Lower East Side Food Tour

 We met our guide Jack at the famous Katz's Deli where a mile high pastrami sandwich will set you back $40. It is big enough for two to share and does come with a pickle. Almost everyone in restaurant  was eating one. Our tour guide brought us a platter of pastrami, rye bread, and pickles for our group of eight: two young women from Germany, a couple from Scotland, a mom and two teenage sons from Atlanta, and me. After this first stop, the guide offered us delectable raspberry rugalach from Russ and Daughters, the first business in NYC to put daughters instead of sons in their business name.

We walked a few more blocks to a local Dominican restaurant, El Castillo de Jagua  where we sampled plantains, fried cheese, pickled onions, eggs, and sausage accompanied by a drink which in Spanish means to die from dreams. The drink tasted like an orange Creamsicle.  I would definitely return.

At the Essex Formaggio in the classy Essex Market we savored Grey Owl goat cheese from Québec, So creamy and tangy! My thoughts flew to my cheese tasting tour in France this summer. What is life without good cheese, I ask you?

Our tour guide Jack fed us the fascinating history of the lower East Side as we walked and tasted. I appreciated learning about the role of Jewish immigrants in the neighborhood.  My father used to take me to the Yiddish Théâtre which played a key role in the Jewish Community until the Jews started moving to the suburbs. 

The rest of the tour passed quickly. At The Pickle Guys, Jack surprised us with pickled pineapple. Nobody jumped up and down for that one. We noted they pickle everything from turnips to okra to lox. The cake donuts at Donut Plant

Pastrami anyone?

Dominican  Deliciousness

Gorgeous Goat Cheese

Pickled everything

and the bagels and bialys at Kossar's  found a lot more fans.

My new friend from Scotland and I agreed on the excellent variety of the food we tasted and the  preparation of the well informed tour guide with his magic backpack full of paper plates, napkins, and water bottles.

Oops, I almost forgot Economy Candy specializing in the old fashioned candy we all grew up with. What was your favorite?

I thoroughly recommend this tour the next time you get to New York. What a fun and yummy way to explore the lively neighborhood of the Lower East Side! Enjoy the photos.