El Sitio Cuban Sandwich ($4.35). From Top to Bottom: Pressed Garlic-Butterd hero, roast pork, sliced ham, melted Swiss, pickles, mustard

I can’t speak for any of the other food at El Sitio, which looks a lot nicer on the outside than inside, but if the Cuban sandwich is the litmus test for deliciousness at a Cuban restaurant, El Sitio passes with flying colors. N.B.: Take this sandwich to go because Sripraphai, one of NYC’s best and most authentic Thai restaurants, is just four blocks away from El Sitio. Thanks Steve.

El Sitio Restaurant

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Which dish is dearest to Doctor Dyspepsia’s heart? Would King of Ketchup rather eat Katz’s?

Who doesn’t like free cole slaw & pickles?

Let’s get something straight right off the bat, this is not Ben’s Deli, this is Ben’s Best.  Ronnie, the man behind Ben’s Deli, used to work at Ben’s Best.  He took what he learned and opened a deli with the same name, underlying concept and a cole slaw I grew to love.  That is until I tried the cole slaw at Ben’s Best.  This is the best cole slaw I’ve ever had and I can eat as much as I want for free. Good things do happen to good people.  This cole slaw is crisp, sweet and juicy with just the right ratio of mayo to vinegar.  If it didn’t come with nearly-perfectly pickles, you could serve this slaw as Kosher deli dessert.

Not all potato pancakes are created equal…

What do we want from a pancake? First, we want it to be fresh. Second, we want it to have a flavor that exudes more than just potato.  And third, we want a crisp outer shell which dissolves into potato that’s just began to soften.  The potato pancake at Ben’s Best didn’t deliver on any of these fronts.  It tasted re-fried and bland and lacked the outer/inner balance we were hoping for. This more closely resembled a hearty McDonald’s hash brown.  That being said, it’s still fried potato and once I doused it in apple sauce, it was edible just not that enjoyable.

And “stuffed derma” is what, exactly?

Here’s the definition of stuffed derma according to KosherBlog.com:

This was my first stuffed derma experience and while it lacked an outer skin of any sort, it delivered the flavor of a spicy bread stuffing combined with some sort of animal fat, most likely beef.  The beef gravy was highly disappointing; it tasted generic and devoid of any natural beef juices.

The esteemed Jewish food expert, Doctor Dyspepsia, heralded for his tuna fish with ketchup and mayo recipe, still gave the derma a thumbs up, stating: “It’s closest to Grandma Sarah’s recipe.”  I’m glad I tried it but in the end it’s not delicious enough to occupy precious stomach space next time I’m at a Kosher deli.

A bad day for brisket…

I’ve been spoiled by Kensington Kosher Deli in Great Neck, Long Island.  Their brisket sandwich with fried onions and gravy is one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life.  Naturally I have lower expectations for other brisket purveyors but Ben’s Best embarrassed themselves with their dry and flavorless brisket sandwich on a generic, entirely too tall club roll.

Apart from the toothsome beef, the fried onions were disappointing as well. You really never know what to expect when trying a restaurant’s fried onions for the first time, but the ones below are what you hope does not arrive.  Despite asking for for the onions to be fried well done, they arrived vastly under-fried, closer to raw, and didn’t blend at all with the dry brisket.

The French can keep these fries

Next time I’m at Ben’s Best, I’m going to avoid fried food at all costs.  If you’re going to cut fries into quartered potatoes, at least have the decency to honor a well done cooking request.  The French fries were under-fried and starchy in the middle.  Heinz ketchup is the only thing that saved them.

Corned Beef & Pastrami, reunited and it feels so good…

Ben’s Best offers twenty five decadent combo sandwiches.  Doctor Dyspepsia and King of Ketchup both chose the “Sears Special.”  Corned beef and pastrami topped with cole slaw on seedless rye.  Both eaters were extremely pleased with their choice and called the cole slaw the key to deli delight.  “The coolness of the slaw juxtaposed with the warmth of the meat created the perfect balance of savory and sweet,” said the Doc.  The meats were tender and contained “the right amount of marbling,” he added.  Russian dressing was requested and arrived lighter than usual so King of Ketchup did what he does best and mixed in extra Heinz.  The Doctor refrained, but schmeared Russian below the meats and some spicy mustard, (”better than Gulden’s,” says Doc) on top.

