I phoned Stachowski’s the other day and ordered a couple Pastrami Sandwiches ($14.99 each), and when I opened them, was surprised to find out that they were on thick-cut pumpernickel; not rye. Looking at the online menu, there’s apparently a choice between the two, and I didn’t realize the “default” was going to be pumpernickel (we had kind of a sketchy phone connection, and the gentleman on the other end seemed to be doing two things at once).
Regardless, this was good pumpernickel, and you don’t order these massive sandwiches for the bread – at $14.99, they’re *easily* enough for two people, maybe even three. On one side of each sandwich was two slices of bread, so you had three slices of thick bread per sandwich. The pastrami was as good as ever, although it’s amazing just how fatty the meat is – even the pieces that look lean. There was a nominal slathering of mustard on each sandwich, and each one came with a full, sliced dill pickle.
Does anyone actually eat these as sandwiches? I’ve always opened them up on a plate (or in the foil), and picked up the meat, occasionally taking a bite of bread (I figure most people do this, and that’s why they come with three slices of pumpernickel).
Still the best pastrami sandwich in the area – gluttonous, New York-like, enormous, delicious, fattening – everything that’s so right and so wrong about a great pastrami sandwich. It had probably been a year since I’ve had one, and they haven’t changed a bit with the possible exception of the fattiness in the meat (but that varies on a slab-by-slab basis).