Irving's Deli (PASTRAMI !) more pics added 12-12

You're welcome Joe and I'm glad you liked it. I will have to try to get some pics of the food there and put up my own little review. Just hard for me to get there with the limited hours.

Irving's does look good Ellen. Trying to eat a little healthier lately, but this is pretty damn tempting with the pics.

quote:

Originally posted by russ2304

Hey Ellen---great job! Will have to add to my to do list.
Is the health salad also called clear salad or am I thinking of something else?
Russ

Russ, I have heard it refered to as claremont salad also.

quote:

Originally posted by joerogo

quote:

Originally posted by russ2304

Hey Ellen---great job! Will have to add to my to do list.
Is the health salad also called clear salad or am I thinking of something else?
Russ

Russ, I have heard it refered to as claremont salad also.

Bingo! Thanks Joe---"Clear" must have been a corruption of Claremont --chased down a few recipies and that is it.

quote:

Originally posted by russ2304

quote:

Originally posted by joerogo

quote:

Originally posted by russ2304

Hey Ellen---great job! Will have to add to my to do list.
Is the health salad also called clear salad or am I thinking of something else?
Russ

Russ, I have heard it refered to as claremont salad also.

Bingo! Thanks Joe---"Clear" must have been a corruption of Claremont --chased down a few recipies and that is it.

I make it at home. Most times for summer gatherings. Everyone calls it RogSlaw. Mainly because I always find a way to substitute mayo in any recipe.

quote:

Originally posted by joerogo
Russ, I have heard it refered to as claremont salad also.

And guess what?!?
I just googled the origin of the name "Claremont Salad", cause I had a feeling it might've had something to do with the (RIP) Claremont Diner in north Jersey...
And sure enough, that's where the recipe came from.

My interest was perked, cause guess who used to OWN that diner "back in the day"?!? None other than HAROLD JAFFE, who currently owns HAROLD'S DELIS in Edison, and East Brunswick. The diner was also known for their mile high cakes, which Harold has kept up with at his delis...

Off trail, admitentently,but has anybody found any good deli in Northern Delaware? It's been a long drought

quote:

Originally posted by ellen4641

quote:

Originally posted by joerogo
Russ, I have heard it refered to as claremont salad also.

And guess what?!?
I just googled the origin of the name "Claremont Salad", cause I had a feeling it might've had something to do with the (RIP) Claremont Diner in north Jersey...
And sure enough, that's where the recipe came from.

My interest was perked, cause guess who used to OWN that diner "back in the day"?!? None other than HAROLD JAFFE, who currently owns HAROLD'S DELIS in Edison, and East Brunswick. The diner was also known for their mile high cakes, which Harold has kept up with at his delis...

Damn your good-----I thought I was good at research---my reason for interest in Claremont Salad was because my wife flipped for it when we went to Harold's,because of Roadfoodies recommendations---will make it for her over weekend.

Awesome report, Ellen.

That pastrami looks delicious!!

Here is the recipe for Claremont Salad from the Claremont Diner Verona NJ.


2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons of salad oil
1 tablespoon of water
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cucumber (sliced)
1 carrot (sliced)
1 green pepper (sliced)
1 bermuda onion (sliced)
3/4 head of cabbage (shredded)


Shake the sugar, vinegar, salad oil, water, and salt together in a large jar and pour the mixture over the vegetables. Leave the vegetables and mix at room temperature for two (2) hours.

Put it in the refrigerator over night. Done, enjoy !!

You may substitute lettuce and tomato for the cabbage.

The Clairmont salad and Health salad refered to sure looks like the salad(along with a bowl of pickles) that was put on each table at Wolfies and Pumpernicks in Maimi Beach during with 50's,thru 80's. Those were the days for great deli's.

Long before there was a Claremont Diner in Verona, N.J., there was the Weequahic Diner on Elizabeth Avenue in Newark, N.J., also run by the Bauman Brothers, Morris and Leo.

If I’m not mistaken, the famous salad that would become known as the Claremont Salad originated at the Weequahic, and was then simply known as a “Diner Salad.”

