Deli lovers delight in the classic flavors of CJ's
By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic
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| CJ's customers won't get the gritty atmosphere and hard-edged attitude of a New York deli, but rather warm, patient and helpful attention, matched with tasty classic menu items.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser CJ's New York Style Delicatessen/Restaurant Hilton Hawaiian Village's Rainbow Bazaar 2005 Kalia Road 942-0027 7 a.m.-11 p.m. daily
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Yiddish, a colorful and dramatic combination of the languages of Germany, Poland, Russia and other Eastern European lands where Jews settled, starting in the Middle Ages, lives on in many New York and L.A. delis, as well as in my home.
When CJ's opened recently, I could barely disguise my rapture. I'd be bringing the whole meshpucha ('ohana, extended family) to nosh at this New York-style deli right here in our own back yard.
I was expecting a dose of the famous New York attitude, but the entire staff of CJ's was warm, helpful and patient. Where was my "What'll be, Mac?" or that toe-tapping dance of the impatient server?
I had to try the hot pastrami and corned-beef sandwiches ($10.95), the mainstays of all great delis. The pastrami was thinly sliced and peppery, without a lot of the fat normally associated with this meat. The tenderness was unusual, too; pastrami can be chewy. The corned beef was quite moist and had a mouth feel that you'll be happy with. The brisket is made on the premises and is offered as a sandwich ($10.95) and as a blue-plate special ($13.95), with gravy, a latke (potato pancake) and vegetables.
All the sandwiches are piled high with meat, a challenging amount to polish off in one sitting. I later found out that these meats are flown in, supplied by the famous Vienna Beef Co. in Chicago. All the sandwiches are served on a mild and soft rye bread (not real New York rye; it's the local Oroweat brand) and your choice of a perky cole slaw or creamy potato salad. The Reuben sandwich ($11.95) is the best-selling sandwich here — grilled rye with corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut.
Next, it was time to try the lox (Lasco brand) platters. The smoked salmon and cream cheese on a bagel ($11.75) is served with fresh tomato slices, thinly sliced onion, cole slaw, cream cheese, capers and Greek olives, on a toasted bagel of your choice (locally supplied bagels, by the way). Notable is the high quality of the lox as well as the tomatoes; the latter were red, ripe and juicy, just as they should be.
Cheese blintzes ($10.95 for four cheese-filled, crepe-like pancakes) are served with strawberry jam and sour cream. They were hot, crisp specimens, oozing with cheese; pure comfort food, just luscious.
The only disappointment was the chicken noodle matzo-ball soup ($5.50), a bland broth with an even blander matzo ball the size of a baseball. The soup of the day was Portuguese bean ($3.95), which wins the only-in-Hawai'i prize for a deli soup.
Bob Bach, the owner, is a true mensch (a decent and upstanding human being) who also owns the Round Table Pizza next door (the second-highest earning unit among the 500-plus stores in the United States). He's new to the deli game but has had outstanding assistance from Brent Brody, the owner of Brent's Deli in Kailua, who is CJ's consultant.
I asked Bach where many other old deli favorites were. I missed items such as chopped liver, knishes (potato-filled pastries), kreplach (Jewish won tons/mandoo) and kishka (shaped like a sausage, stuffed with a mixture of flour, onions, salt, pepper and fat to keep it together, it is boiled, roasted and sliced). Bach told me he'd like to introduce some of these items for us hard-core deli-philes every once in a while, as long as the demand is there.
CJ's will only improve. If you're in the mood for deli, give them a try.
Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com.
