Some friends and I flew into Las Vegas this morning for a convention.
They all wanted to eat dinner tonight at a fancy French restaurant, but
the reservation was for 8:30. That's way too late for me to eat dinner.
So I passed on the reservation. As we drove to the Excalibur where we
are staying for the next few days, I saw a bill board for the Carnegie
Deli in the Mirage. That's when I decided what my dinner would be
tonight. And now I am back in my hotel room stuffed from dinner and
tired from walking all day and my friends are out at Bouchon at the
Venetian eating dinner now.

After trying out the new monorail to go to the Las Vegas Hilton to get
my admission badge for the conference, I went over to the Mirage casino
where I quickly found the Carnegie Deli. I was half expecting this
Carnegie Deli to be like the Stage Deli express that are in two or three
other casinos, but this Carnegie Deli turned out to be a full service
restaurant, not a takeout sandwich shop.

I arrived at the Carnegie Deli around 5:30 and I was quickly seated.
Considering that every hotel in town is full due to the National
Association of Broadcasters Convention (which I am attending), I
expected the place to be packed, but it wasn't.

Several tables were occupied, but I had no problem being seated quickly.
After looking over the menu, I ordered gefilte fish for my appetizer. I
was served a plate with at least eight nice size slices of gefilte fish
layered across lettuce and tomato with a few onion strands. Horse
raddish was offered, but I declined it because I hate that stuff. The
salad ingredients were fresh and the $7.95 price was reasonable.
Unfortunately, the fish was clearly from a jar, not home made. It was no
better than the gefilte fish I buy in jars from a grocery store. The
gefilte fish was also accompanied by some diced boiled potatoes, but I
only ate two or three forks worth because I am on a low carb diet.

For my main course, I ordered a hot brisket sandwich. The sandwich cost
about $12, as I recall and it was HUGE. The rye on which it was served
was okay, but nowhere near as good as my favorite New York deli, the 2nd
Avenue Deli. I only ate a few bites of the bread and I left most of it
behind only because I did not want to eat the carbs. The brisket was
piled high, but it did not have much flavor and it was a bit on the dry
side. Not bad, but nowhere near as good as the brisket I have eaten at
the 2nd Avenue Deli or Katz's in New York City.

The atmosphere at the deli was fine, as was the service. The wait staff
could see I was interested in sitting quietly and reading, so they
remained unobtrusive, yet attentive when they saw I needed my drink
replenished and my pickle bowl. They offered free pickles too, just like
the New York Delis do and the pickles were okay, but not great. The half
sours were passable, but they lacked that crunchy texture that I prefer.

Would I eat there again? Probably. For some reason, the friends who I
tend to visit Las Vegas with all hate Jewish style delis so if I find
myself in a situation where I am dining here in Las Vegas alone again, I
might go back and try some of the other menu items.

I cannot compare the Las Vegas Carnegie to the original in NYC. I don't
remember how the food there in the original Carnegie is because its been
many years since I previously ate there.

Stan Horwitz wrote:
> Some friends and I flew into Las Vegas this morning for a convention.

>
> I arrived at the Carnegie Deli around 5:30 and I was quickly seated.

> Several tables were occupied, but I had no problem being seated
quickly.
> After looking over the menu, I ordered gefilte fish for my appetizer.
I
> was served a plate with at least eight nice size slices of gefilte
fish
> layered across lettuce and tomato with a few onion strands. Horse
> raddish was offered, but I declined it because I hate that stuff. The

> salad ingredients were fresh and the $7.95 price was reasonable.
> Unfortunately, the fish was clearly from a jar, not home made. It was
no
> better than the gefilte fish I buy in jars from a grocery store.
>
> For my main course, I ordered a hot brisket sandwich. The sandwich
cost
> about $12, as I recall and it was HUGE. The rye on which it was
served
> was okay, but nowhere near as good as my favorite New York deli, the
2nd
> Avenue Deli. I only ate a few bites of the bread and I left most of
it
> behind only because I did not want to eat the carbs. The brisket was
> piled high, but it did not have much flavor and it was a bit on the
dry
> side. Not bad, but nowhere near as good as the brisket I have eaten
at
> the 2nd Avenue Deli or Katz's in New York City.
>
> They offered free pickles too, just like
> the New York Delis do and the pickles were okay, but not great. The
half
> sours were passable, but they lacked that crunchy texture that I
prefer.
>
> Would I eat there again? Probably.

