Langer’s Deli
Hot Pastrami on Rye with Nippy Cheese
Knish with Mushroom Gravy
Cheese Blintzes with Sour Cream and Jelly
Noodle Kugel
Hot Apple Pie with Brandy Sauce a la Mode
An LA Institution like no other, with pastrami that is considered by some to be the best in the world, it was finally with family in tow that a visit to Langer’s was made and although the surrounding area may best be defined as ‘sketchy,’ the Deli itself sets high standards for food as well as service, the latter provided by a woman with a thick Scottish accent aged about eighty years old.
Large in size with opening hours at 8am every day of the week except Sunday, Langer’s has inhabited a sizable corner adjacent MacArthur Park since 1947 and although the menu may prove daunting given its actual size as well as breadth of selections a closer look reveals several areas of redundancy, the basic gist being that of Jewish Delicatessen classics, many focused on the famous house-cured pastrami.
Admittedly already a bit full as a result of stops en route to Los Angeles, it was just after 9am when our trio sat down at a four-top booth in the center of the space, and focusing on diversity without filling up a five part order was crafted, the server making suggestions and keeping beverages brimming while sprinkling anecdotes about hers as well as the restaurant’s history.
Beginning with hot items before progressing to the signature for which they’re known, first bites were comprised of soft baked potatoes beneath a robust golden crust topped in thick mushroom gravy, the followup of sweet cream cheese inside a lightly seared wrapper providing a juxtaposition of taste as well as texture, the answer to which was ‘better’ entirely a matter of personal preference.
Bucking the trend of the #19 due to a strong distaste for Russian Dressing and instead opting for fatty cuts atop lightly toasted Rye with added Nippy cheese, it was in tasting the meat first by itself that the robust spice and smoke profile was best detected amidst the melt-in-your-mouth texture and although no expert I’d be hard pressed to name a better flavored piece of ‘deli meat’ anywhere, the same to be said of the sort of bread by which one would be well advised to judge all others.
No doubt bringing my predilection for sweets along for the ride, rice pudding and carrot cake omitted in favor of more traditional items including a steaming block of Kugel packed with raisins and custard that far outperformed the two versions tasted in the past, it was with a slice of Langer’s homemade apple pie that the meal would end and although the slice itself was indeed a nice balance of sucrose and buttery crust it was the addition of vanilla ice cream and warm Brandy sauce that really put the pie, as well as our stomachs, over the top, the public art exhibit across the street proving a well placed reason to walk some of it off.
