Nothing is quite as comforting as home-cooked Jewish food. It has the ability to bring you back to your childhood and make you feel at home. PJ Bernstein, a staple on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, has been serving up Jewish delicacies for over fifty years and is still going strong.
The deli and diner offers diners everything from pastrami sandwiches to matzoh ball soup. The walls are adorned with photographs of some of their celebrity clientele, including Liza Minelli, Joan Rivers, Bette Midler, and Lucille Ball. On our recent night out at PJ’s, we tried some of their most beloved dishes.
We started off with hot kreplach and matzoh ball soups, which was the perfect starter on a cold New York evening. The kreplach were stuffed with brisket and burst open with flavor in your mouth and the matzoh ball was big enough to feed an army (or just a really hungry Jew).
Next, we tried their perogies, which were outstanding. They were different from others we’ve tried, with a fried, crispy exterior, and perfectly moist interior, with fillings like potato and meat. They were served with a side of fried onions, which just made them that much better. We also had their infamous chopped chicken liver, served with bread (later, we even added it to some pastrami).
Next up was a platter of their meats, included pastrami, brisket, corn beef and and roast beef. We’d love to have some of these on a challah bread sandwich! We also tried the stuffed cabbage, which was really tasty and slathered in a tasty tomato sauce. And although we were stuffed at this point, we couldn’t leave without trying some potato latkes. Theirs were divine – with a nice crisp on the outside and topped with a healthy portion of apple sauce. We can’t wait to come back for more.
If you’re looking for a great spot to stop for a lunchtime sandwich, or a nighttime meal of some of your old favorites, PJ Bernstein definitely won’t disappoint.