Pastrami fit for a King

NYC Food Guy always sticks with the classics and the pastrami at Ben’s Best is just that.  Warm, juicy, thinly sliced and containing just the right amount of fat, this is pretty close to Kosher pastrami perfection.  It’s truly the parma prosciutto of Judaism. The peppery edges surrounding each thin slice of meat provided a subtle spice which lingered briefly after each bite.  It’s the pastrami alone that will bring me back to Ben’s Best.  Tender, delicious and prided on by generations of meat slicers, the pastrami at Ben’s Best is far superior to that of the Ben’s Deli Chain.

Katz’s Deli or Ben’s Best?

Doctor Dyspepsia said comparing Katz’s pastrami (below) to Ben’s Best is like “comparing apples to oranges.”  King of Ketchup called them  “different beasts.”  I have to agree with both, Katz’s isn’t kosher and it’s cut much thicker than authentic Kosher deli pastrami, leaving us with more fat and more spice.  But decadent deliciousness is still achieved and that’s all that matters.

In the end, the Doc said it best, “either one on a Sunday afternoon would be just fine.”  But which of the city’s pastrami really deserves the title of Pastrami King? Stay tuned for another NYC Food Guy adventure.

Ben’s Best

96-40 Queens Blvd.

At $2.50 per half falafel, you’re hard pressed to spend $10 for a very filling meal.

Simple Recipe Equalys Simply Delicious

My go to meal is 3 half falafels, a plate of pepperoncini, some extra tahini sauce, an order of fries well done, and a can of selzter. You’ll get that all for under $10. I can honestly say the food has not changed at Naomi’s in the last fifteen years. If that’s not a sign of success, what is? A heated, albeit pre-packaged pita, is pried open and stuffed with 5 freshly fried falafel balls, iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots and cabbage, and then topped with a housemade tahini sauce. You can add any number of accoutrements including pepperoncini, pickled beets and a very spicy hot sauce.

But while the tahini sauce and the consistency of the recipe have certainly assured lasting deliciousness, the key ingredient are the balls of fried chickpea which wait at the bottom of each pita.

Bursting the Mamoun’s Bubble

It’s no surprise Naomi’s falafel balls are by far the tastiest I’ve tried. It’s a result of an all chickpea recipe, served at Naomi’s and found mainly in Israel. Whereas Syrian, Lebanese and Egyptian falafel feature the use of the cheaper fava bean or a combo of fava and chickpea, the delicious Israeli version is straight chickpea. It’s not easy to tell the difference, but in my experience the most telling factor is that an all chickpea ball is lighter and more delicate than the mealy fava bean falafel ball found at, you guessed it, Mamoun’s. As good as all the drunks on MacDougal and St. Mark’s think Mamoun’s is, the bubble is burst. Quality counts.

Balls of Fury

Creating Naomi’s falafel balls is a simple process. The balls are first scooped into a device made for pushing them into a vat of bubbling oil. And then, they fry to a beautiful golden brown.

Kosher Pizza Done Right

I’ll admit, I don’t come to Main Street in Kew Garden Hills for the Kosher pizza. But on a stretch of street where at least two other falafel & Kosher pizza restaurants reside (Shimon’s & Benji’s), Naomi’s pizza is by far the best. Looking at the pies below, you wouldn’t even know they’re kosher. They look like pies you’d find in slice joints in Manhattan, and they’re better than some of those too.

Prices Worth Traveling For

Another great thing about eating outside of Manhattan is the precipitous drop in food prices. Take a look at the affordable and diverse offering of Middle Eastern delicacies beyond falafel. I’ve only tried the hummus, which is creamy and fresh but fairly standard.

Naomi’s Kosher Pizza & Falafel

6828 Main St
Flushing, NY 11367
718-520-8754