Single Guy’s Kitchen

The Carnegie Deli - “We smoke, cure, bake, and pickle our own - that says it all!”

The Carnegie Deli, situated across from Carnegie Hall at 7th Ave and 55th St, is synonymous with New York Style Cheesecake. They are the standard. Numerous restaurants and bakeries (including others in NYC) will proudly serve Carnegie Deli cheesecakes rather than make their own. Cheesecake is not the only draw for tourists (like myself), celebrities, and hungry city folk though. The deli is also known for its “Gargantuan” sandwiches.

The store front looks modest and similar to most other delis in the city. When you walk in the meat case is immediately to your left and there are plenty of people waiting around for carry-out or call-in orders. Walk on back and you’re seated by a host or hostess in the main dining area. The distinguishing feature of the deli is that the walls are covered with pictures of various celebrities, politicians, and other famous customers. Everyone from Mike Huckabee to Danny DeVito is on that wall.

On to the food, I went for one of the “Gargantuan” sandwiches, a chicken salad number aptly named the “Bacon Whoopee”. Imagine the amount of chicken salad a normal person would use for four sandwiches and enough bacon to feed a family of six on Sunday morning and you’ve got a good idea for the quantity of food.

That was me after a good ten minutes with the sandwich. Don’t worry I ended up eating my fair share. At the end there was still probably enough chicken salad left for another sandwich. These things really are giant!

The sandwich wasn’t just big though, it was also supremely delicious! The chicken salad was full of fresh tasting chicken in the perfect mayo to chicken ratio. I can’t describe how much meat they managed to pack into it and still get it to hold together. The bacon was nicely cooked and the veggies were fresh. The bread was nothing special but my sandwich just came with white bread so I wasn’t expecting much. Sure the size is a bit of a novelty but the flavor is all there.

Cheesecake is a must for dessert no matter how full you are from the first part of the meal. We decided on a Rugelach Cheesecake. It was different and I had had plain cheesecake (my favorite) several times already. Rugelach is a Jewish pastry, similar to a cinnamon roll I suppose. The Carnegie Deli cheesecake is very dense and rich, like a cheesecake should be. It’s very creamy too. The crust was not heavy at all, only there to hold the shape. The chocolate and Rugelach was a nice addition. It brought another flavor and texture to the dessert but allowed the cheesecake to still do most of the work. I really don’t know how to describe it otherwise. I can only recommend that you try it. They ship their cheesecakes anywhere in the USA.

Delicious!