Eating Big at Brent's
Stuff yourself at this Northridge deli, and you'll still have a snack for later
By Richard Foss
Jewish traditional food just has to be good for you. Leave aside the fact that chicken noodle soup has been the cold-fighter of choice for generations, even among Gentiles. If Jewish food wasn't really good for you, the quantities it is served in would kill you.
Take Brent's Deli in Northridge. On a recent Saturday night, we were surprised to find only a 10-minute wait. I spent the time eyeing pastries in the rotating deli case - cakes of monumental height, éclairs the size of slightly deflated footballs. The sandwiches and entrees passing by were on a similar heroic scale, and I decided to order carefully. I usually select a few appetizers to get a sense of a restaurant's range of cooking, but if I did that at Brent's I might not have room for a main course.
After a few minutes with the encyclopedic menu and a complimentary assortment of pickles, our party of five ordered from the à la carte list: a pastrami and corned beef sandwich ($12.25), a corned beef Reuben ($12.50), matzo ball soup ($5.95), turkey meatloaf ($11.95), and one "complete dinner" of cabbage rolls stuffed with chicken ($20.15). We all opted for iced tea or Arnold Palmers, which were nicely unsweetened and tasted of lemon.
I ordered the complete dinner because the $5 surcharge gave me a choice of appetizer (creamed or chopped herring, chopped liver, or tomato juice), soup or salad, dessert, and drink. I picked the creamed herring, a delicatessen delicacy that some people love, some can't stand, and most won't try, probably because their introduction to creamed herring was the canned version, which is loaded with preservatives and tastes nasty. Brent's creamed herring might convert them; the dense but subtly flavored pickled fish was complemented by crisp onions and a hint of tart apple in a mellow sour cream sauce.
I selected the kreplach soup, the traditional potage of a pastry dumpling in chicken broth, precisely because I have never liked kreplach soup and hoped Brent's version would change my mind. Well, as dumpling soup goes, the Chinese do it better. Kreplach pastry is thicker and tougher than a wonton and sloughs off the meat filling in one piece. I like my kreplach baked and my chicken soup with matzo balls instead of dumplings - and Brent's didn't change my mind one bit.
Our main courses arrived, and all present prepared to let their belts out a notch. At least, I think they did - I was busy figuring out if my belt even had another notch and accepting a taste of matzo ball soup, which had an intense broth that tasted of long-simmered chicken and vegetables. There was little garlic in the mix here, unlike some other delis, where it ranges from prominent to overwhelming. The matzo ball itself was softball-sized and very light in texture, with a mild herbal taste. It made an enjoyable, filling dinner, and was a bargain at the price.
Both the corned beef and pastrami mix and the Reuben were piled high on freshly baked bread. The corned beef and pastrami on egg bread showed off the flavor of the tender, thin-sliced meat very well; I still prefer Langer's more intensely flavored pastrami, but, given Langer's limited and erratic hours, I'm likely to visit Brent's more often. The Reuben on rye was similarly good, the blend of meat, drained sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing a delight of taste and texture. It was served with slightly overcooked French fries - the kitchen's only error in an otherwise flawless meal.
While turkey meatloaf isn't exactly a traditional Jewish specialty, delis have taken it to a high art. The texture here was dense and moist, with hints of onion, celery, and herbs we couldn't name. Oddly, the turkey meatloaf is usually served with a beef gravy, defeating the purpose for anyone who doesn't eat red meat. We ordered it dry and found it quite acceptable, though it might have been even better with a turkey gravy. The stuffed cabbage was excellent and outstandingly large, even gauged by the rest of our meal: two giant leaves packed with meat, nearly overflowing the plate. We only managed to eat one and took the other home.
I chose for dessert a rich brownie with finely chopped nuts, which I didn't even unwrap until the next morning because I was too full.
Brent's is a jewel in the Valley, a destination for those who appreciate the old-world virtues of long-simmered soups, intense natural flavors, and portions that leave a little for the next day. It's tasty, it's good for you, and the prices are good for your wallet.
Published: 01/19/2006
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