But, why... there are so many great restaurants in Vegas

> I cannot compare the Las Vegas Carnegie to the original in NYC.

No Jewish deli anywhere compares to those in NYC, to assume so is
delusional. As soon as I read where you wrote that your gefilte fish
arrived "sliced", I knew... what would follow wouldn't be any better.
So, what kind of mustard was on the table, if it was memorable... the
mustard is the best portent of what's to come. The secret to Jewish
deli dining is when they come to take your order ask only for a hot dog
with kraut and a side of fries while you decide... this is th edance
whereby you get to check them out and they get to check you out. This
is your opportunity to check out the mustard too, if your hot dog and
fries are wonderful then order away... if not, pay your tab and depart.
If upon arrival you note jars/sqeeeze bottles of ordinary commercial
mustard on the tables, like Guldens, Frenchs, etc. back right out. Oh,
and there should be no ketchup on the tables, for that you need to
ask... but beware, if you ask for ketchup for your hot dog and fries
expect the sandwich you order to be made with the worst cuts...
despoiling good fresh made fries adn a great natural casing hot dog
with ketchup in a Jewish deli indicates your taste is in your ass and
you wouldn't notice you were fed garbage anyway. Using kethup at a
Jewish deli indicates you are a fast food maven, so they will assume
you'll pour the red stuff on your corned beef too. Maybe they saw you
drooling over the Heinz while they chose your brisket... ach, give that
one the ends from the old dried out brisket. Believe me, the
countermen at a Jewish deli watch the patrons like a hawk... there's a
reason they have the best view in the house... in two minutes they can
size you up for what you're gonna get. First thing I do when seated is
lift the mustard jar lid and give it a schmeck... that's like the mafia
nod to the counterman... you want the best corned beef, order it with a
Dr. Brown Cel-Ray... they'll know you know.

Sheldon

In article .com>,
"Sheldon" > wrote:
>
> No Jewish deli anywhere compares to those in NYC, to assume so is
> delusional. As soon as I read where you wrote that your gefilte fish
> arrived "sliced", I knew... what would follow wouldn't be any better.
> So, what kind of mustard was on the table, if it was memorable... the
> mustard is the best portent of what's to come. The secret to Jewish
> deli dining is when they come to take your order ask only for a hot dog
> with kraut and a side of fries while you decide... this is th edance
> whereby you get to check them out and they get to check you out. This
> is your opportunity to check out the mustard too, if your hot dog and
> fries are wonderful then order away... if not, pay your tab and depart.
> If upon arrival you note jars/sqeeeze bottles of ordinary commercial
> mustard on the tables, like Guldens, Frenchs, etc. back right out. Oh,
> and there should be no ketchup on the tables, for that you need to
> ask... but beware, if you ask for ketchup for your hot dog and fries
> expect the sandwich you order to be made with the worst cuts...
> despoiling good fresh made fries adn a great natural casing hot dog
> with ketchup in a Jewish deli indicates your taste is in your ass and
> you wouldn't notice you were fed garbage anyway. Using kethup at a
> Jewish deli indicates you are a fast food maven, so they will assume
> you'll pour the red stuff on your corned beef too. Maybe they saw you
> drooling over the Heinz while they chose your brisket... ach, give that
> one the ends from the old dried out brisket. Believe me, the
> countermen at a Jewish deli watch the patrons like a hawk... there's a
> reason they have the best view in the house... in two minutes they can
> size you up for what you're gonna get. First thing I do when seated is
> lift the mustard jar lid and give it a schmeck... that's like the mafia
> nod to the counterman... you want the best corned beef, order it with a
> Dr. Brown Cel-Ray... they'll know you know.