It’s a great appetizer or side dish, and always went well with one of the three sandwiches I inevitably chose to eat…. always a difficult decision. The Chopped Liver, the Corned Beef or the Pastrami. Oh, what to do, what to do?

The Bear

Screenbear - My ex-business partner redid the Clarement Diner for Harold. He and some backers brought it. That's when Harold moved up from his Orange Sandwich shop to the big time.

I remember the Clarement and the Weequahic Diner. The Baumans were legends in the diner business. Do you happen to recall how they use to have a person walking around replinishing your garlic bread. They had it in this square stainless steel box hanging from the person's shoulders..this was in the 50's. There would be lines out the door to get into the Clarement Diner.

Nope...don't remember the garlic bread/stainless steel box. But I do remember the almond horn pastry...a must for dessert. I'm not a cheesecake fan. But their's remains legendary. Not sure what year the Claremont opened.


The Bear

Healthy foods..Looks to me that's just what Irving's is putting out there. For me, there's nothing better than a healthy sized pastrami sandwich

The pastrami looks awesome-reminds me of a place on 50th and Keefe in Milwaukee that is named Kramers.Wonderful pastrami.....Jakes for corned beef, but definately Kramers for pastrami.

Ellen, Keep up the good work. I really look forward to your posts. Happy holidays. Rusty

Happy Holidays to you, too , Rusty! Stay warm in Connecticut!!

quote:

Originally posted by Baah Ben

Ellen - The meat looks WONDERFUL! But, it looks like it's been machine sliced..Fine by me.

I went back to Irving's on Nov. 17th for a return visit..
(I'll post a few pics ASAP)

Just wanted to iterate that the pastrami is DEFINITELY HAND SLICED.
(right in front of your eyes, a la Katz's style)
I watched his knife-work!

RETURN VISIT to HAROLD'S, Nov. 17th, 2008

I started with the 1/2 BRISKET sandwich (served on FULL bread) and soup combo, "such a deal" for $7.95

The matzoh ball soup was just "okay"; did not WOW me; next time I'll go for the split pea.

There's ED at the counter; he says he "runs the dining room".
He's got the long blonde hair and ponytail, in his 50's ,I guess

And said he used to work at Don's in Livingston, back in the day.
They had great charbroiled burgers there, (long gone, though)
ED'S mom works the cash register at Irvings.
And then Ed said "see that guy. He used to work at Tabachnick's".
Looks like they have room at Irvings for all the former deli guys !!!

I love the way the BRISKET JUICES SOAK right thru the BREAD!

I also ordered a PASTRAMI sandwich, but to take out, as I was stuffed

I did test some of out first, though.

I also took out a package of these "made special for Irving's" hot dogs.They were GREAT! Nice beefy taste, with a natural casing..

My aunt and uncle visited me from Delray Beach, FL for 5 days shortly after I went to Irving's.
I served them these hot dogs , and they loved them so much that they requested them again the next day!!

Ellen4641: I crown you.... Miss Pastrami 2008!!

CCinNJ: Thanks for the Claremont/Health salad recipe! Looks like a good accompaniment to a mile-high pastrami sandwich.

I thought I'd bring back this thread, because I finally got to Irving's today for lunch.

My daughter was with me, we both had pastrami sandwiches and as Ellen said, they were terrific! Very very tender, melt in your mouth tender. Among the best I ever had. For what it's worth, my favorite ever was Pastrami King, during the time they were in Manhattan, I've never been to the "new" location on Long Island. This was close, maybe just a little less flavor, but definately the best I've ever had in New Jersey.

For good measure we split a hot dog (it's about a foot long) which had a real good beefy Deli taste. The only disappointment was the sauerkraut, it did not have much flavor at all, it definately needed more curing, or something.
 
Oh, also, it was great to have the big selection of Boylan sodas on tap. I've seen the root beer occasionally at other places, but Irving's had at least 6 different varieties on tap, including diet white birch and diet black cherry. With Free Refills!

I'm a little worried about how they are doing though, we were there at about Noon and we were the only customers. OK, it was a Monday, but still...

And the shopping center is virtually deserted, most of the other storefronts are vacant.

Anyway, thanks again to Ellen for being the pioneer at Irving's, it's definately worth a stop.

