Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Smoked Meat in Heaven

That's what will be there waiting for me when I hear the trumpets call, cross the rainbow bridge and start pushing up those daisies. But it couldn't possibly be any better than the smoky deliciousness that is the pastrami, as well as the corned beef, I had last week at the new restaurant called Kenny & Zuke's next to the Ace Hotel downtown.

While styling themselves as an old-fashioned delicatessen, its got that slightly upscale feel of a nice Northwest restaurant, with its open kitchen and light wood accents. They also have a store at one end, selling their bagels and bialies, as well as those amazing smoked meats by the pound and the various salads, all made on the premises.

And the food is totally worth checking out. As soon as my son heard they had matzoh ball soup, he immediately grabbed his dad and rushed down there for a bowl. And a whole reuben. Which got two thumbs up from a guy who considers himself a connoisseur of both.

This place has been slammed with business since the moment they opened, but tables seem to open up fairly quickly and the service is more than adequate to the task. We can only assume that as they settle in, it'll only get better!

Details: Kenny & Zuke's, 1038 SW Stark St. Phone 503-222-3354.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chef Russ the Meat King and I were drooling over this post. I've heard nothing but good things about this place and he said it was about time Portland had a good authentic deli!

Kathleen Bauer said...

You definitely need to check it out. So far, anyway, I'm impressed!