Mountain Deli

Often these days I find myself wiling away the hours in the local coffee house. It's not comfortable. It's full of jaded youths and retirees trying to find their youth. I sit on a couch and look for employment ideas. I ponder things. I waste a lot of time. I get hungry.

Today, Kevin suggests I try Mountain Deli. A new place in town. Immediately I asked, "Do they serve pastrami?" I've been catching up on television since I got back, mostly the Travel Channel. They show more interesting food shows on the Travel Channel than on Food Network, which is great for me, because I travel through food a lot. Watching this channel is bad for my health though. I wake up in the middle of the night craving Chicken and Waffles, I make plans for a restaurant that sells only BBQ and milkshakes. This is the product of television and hedonism perhaps. Today, I was on a pastrami search.

Let's start with the name of this locale: Mountain Deli. Hmm. Could have been more creative perhaps, but I see where they're coming from...I think. Still, I would have been more creative. The tables have maps of the mountains on them. A nice idea. Overall a comfortable little place.

Now I went to this place with Pastrami in mind. But I realized, that nothing was going to live up to the visions of Katz Deli I'd been drooling over. With that in mind, and a craving for Prime Rib, I chose the day's special: Roast Beef with Horseradish Sauce. I inquired as to the availability of straight horseradish and was asked to taste the sauce to make sure it wasn't strong enough already. A fair question. I tasted, it was fine, but not quite the kick I was looking for. I asked for a bit of the straight stuff as well. A bit. What I got was a gross misunderstanding of either horseradish or the English language. When I got into the sandwich, the back of my head started to ache in a manner only caused by horseradish. Thankfully the sandwich came with some Au Jus, and perhaps inspired by some of the more daring Travel Channel shows, I persevered (strange word, per and severed). After a bit, you don't notice it anymore, an interesting thing about horseradish. The beef itself was delightful. Really tender and tasty. Was it worth 7 bucks? I'm not sure. Was the small/medium soda worth $1.75? I'm gonna have to say no. And the regular sized candy bars for sale at $1.25 is just absurd.

In my travels I run across a lot of places where there are separate prices for tourists and for locals. I didn't think it would come to that here, but it may have to. I can't imagine how this place will stay in business when the snowbirds leave.

I'll give this place another chance to make me a sandwich, but I'll take it to go so I can afford to have something to drink.