Hi Ken!!
So glad you made it to Irving's, and enjoyed succulent pastrami with your daughter!
Remember, Ken, it IS still the 8 day Passover holiday, which could contribute to the deli being slow...
plus the fact that today was the day after Easter, when many are recuperating from big feasts..
 
I don't celebrate Easter in the religious sense, but I did have a real good prime rib buffet at the Flanders Hotel in Ocean City (NJ)  ......
so even I pigged out for Easter..
 
With all that being said, though... ........I am a bit concerned, too, about the fate of these last old school type Jewish style deli's...

I will give you an update on the Pastrami King!!!
(which became the Pastrami Queen when it moved from Queens, to Lexington Ave in manhattan....  )
I imagine that is the same one you are thinking of, Ken?
the owners sold it, and opened a Pastrami Queen in Boca Raton, FL about 6 months ago!
I went there last month, and it has excellent
 homemade pastrami!!!!
(small 7 ounce sandwich though , $9.95; I recommend  paying $2.00 more for the extra meat)

The NYC Pastrami Queen is still open, just different owners..
(and I was wondering why it did'nt taste as good to me when I was there last year!)
the previous owners had sold it, and moved to Florida...
after taking a short hiatus, they thankfully decided to resurrect the Pastrami Queen again!

YES, I too loved those beefy hot dogs at IRVING'S.
I even brought home a package of them...
my aunt and uncle were visiting me from Florida at the time, and it made a great dinner for us a few days later....   (they have'nt had the pleasure of going to Irving's yet)
 
There IS a Toys R Us in that Irving's deli shopping center...
and an Office Depot..
but both those stores don't seem like they would be conducive to feeding over into the Deli operation..

when I was there, they did have some nearby office workers pop into Irving's.

Once again, I think today (the day after Easter) was a real OFF day all around for restaurants.  ..... plus many of us are still scrambling to finish our taxes...!


 

I was to Irving's a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed a pastrami reuben.

About the hot dogs. The first time there I saw a package that was labelled Sabrett. I was told that the dogs were made special for Irving's by Sabrett and that they were just waiting for the new labels which they've gotten by now. I've gone into detail in the past about how Sabrett makes only one recipe for beef dogs and one for beef/pork dogs. Although they come in different sizes and with or without a casing, all of the places (Katz's, Papaya King, Gray's Papaya, etc.) that serve a beef dog from Marathon (the parent company of Sabrett) are using the same recipe frank despite claiming it is a special recipe.

Customers have been told about a special recipe frank numerous times by people who own/work at places in attempt to have you believe you are getting something that you can't get anywhere else. I don't like being misled. I am 100% positive that no place gets a special recipe frank from Sabrett. This has been confirmed to me by a couple of Sabrett distributors (who I did not believe years ago), someone whose father delivered franks to places in New York, and the person actually in charge of private label at Marathon.

When I brought this up at Irving's, Marc was adamant in claiming that the franks were made special for them. He mentioned that maybe the policy changed and even offered to take me to the plant when the next batch of hot dogs were being made for them. He was so convincing that I almost believed him. I said that I would love to go with him to the plant and see for myself. He never contacted me to go. Afterwards I spoke to my contact at Marathon who laughed and said that they still don't make special recipes for their customers and that Irving's gets the same recipe beef dogs that everyone else does. Only difference is that they now make a long 5 to a lb dog (similar to the old Syd's dog) that they didn't make previously.

Amazing Hot Dog used a shorter fatter 4 to a lb dog from Sabrett. For some reason, even though they are the same recipe, the bigger sized Sabretts don't seem as spicy as the smaller ones you get at Papaya King, Gray's, Katz's, or Boulevard Drinks. But be sure that they ARE the same recipe despite what Marc or anyone tells you.

Also be aware that you can get these dogs at any Sabrett distributor (without the special label) much cheaper. This also goes for the beef/pork dog served at the Windmill and Hot Grill. You can get the smaller 10's (Served at Papaya King and Gray's) real cheap at Restaurant Depot. This is where many hot dog establishments get theirs.

