Excellent Jewish Deli?
I'm having a friend who will be visiting from London this week and will be in need of proper Jewish food to eat over Yom Kippur. Given that I am (a non-practicing) Catholic, I am in need of guidance.Can anyone help me out with some Jewish delis where I can pick up some appropriate food for him? Thanks!!
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If the one Pastrami sandwich I've had from Wise Sons is typical of what they serve, then it's hands down the best Jewish deli I've come across in SF for some time now. It's more of a Canadian smoked beef style spicing, and hand cut. I was less excited about their Babka, and I saw them serve a Reuben where the cheese was barely melted. So right now, they're not pulling off everything they offer, but I'm looking forward to the 24th St. location.
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We ended up going to Sauls where We had a great breakfast and my friend purchased an abundance of items in which to break his fast. We also did check out Paulies Pickling (where I purchased some great piroshki and cookies) and Holy Land where we picked up a couple of items to try.
Thanks to all of you for your assistance!!! I so appreciate those who know their food :))))) -
Thanks for all of the input. We are in the City now but will be driving to Los Gatos for dinner on Thursday and then have to drop off someone in Berkeley Friday a.m. My plan, initially, was to drive back into SF to pick up something to serve him Sat night but it sounds like the East Bay has some very good places. I really, really appreciate the help as this was way out of my field of expertise :))
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My two visits to Wise Sons have been inconsistent - the first time the pastrami was almost at Katz's level, while the second time it fell short. My hunch is that the variability mostly comes from temperature, so if you can heat it yourself at home you should have more control.
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Windy
Oct 3, 2011 12:23 PM
I always love the salads and soup at Holy Land in Berkeley and Oakland. Only the Oakland branch is Kosher, and it's a restaurant rather than a deli.
For takeout appetizing, Paulie's Pickling in the Cortland marketplace has delicious, inexpensive chopped liver, cole slaw, pickles, and whitefish salad. They also cure their own salmon, which I haven't tried. While you're there, pick up a borsht and a couple of piroshki from Anda Piroshki across the way.
Bi-Rite has pricier salmon and whitefish salad.
I had a lovely dinner recently at Old World Food Truck, a popup at La Victoria. The pierogies were a bit dense for me, but the borscht couldn't have been better and their modern take on whitefish salad was great.
They just did a dinner for Rosh Hashanah. It's a work in progress: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Wo...
I liked Wise Sons tongue better than their pastrami, but you'd have to wait for Saturday.
Lots of local bakeries make good challah on Fridays and presumably they will make it for Yom Kippur.
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Holy Land Restaurant
2965 College Ave, Berkeley, CA 94705Paulie’s Pickling
331 Cortland Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110La Victoria Bakery
2937 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110›6 Replies
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re: Windy
Robert Lauriston
Oct 3, 2011 01:17 PM
I like the food better at the Berkeley non-kosher Holy Land. It's primarily Middle Eastern / Israeli though they have a few Eastern European Jewish dishes such as stuffed cabbage.
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re: Robert Lauriston
Windy
Oct 3, 2011 01:30 PM
I've never tried the Oakland branch. It's worth a drive over the bridge just for the mint lemonade.
A note that their hours are odd. The one on Telegraph is closed Saturdays, in theory for the sabbath. But open Friday nights and closed Saturday night.
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re: Windy
Windy, did you notice if the Holy Land Restaurant in Oakland serves borscht? My understanding is that they don't serve it. So far, the only borscht in Oakland that I've found is at four restaurants in Chinatown: Cafe 88 (located just underneath Peony) , 8th Street Cafe, Saint Anna and Shooting Star Cafe (on Webster near 10th Street). My favorite versions were the ones at Cafe 88 and Shooting Star.
Melanie and rworange have previously posted threads about borscht at Hong Kong-style cafes (cha chaan teng) at http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/358489 and http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/370577
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Saint Anna
326 8th St, Oakland, CA 94607Shooting Star Cafe
1068 Webster St, Oakland, CA 94607-
re: zippo
Windy
Oct 3, 2011 02:29 PM
Hi Zippo, I've only been to the Holy Land in Berkeley, but Robert is correct: their food is Middle Eastern Jewish rather than Ashkenazi. They do have either chicken noodle or matzo ball. I could use a bowl right now.
For old style Jewish soups, I like Cinderella Bakery on Balboa in the city. They reconfigured the store so it's mostly takeout, but the poppyseed rolls, pelmeni, pickles, and mushroom barley soup are just as good.
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Cinderella Bakery
436 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94118
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Sorry to tell you there is nothing excellent, or even approaching excellent in these parts. That said, I would put Miller's in the acceptable category.
There is also a pop-up Jewish deli, Wise Sons, that's open on Saturday from 9-2. http://www.wisesonsdeli.com/ I've only been once, and thought they had good intentions, but it was definitely a work in progress. The rye bread was very good.
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wolfe
Oct 3, 2011 06:28 AM
You are in luck, there are no excellent Jewish delis around but that's a good thing because Yom Kippur is a fast day. :-)
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re: ccmurieta
wolfe
Oct 3, 2011 06:59 AM
My informants have advised me you meant when Yom Kippur is over( Not over YM). Miller's East West Deli or Moishe Pippic in San Francisco or Saul's in Berkeley while not excellent may work.
http://www.chow.com/restaurants/542/millers-east-coast-deli
http://www.chow.com/restaurants/2086/moishes-pippic
http://www.chow.com/restaurants/12020...
What ever you do not David's.-
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re: wolfe
Never...ever....evvvverrr go to a deli that serves pizza. Forget about Millers...never been, but that just doesnt sit right with me. Granted, I am a bit of a deli snob having been raised on Queen Blvd's best...but, if you are looking for authentic jewish deli food...I wouldn't expect to find it at Millers.
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