I would have never associated the words "Jewish deli" with "Maryland". But after my trip with Elissa to Parkway Deli I was quite surprised that there does exists a true Jewish deli in Maryland that rivals those in NYC like Katz's and 2nd Ave. I would have never discovered this place if Elissa hadn't mentioned it. It's literally in this random strip mall in the suburbs and on the outside it just looks like a regular deli and not a restaurant. But then you walk into the deli and go to the back and there is this whole diner/restaurant.
It's quite a mom and pop operation and not super done up or fancy which is exactly what it should be. It's a good old school place for a good old school meal. The menu is overwhelming and is about 5+ pages long of delicious sounding deli sandwiches, soups, salads, and breakfast specials with a specific slant towards classic Jewish fare like matzoh ball soup, smoked whitefish, lox, blintzes, potato pancakes, etc. I had no idea if I should order a roast beef sandwich or a lox plate. In the end I chose the latkes, nova and eggs (I ordered my eggs over easy) for $9.35 and Elissa and I also split the cheese blintzes with sour cream and strawberry and blueberry syrup for $6.65. As I watched everyone else get their food, I got really so excited for our food. All the food that I saw was on this huge eye popping scale so I was expecting my dish to be the size of my entire plate. So I was pleasantly surprised when my food looked very manageable to eat. I will say that I haven't had tons of experience with latkes but the ones I have had in the past didn't look like the one I got. The ones I've had in the past are made with shredded potatoes, pretty flat in appearance and crispy in texture. These, however, looked like they were made with ground potato, shaped into a ball, deep fried and was very heavy in texture. It wasn't bad just not what I expected. I enjoyed the lox and happy to have found a place outside of NYC that serves fresh lox. But the best part of the dish was the perfectly fried egg. It was super yolky and the whites were fried but not overdone. I just wished the potato pancakes were lighter and crispier instead of the doughy and heavy ones that I got. The cheese blintzes were super fresh and nice and warm when they came out. I actually kind of wished that the filling was a bit sweeter because it tasted it just a bit too light. I had to dunk them in the sour cream and fruit syrups to get the flavor kick it needed. Surprisingly I have never had matzoh ball soup before in my life and I got to try Elissa's matzoh ball soup and thought it was nice and cozy and homey feeling. I can totally see why people love matzoh ball soup on a cold night or when they are sick.
I love the fact that this kind of place exists outside of NYC. It's pretty unique to the Maryland area and I would totally come back to try a bunch of other items on the menu. I also want to give a shout out to the staff there. They were super sweet and really nice and really gave the whole diner a nice family feel. Total bill: $42 total with tax and tip.
Photo Credit: Yelp
No comments:
Post a Comment