.

Well, adding to the confusion was the title subject matter saying 'corned beef' and I didn't really look closely at your question because I thought the OP said the pastrami was NR. My post just reapeated that, but it was kind of buried.

I just got distracted by the whole 'navel' discussion. Never heard of it before. Will look for that pastrami you mentioned when I'm up in wine country. Now if I could only remember the pickles you were talking about.

I've found ANOTHER use for my SF Guide. If I find a recent post with something I like, I make a not in the guide so I don't lose it and it is in an easy place to find, like noting a place in the town index. Forgot to note the pickle though.

A bottle of wine from a winery tour, a little pastrami and a pickle, what could be better?

Link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/...

Incidentally, Niman's site lists three cuts of pastrami, brisket, round, and navel. Wonder which Saul's is using.

Link: http://www.nimanranch.com/p/852-9/c/B...

After going so many rounds online with this, I felt obligated to call Saul's for confirmation. The pastrami is Niman Ranch navel cut. Here's an illustration from Niman's website.

Image: http://www.nimanranch.com/is-bin/inte...

ChowNews thanks you! [g]

You're welcome! Guess I better type up what I found out about David's pastrami to give it equal time.

Btw, I find the idea of pastrami made with the round absolutely abominable.

The "Navel Cut"..now that's a new one!!
I wonder what Katz's on Houston St. in Manhattan uses?...as the New York Board consistently touts theirs as being the best in New York.
I always order my pastrami and corned beef..."not lean!!!" wherever I order it. "The flavor is in the fat"...I also like the moist unctous feel of the meat...

ChowNews thanks you! [g]

[lintygmom]

Try Semifreddi's Odessa rye. I grew up in a bread bakery and when it's fresh it's not bad--and it lasts as edible (esp if toated) a full week in a bread box.

Gosh, I was expecting to open your post and read how awful the pastrami at Saul's is. It was the last time I tried it. I'll need to return too.

No kidding. When I was in there at Easter getting horseradish, I was wondering if they were still as awful as I remembered. Thanks for the update. The potato salad I bought was pretty good, though outrageously expensive.

Was the pastrami sliced thin or thick?

The pastrami news is unbelievable. I avoid Saul's like the plague after being disappointed (even horrified) several times.

I remember a "chicken soup with matzoh balls"...tasted like they'd tossed a few stalks of celery in some water and boiled it for a few hours, made some matzoh balls, tossed them in and served. It was unswallowable. They didn't even bother to salt this brew.

Adieu Sauls.

Yes, I've had that same awful matzoh ball soup--well, if "had" can be defined as tasting it, hating it, and wanting to throw it against a wall.

To answer Krys' question, the pastrami was sliced just slightly thicker than I prefer, but the overall flavor was still so good that I felt forgiving about it. I'm not too good at estimations--maybe 1/10th of an inch in thickness?