PASTRAMI in New York: Frankel’s Delicatessen & Appetizing

It’s embarrassing that I never ate at Frankel’s before now. They’ve been opened in that narrow corner between Williamsburg and Greenpoint since 2016. And they name check lots of the iconic NYC dishes I search for on this blog: pastrami, bagels, smoked salmon, hot dogs.

Perhaps the overwhelming number of New York-Jewish specialities has been the deterrent for me until now.

I did change my mind twice while studying their menu. Did I want to try their bagels and smoked fish, a kosher frankfurter, or their now famous pastrami, egg, and cheese?

I couldn’t resist the spiced meat and so I walked away with a hefty breakfast sandwich.

This review is specifically for the pastrami itself. I’ll save the sandwich as a cohesive dish for a separate review, since I did have a few minor critical things to say. Look at that beaut in the photo above.

But the pastrami, which was served as hunks rather than slices, was pretty phenomenal.

The mahogany meat outweighed the other components of the sandwich, so it was very easy to try it on its own. These thick meaty nubs were smoky, peppery, and shockingly tender. I actually think given their thick hand cut and deeply smoky flavors, it might actually rival Katz’s.

Despite not trying it with the usual rye and pastrami, I can safely say Frankel’s (at least from the pastrami perspective) is 100% legit.

Does Frankel’s Delicatessen have the best pastrami in NYC? Its surprisingly thick cuts along with the moist texture and smoky flavor, earns this close to a perfect score at 9.5 out of 10.