The best sandwich known to man is the #1 at Langer’s Deli in Los Angeles (pastrami with cole slaw and russian dressing). Their home page has a photo - don’t look if you’re hungry! (Actually, the photo has cheese added, which makes it a #19 or something. I’ve never got past #1.)
" . . . bite into a Langer’s pastrami sandwich: thick slices of hand-sliced meat, glistening with peppery fat, as dense and as smoky as Texas barbecue; thick-cut seeded corn rye, hot, crisp-crusted and soft inside, with a slightly sour tang that helps tame the richness of the meat; a dab of yellow mustard as important to the whole as a sushi master’s wasabi. The fact is inescapable: Langer’s serves the best pastrami sandwich in America."
Jonathan Gold, Pulitzer Prize winning food critic for the LA Weekly
If it is, it’s probably pastrami in disguise. New Yorkers do a lot of things right, but smoked meat isn’t one of them. (I won’t even start on the bagel thing, either)
Hie thee to Montreal, then hop in the nearest cab and ask them to take you to Shwartz’s. Once you get there, ask the waiter to bring you a smoked meat sandwich (medium-fat, if you please) with a side of fries, a kosher dill and an ice cold cherry pop. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
Though if you really must, Lestersin Montreal does ship worldwide. It’s not as iconic as Schwartz’s, but it’s still better than what you’d find in NYC.
I’ve been disappointed by most of the deli ruben sandwiches I’ve had. Most have been made with red corned beef-like “pastrami”.
I remember real roumanian pastrami-the meat is dark, with lots of garlic flavor.
Where do they make this stuff today?
ralph124c, could be you are thinking of basturma rather than pastrami?
There are variations in styles of both basturma and pastrami, but in general basturma is a much drier, denser darker meat. And by god is it great in scrambled eggs! And with blue cheese.
Depends on how you define ‘real thing’. For some, ‘real’ pastrami can only be had from Jewish delis. For me, I like the swimming-in-juice variety from a particular Italian market.
I’ve never been much of a kraut fan. I know I really should give it another try, with my [del]middle-aged[/del] maturing taste buds and all, but I’m still unable to talk myself into it. Between egg rolls, red cabbage, and good cole slaw, I feel like I’ve made tremendous progress over my childhood refusal to eat cabbage, but for some reason, I’m just not ready to go kraut just yet.
One of these days, the cook or the waitress will goof and I’ll wind up with a Reuben when I ordered a Rachel/Philadelphia, and I’ll just dive in. It’s bound to happen.
Last time I was at the Second avenue Deli, I got the instant heart attack- a giant pastrami sandwich with fried potato pancakes instead of bread. Heaven!
New Yorkers do a lot of things right, but smoked meat isn’t one of them. (I won’t even start on the bagel thing, either)
in there, just to make clear that I wasn’t trying to be an asshole or anything. 
