Where to get well-done cold-cut roast beef in NYC?
February 1, 2014 8:47 AM   Subscribe

So I really love perfect, cooked, brown roast beef, but most delis only have the half-cooked pink crap. Anyone know of a place in NYC (preferably Queens, but I'll take Brooklyn or Manhattan) where I can get a nice roast beef sandwich with cheese and mustard that won't moo at me?
posted by vim876 to Food & Drink (3 answers total)
 
Brisket is usually cooked until brown. Go to a Jewish deli and ask for a cold brisket sandwich.
posted by brujita at 9:21 AM on February 1, 2014 [1 favorite]


Off brujita's suggestion, supposedly Katz' has a pretty good brisket sandwich. (I've only had their famous pastrami sandwiches so I'm only going by hearsay.)
posted by cazoo at 9:50 AM on February 1, 2014


You are wrong, and I must protest. I too once had had the impression that roast beef should be cooked until it was brown. Fortunately I was introduced to NY deli roast beef when I was twelve, and my life has been richer since.

So, you can have my short list of Shitty Places That Overcook Roast Beef. Two of them are in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. You will need a friend with a car and you will need to take a day trip, but I know that the pursuit of roast beef can take you all over the world.

1. Roll N Roaster. This place has got to be seen to be believed. It is from the era when people believed you could make a fast food joint classy. It is an incredible experience, and it is worth hijacking your friend's car for, even if (in my opinion) their rarest roast beef is overcooked to the point of inedibility. Try their corn fritters. Their french fries are shaped like coins, so get some of those too. Actually, just call me when you go.

2. In the same neighborhood as Roll N Roaster, there is a sort of shack called Brennan and Carr, which serves "hot beef"(NYT). I believe the beef is brown. They seem to be pretty serious about it.

3. Go into any deli that serves Boar's Head products, and there you can ask for Boar's Head roast beef. It's not the same, I know, as the fresh stuff, but it's probably closer than you'll get otherwise.

4. Lenny's -- as in the chain lunch place -- is hit or miss. Take a look. Sometimes their roast beef is brown. Then again, I remember once having a very good roast beef sandwich at a Lenny's. I think I also remember having one that was brown and which I was unable to consume.

5. There is a grocery store in my neighborhood that overcooks their roast beef terribly. The beef is moist and tender and the flavors are basically right, but it's brown. Again, it's Brooklyn, sorry. Maybe you'd like to try it if you had some other reason to be here, such as a full-day Brooklyn beef excursion.

If you could do me a solid and send me a list of all the places you know that undercook their roast beef in the most egregious ways, I'd appreciate it.
posted by brina at 9:53 AM on February 1, 2014 [18 favorites]


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