Since the Sunday brunch we were originally going to go to at Nikko looked awful and un-Japanesed, we decided to let our friends take us to to their new-found treasure, an authentic NY Deli called Miller’s East Coast West Delicatessen.  We HAD to go, as they professed to have awesome Nova and bagels flown in daily, which is my husband’s favorite. 

There was a short line (not bad for prime sunday brunch hours) and we were seated in about 15-20 min or so.  They have everything you would expect: knishes, ny egg creams, kishka, chopped liver, matzah ball soup, half-done pickles, giant stacked meat sandwiches, and more and more.  So hard to choose…We ordered a ridiculous amount of food.  Scot of course got the lox, which he seemed to really enjoy.  I tasted a bit of the nova, which was smooth and mild.  I ordered a tongue and cornbeef special (NY people will know special means coleslaw and russian dressing)  and we also supplemented it all with onion rings, fries, and kishka.  The friends advised us not to get the knishes or latkes based on prior visits, so we went with their advice. 

The kishka had a nice flavor, but it lacked authenticity for me as I like it when it actually has the skin on the outside and tastes meaty.  This was not quite right.  The onion rings were one of the highlights of the meal…perfectly fried; very crispy on the outside, not too much breading, and the onion was very tender.  As for the fries, we had ordered the ones with turkey gravy. They brought out the garlic fries, which we sent back, but then decided later we should have kept them and got the side of gravy to dip them in. Once we added salt to the fries though, all was good again.  My sandwich was mixed for me.  The tongue was succulent and moist, great flavor and texture.  THe cornbeef was slightly dry, which was because it was very lean, so this might be desirable for others.   All in all, it was a tasty meal, and at least as authentic if not more so than Junior’s here in LA.  Scot likes Junior’s lox better; I like Miller’s tongue better.

East Coast West Delicatessen

www.millersdelisf.com

1725 Polk St
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 563-3542