<<I will give you an update on the Pastrami King!!!
(which became the Pastrami Queen when it moved from Queens, to Lexington Ave in manhattan....  )
I imagine that is the same one you are thinking of, Ken? >>

I think so, but I could have sworn it was still called Pastrami King for a while when it was in Manhattan.

I didn't even think of the Passover/Easter situation. Although I am of the "Easter" persuasion, we didn't have a big feast a/c our families being pretty well scattered around this year. Hopefully you are right and that is the reason it was so slow.

But, the Office Depot you mentioned is closed, and it does look deserted in that shopping center.
 
John, thanks for the insight on the dogs. I'm sure what we had was the 5 to a lb. dog. It did taste "beefier" than what I would expect an all beef hot dog from Sabrett would taste, but maybe that was just due to the larger size.

John thanx for the update! I have been to Irvings and really enjoyed it but i thought I recognized those dogs!!! Just a thought john and I dont know if youll share but if you were going to start a hotdog/ lunch breakfast  truck with a steamtable and a flat top what dogs would you serve and how would you prepare them?? I seems natural to ask the king about what dogs hed serve in his kingdom! im actually looking in the branchburg flemington area along rte 202 corridor!!

John - If you think about it, to stop daily production and make a special run, just for Irving's one store, can you imagine how many dogs you'd have to order from Marathon to do that?  How dumb does he think the general public is?  Obviously, very dumb.  Hey, he may be right, but in your case, he's talking to someone who has forgotten more about hot dogs than he and his partner will ever know.

I love that you called the guy on it and wanted to go to the factory with him.  Beautiful!  He must have s__t.

Hey, we use to tell our customers we had the hot dogs (Pitts) made special for us, too!  When they came in on common carrier (1000 lbs) I had my guys get them into the building and into the basement fast as hell.  I also had them black out Marathon's name on the boxes, too.

dannybotz


John thanx for the update! I have been to Irvings and really enjoyed it but i thought I recognized those dogs!!! Just a thought john and I dont know if youll share but if you were going to start a hotdog/ lunch breakfast  truck with a steamtable and a flat top what dogs would you serve and how would you prepare them?? I seems natural to ask the king about what dogs hed serve in his kingdom! im actually looking in the branchburg flemington area along rte 202 corridor!!

I haven't really thought about it. There are so many ways to prepare dogs and so many good brands. When I make dogs at home I prepare them a variety of ways. Probably my favorite is on the backyard grill after heating the dogs in water. I also like a good beef and pork dog prepared on a griddle since these tend to be more tender. Whatever you do, I would suggest using a quality dog (one you like) with natural casing. Stay away from the tiny cocktail size franks that are 11 and 12 to a lb. Or if you do serve them, price them accordingly; not like you would an 8 to a lb dog like some do.

thanx man i know for sure they will be top notch whatever they are!! look forward to having you grace my stand one day!

Baah Ben


John - If you think about it, to stop daily production and make a special run, just for Irving's one store, can you imagine how many dogs you'd have to order from Marathon to do that?  How dumb does he think the general public is?  Obviously, very dumb.  Hey, he may be right, but in your case, he's talking to someone who has forgotten more about hot dogs than he and his partner will ever know.

I love that you called the guy on it and wanted to go to the factory with him.  Beautiful!  He must have s__t.

Hey, we use to tell our customers we had the hot dogs (Pitts) made special for us, too!  When they came in on common carrier (1000 lbs) I had my guys get them into the building and into the basement fast as hell.  I also had them black out Marathon's name on the boxes, too.

 
Baah Ben,
 
I was told that it was considered too labor intensive to make special recipes. The equipment would have to be cleaned so that there wouldn't be any cross flavors, etc. Different recipes are not unheard of though. Grote & Weigel does it for Galloping Hill Inn. But then again GHI goes through over 1000 hot dogs a day.
 
I totally understand people who want to keep the brand a secret. But I also want to know as a consumer what I'm eating. And if I can find out, I will. And I'll share the information, though most customers don't seem to care.
 
When I get some time, I'd like to share a little story about some restaurant owners who tried to have a little fun with some of us Roadfooders regarding the hot dogs they sold. They sort of challenged us to find out and weren't happy when we did.

John, now you got my curiosity up...please find the time to tell that story!!!!

...and name names!!!!