Schlepping to The Borscht Belt for Pastrami and Corned Beef

It’s been a while since I’ve written about Jewish deli. That’s at least partially because I’ve been allowing my craving for it to build in anticipation of the arrival of a new delicatessen in suburban Bucks County. The Borscht Belt was situated in Stockton, New Jersey, for a couple years, but moved south – into the Philly metro region and a larger space with more seating in Newtown, PA, with the grand opening finally arriving last week. 

My intent had been to give them a few weeks to get into a groove before visiting. But I was struggling to hold out and a perfect occasion arose when my stepmother and I made plans to go out to lunch Tuesday. We initially had a Chinese restaurant in mind, but it turned out to be closed Tuesdays. The Borscht Belt became Plan B. 

As soon as I walked through the front door, it was obvious that they did a great job of capturing the look of a classic deli. As the name suggests, the restaurant has a Catskill’s theme, with the names of famous resorts from its golden era on one wall and framed knick-knacks on another. They also have a side space called the Bungalow Room that has counters with stools for those wishing to eat more casually or perhaps unwilling to wait for a table when the place is full. 

The Borscht Belt is open daily for breakfast and lunch and has a menu that features a nice set of options for both meals. I’ll probably return for smoked fish and a bagel some other time, but my mind was on corned beef and pastrami on this occasion. My stepmother ordered challah French toast topped with freshly-made berry compote. 

While waiting for our meals, we were presented with a mix of half-sour and full-sour pickles and a small bowl of coleslaw. I also ordered a diet black cherry Dr. Brown’s soda, which was the beverage of choice for a few of those seated near us as well. 

When our meals arrived, my stepmother wasted no time in proclaiming that she wouldn’t come anywhere near finishing her enormous serving of French toast. She was true to her word, but that meant she had a nice second meal to heat up later at home. It looked quite good from my vantage point, but I don’t think I could have finished it either. 

The menu included a 50-50 option with half corned beef and half pastrami. The intent is for both meats to be on each sandwich half, but they had no problem with my request for a separate half for each kind of meat. 

I couldn’t have been much more impressed with the quality of both the pastrami and corned beef. They were served warm and each was moist, tender and extremely flavorful. The rye bread was also fantastic.

There was only one issue with the sandwich – its thickness. I don’t need a humongous amount of meat on my deli sandwiches to be satisfied. But for $20, I expected more than was on there. There also seemed to be more meat on the pastrami half than on the one with corned beef, although I can’t be sure of that. 

The rising price of beef has been in the news lately, and given how good they were, I’m sure the corned beef and pastrami served by The Borscht Belt are made with a high grade of beef. Perhaps choosing between thinner sandwiches and sky-high prices is the new reality for deli-owners – at least those who insist on serving a top-notch product. 

Regardless of that issue, and in spite of the fact that it’s an hour north of where I live, I’ll surely be back at Borscht Belt. There is the previously-mentioned smoked fish to sample. And I’m toying with the idea of trying ‘The Mrs. Maisel’ – pastrami with a schmear of chopped liver, red onion and deli mustard on rye bread. I virtually never have anything beyond mustard on a pastrami or corned beef sandwich, so that would be stepping out of my comfort zone. It looks great on paper though.

There is also another deli opening in South Jersey in the coming months that looks promising. You can rest assured I’ll be reporting on that one as well soon after it opens.