If I ate a hot dog and fries, I would have not been hungry for anything
else that afternoon. Besides, we diabetics need to be very selective
about the foods we eat, especially breads and potatoes and other high
carb items. I don't recall what the mustard was because mustard is a
condiment that I rarely eat; only on salami sandwiches. The mustard was
in a little bowl like in a real NYC deli though and they had another
bowl with horseradish in it. Both bowls had those little spoons in them
to serve the condiment.

Ketchup was already on the table, so there was no need to ask for it.
This is true of the delis I have eaten in in NYC too if I remember
correctly, including Katz's and the 2nd Avenue Deli.

"Stan Horwitz" > wrote in message
...
> In article .com>,
> "Sheldon" > wrote:
> >
> > No Jewish deli anywhere compares to those in NYC, to assume so is
> > delusional. As soon as I read where you wrote that your gefilte fish
> > arrived "sliced", I knew... what would follow wouldn't be any better.
> > So, what kind of mustard was on the table, if it was memorable... the
> > mustard is the best portent of what's to come. The secret to Jewish
> > deli dining is when they come to take your order ask only for a hot dog
> > with kraut and a side of fries while you decide... this is th edance
> > whereby you get to check them out and they get to check you out. This
> > is your opportunity to check out the mustard too, if your hot dog and
> > fries are wonderful then order away... if not, pay your tab and depart.
> > If upon arrival you note jars/sqeeeze bottles of ordinary commercial
> > mustard on the tables, like Guldens, Frenchs, etc. back right out. Oh,
> > and there should be no ketchup on the tables, for that you need to
> > ask... but beware, if you ask for ketchup for your hot dog and fries
> > expect the sandwich you order to be made with the worst cuts...
> > despoiling good fresh made fries adn a great natural casing hot dog
> > with ketchup in a Jewish deli indicates your taste is in your ass and
> > you wouldn't notice you were fed garbage anyway. Using kethup at a
> > Jewish deli indicates you are a fast food maven, so they will assume
> > you'll pour the red stuff on your corned beef too. Maybe they saw you
> > drooling over the Heinz while they chose your brisket... ach, give that
> > one the ends from the old dried out brisket. Believe me, the
> > countermen at a Jewish deli watch the patrons like a hawk... there's a
> > reason they have the best view in the house... in two minutes they can
> > size you up for what you're gonna get. First thing I do when seated is
> > lift the mustard jar lid and give it a schmeck... that's like the mafia
> > nod to the counterman... you want the best corned beef, order it with a
> > Dr. Brown Cel-Ray... they'll know you know.
>
> If I ate a hot dog and fries, I would have not been hungry for anything
> else that afternoon. Besides, we diabetics need to be very selective
> about the foods we eat, especially breads and potatoes and other high
> carb items. I don't recall what the mustard was because mustard is a
> condiment that I rarely eat; only on salami sandwiches. The mustard was
> in a little bowl like in a real NYC deli though and they had another
> bowl with horseradish in it. Both bowls had those little spoons in them
> to serve the condiment.
>
> Ketchup was already on the table, so there was no need to ask for it.
> This is true of the delis I have eaten in in NYC too if I remember
> correctly, including Katz's and the 2nd Avenue Deli.

I liked the Carnegie deli in NYC pretty much. THe liverwurst sandwich was
like a story high, and the cheesecake servings were about a pound. From a
quantity-alone standpoint they were speaking my language.

On Sun 01 May 2005 08:50:41p, rmg wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> I liked the Carnegie deli in NYC pretty much. THe liverwurst sandwich was
> like a story high, and the cheesecake servings were about a pound. From a
> quantity-alone standpoint they were speaking my language.
>
>

Erm... What is your language? :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974