Nestled in a basement on Chrystie Street lies a New York classic, Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse. This Jewish eatary and party center is decorated like a poor grandmother’s house: too brightly lit, cluttered, and covered with yellowing photos, but the atmosphere is pure Hebrewapalooza. An MC with mic and keyboard leads the various tables in song and dance. The group to our left was celebrating their grandparents’ 50th. To are right was an enormous birthday bash. We settled in the middle to feast in wide-eyed wonder.
Sammy’s is one a dying breed, a classic Jewish place downtown in NYC, as noticable by the Hebrew-esque font of the logo, similar to the recently closed 2nd Avenue Deli.
A guide to basic Yiddish is on every table. It includes that “oy vei” means “April 15th” and a bunch of other jokes I didn’t quite get. You can see the MC in the background telling everyone to get off their “tuckus.”
The food is really expensive but the portions are huge. Two people could easily split the small stake and one order of latkes (potato pancakes cooked in schmoltz, which is chicken fat. Not healthy, but really tasty).
And then Mike and the entire restaurant were doing the Hora around us while I fought to eat more than I ever had. Surreal. Oh, and I was drunk.
I hate myself, but I ate the whole steak. I hurt for a day and a half. Ugh.
Complimentary for the table was a round of egg creams. To make an egg cream, pour about an inch of cold whole milk in a glass. Spray in traditional seltzer to fill the glass and then drizzle in a half or full inch of chocolate syrup. The with a long spoon it must be whipped from the bottom to a chocolate milk like consistency, preferably finishing with a nice top of foam. It’s a knack.