Bernstein’s just sublime

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/04/2015 (4017 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sometimes the best things in life are right under your nose.

Case in point: Bernstein’s Deli has been at the end of my street for over 20 years and although I often walk through the little strip mall where it is located and see how full it is with happy diners, I rarely find the excuse to visit. But this day was different.

I truly had a difficult time making up my mind. I was interested in the fried chicken and waffles but also did not want to miss out on their amazing hand-cut fries or their potato latkes. Luckily, my lunch date was very accommodating, so I didn’t miss out on sampling anything.

“Chicken and waffles” is clarified on Bernstein’s menu in parenthesis as being “fingers and pancakes.” Since I love sweet and salty combinations, it was the perfect choice. The chicken was tasty and the pancakes acted as a sponge to soak up the blueberry compote and the chipotle maple syrup. Every forkful was a complex combination of tastes.

The big surprise came in the form of the warm corned beef sandwich. If you have never tasted house-made, hand-sliced corned beef, you do not know what you are missing. Biting into the sandwich was an entirely different taste experience than the countless corned beef sandwiches

I have eaten over the years. The texture of the meat was soft and tender and there was no unpleasant salty taste. I struggle to find an accurate word; perhaps the one that I am searching for is “sublime.”

Bonus upon bonus, I also got to pick at the perfect hand-cut fries and the potato latkes with applesauce. Entering the attached store to pay my bill, I decided to pick up some homemade chicken noodle soup from the deli freezer, meaning that I was able to bask in Bernstein’s deliciousness on another day.

Kathryne Grisim is a local food and travel writer and blogger: foodmusings.ca. She believes food = love