CARNEGIE’S Crazy Good Pastrami and Plastic Slaw

[nggallery id=905]

We at ELV know from good pastrami. We’ve been chowing down on it since we were knee high to a yarmulke.

Think of pastrami as corned beef with a higher education. We heart corned beef, of course, but once you coat it with pepper and then smoke it, something other-worldly happens — it turns into the best sandwich meat on the planet.

As we’ve said before, the best corned beef in America is at Langer’s in L.A.. It’s so peppery and smoky and rich-yet-non-fatty that we never go to SoCal without stopping by (despite its sketchy neighborhood) for a pound or two to bring back to the high desert for later consumption.

When cravings hit closer to home, only the Carnegie Deli in the Mirage comes close to crafting a conspicuously covet-worthy creation.

Carnegie’s pastrami is not done on premises. In fact, almost none of its food is made anywhere close to Las Vegas. Most of its products are made in its commissary in New Jersey and shipped here….including a superb cheesecake and various other items New York fressers have come to know and love.

But that doesn’t stop them from being real good. The swiss cheese is strong and nutty, the bread invariably soft and fresh, and the cole slaw sweet and tangy…even if an occasional unwarranted visitor pops up in the mix.

Forgivable? We think so. Especially since we harbor no illusions that this food stuff came from anywhere but a plastic bag.

And the taste of that pastrami can cure a lot of sins…

Our lunch for three that was enough for five came to $56.

CARNEGIE DELI

In the Mirage Hotel and Casino

3400 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89109-8923

702.791.7111