Battle: NY Pastrami

Oh my! How can anyone ingest such a monstrous pastrami sandwich from one of NY's legendary delis? Yet, you look around, and it seems everyone is doing it -- even with a side of fries! Regan and I decided to split one. We knew if we would've tried to knock one down each, we would have had to sleep it off on the sidewalk out front. Katz's is perhaps NY's most famous pastrami sandwich, and with good reason. It has been in business since 1888 and continues to draw hordes of drooling folks looking for the ultimate NY sandwich.

They slice all their pastrami by hand and what you get is a thick pile of juicy, smoked beef served on rye bread with deli mustard. They also give you an enormous pickle and a couple pickled green tomatoes, just in case the 2-pound sandwich wasn't enough for ya! The sandwich carries a hefty price tag at $15.75, but when you consider it could almost feed a family of four, this is quite a bargain.

We really enjoyed Katz's, and no trip to NY is complete without trying it once. On our next visit to NY the following year, we had finally digested the pastrami and decided to give another much-loved deli a chance for best pastrami in the city. 2nd Ave. Deli is a proper kosher deli that first opened in 1954.

Walking in, you can see the love put into the deli case. 

This place feels like a neighborhood gathering spot and doesn't have the full-on tourist vibe like Katz's. Cozy little booths adorn the interior. You get the feeling that over your shoulder you may hear Frank and Estelle Costanza ordering tuna on rye and complaining about the booth they are in.

The pastrami is sliced super-thin but piled as high as the one at Katz's. Now it just becomes a matter of personal preference. I loved this pastrami and prefer the thin, melt-in-your-mouth version at 2nd Avenue. Regan also agrees that this is the superior version of the east coast heart clogger. We again split the sandwich, but all around us people were shoveling down the entire thing! 

We were so full -- but what the hell! -- we were only in NY for a short while, so we ended the perfect pastrami sandwich with a piece of warm, chocolate babka. That created in Regan an obsession for finding an authentic West Coast babka that even came close -- a desire that remains to be fulfilled. Now we know why Jerry and Elaine didn't want to settle for anything less. ("Might as well get a Mengele!")

Pizza Battle: New York City

Greenwich Village in New York City is a pizza lover's dream, with three outstanding parlors within a few blocks of one another: Bleecker Street Pizza, Joe's, and John's of Bleecker Street. We begin with Bleecker Street Pizza. A good pizza slice should be crisp yet soft, light, and hang off a plate. Immediately, we knew we were in luck. 

We shared each of their famed slices, the Nonna Maria and the square, thick Sicilian style. I would never get the Sicilian again, because it fills you up and you don't have room for more! The Nonna Maria has an amazing thin crust with a bit of cornmeal on the bottom. This place is amazing. The next day, I ended up going back and having my own slice!

No better late-night treat than Joe's. (Although, this was where Regan's pizza fatigue almost set in.)

This is right around the corner from Bleecker Street Pizza and, while I love the Nonna Maria, Joe's plain cheese slice is even better! It folds easily; it's super thin, crispy, chewy, and huge: a proper slice of NY pizza. If I lived on this corner, I would have pizza stains on all my clothes. 

Take the Q train to Avenue J in Brooklyn for DiFara Pizza. You'll arrive in Midwood, a predominantly Orthodox Jewish community where Woody Allen went to high school and where many great movies have been filmed, including scenes from The Godfather. It is also home to one of NY's most expensive and loved slices. Owner and pizza guru Domenico has been serving beautifully thin crust slices drizzled with olive oil and torn basil for over 40 years. At $5 a pop, it's a bit much for a humbly sized slice. It is more cheesy and smaller than most NY slices, but it left me searching in my wallet for another Lincoln. 

Midwood is an interesting area to take a long stroll after a slice or two. You are also just a few subway stops from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. We had a good time in this part of Brooklyn -- and I am glad I tried DiFara's -- but with so many great places in Manhattan, you may want to save your subway fare for another slice. We continued on our Brooklyn journey all the way to Coney Island for a bite at Tottono's, but they were closed! Supposedly, The Warriors were there for lunch and ate the last slice!

Ahhh! John's Pizza -- the first stop on our last few trips to NY. This is as good as it gets, although you have to commit to a whole pie. They do not do slices, nor do you want them to. If you can't finish it, then you shouldn't be in NY. John's is the perfect slice of pizza. 

Once the glorious cheese pizza hits your mouth, you want to sleep in the booth only to be awakened by another pizza, perhaps topped with their Italian sausage or meatballs. John's of Bleecker Street is the best every time. Next time you are in NY, go to the triangle at Bleecker Street, and be prepared to loosen your belt. 

Tacos: Torchy's vs. El Camion

Our friend Carson took us to the "trailer park" location of Torchy's in Austin, where we feasted at midday on a variety of tacos -- green chile pork, migas, fried avocado, and chorizo -- as well as unbelievable queso with homemade chips. I remember my mom making chorizo and eggs when I was little -- especially the way the spice sears your nose hairs -- and Torchy's revived this pork nostalgia from my childhood.

Jay thought the green chile pork taco was tasty. It had mounds of carnitas and resembled more of a huge pork sandwich than the street taco he was expecting. The fried avocado was also a bit heavy and didn't quite reach the stratosphere in terms of flavor. Torchy's queso with spicy peppers was as awesome as our Texan host and fellow food blogger Veronica said it would be, and the warm Austin sun shining down only enhanced our taco pleasure.

We couldn't help but compare Torchy's with our favorite taco truck back home in Seattle, El Camion. We have only visited the Ballard location, but it has become one of our regular places for a cheap and  delicious lunch. Once you eat at the truck, your Seattle taco search will be over. This is Jay's favorite place to have a nosh and, even when we try to eat somewhere else, we somehow always end up back in the El Camion parking lot. The food is much lighter here than the gut bombs at Torchy's, and you don't need to be near el baño and a bed after eating.

For $10, two people can enjoy two tacos each (from a selection of nearly a dozen varieties), including our favorites: carnitas and fish. El Camion's tortillas are small but doubled up to contain meat, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. The un-breaded white fish tacos include a creamy sauce and red cabbage. Once you have had their tacos, you may find yourself craving them several times a week! The best part of the El Camion experience may be the black beans and Spanish rice, which must be made with either lard or some serious butter -- insanely satisfying!

El Camion's quality and flavor are pretty consistent, and since they have a tent next to their truck (with heaters, picnic benches, and foosball table), it's accessible year-round. In the past, I've ventured from our standard order and tried the carne asada (steak) taco and tamale -- neither as exciting as expected -- and the divine gut bomb that is the mulita, a glorified meat quesadilla. The folks that run the truck are talented and hospitable -- for example, during winter, they offer free samples of warm horchata (cinnamon rice milk) while you wait... which reminds me, this kid is awesome.

El Camion is perhaps the best food truck in Seattle and -- arguably -- boasts the best tacos in the nation. Take that, Torchy!