Artie's Deli

Artie's is a charming little deli on the Upper West Side, like everything else I've listed here. The service was excellent and friendly, while the sour and dill pickles and coleslaw brought to accompany my sandwich were also excellent examples of their kind.

I think, though, I made a wrong turn on the sandwich choice. It wasn't Artie's fault. The corned beef arrived piled almost impossibily high on what turned out to be excellent rye bread. But what I've discovered, finally, is that I don't particularly like corned beef. Not that I have any problem with it, or won't eat it or anything, but it just isn't that good, both tasteless and fatty at the same time.

Having been disappointed by the famous beef, I've now taken a quick detour to Foodtv to find out exactly what the stuff is. According to them, it'sbrisket cured in a brine. Frankly, I'd rather have the brisket sans brine any day.


As I say, however, the non-tastiness of corned beef shouldn't be counted against the restaurant. All the soups and other sandwiches looked lovely. They had a great selection of desserts as well. But in the end I don't think I would make a special trip to eat there. A deli, it seems to me is a neighborhood kind of thing, and I bet there is the equal of Artie's spread all throughout New York.