There's Pastrami in My Fries

I saw on Portland Food and Drink earlier this week that Kenny and Zuke's has a new menu. So I gathered an emergency dining group together to test it out. My dining companions didn't come for me, though. No. I had nothing to do with it. It was three words: Pastrami Cheese Fries. Yes, I said Pastrami Cheese Fries.

The other big change to Kenny and Zuke's menu is that their dinner specials, which previously had only been available on certain nights, are now available every night. This is a halle-freakin-lujah moment for me. If you only knew how many Wednesday nights I went to Kenny and Zuke's and remember how much I wanted to taste their fried chicken, fried to order in duck fat, which was only served on Tuesday nights.

Happy happenstance indeed. Chicken Pot Pie, Grandma's Goulash, and now multiple selections for Reuben sandwiches - this is an unloved child's dream. Every dish is one big hug from a mother figure (a.k.a. that roll of fat around your middle).

But I digress. I really came here tonight to talk about the Pastrami Cheese Fries. Big plate. Lots of fries. Shimmering cheese. Red bits of pastrami, scattered throughout which, if I grabbed the fries just right, would catch some cheese on the way out, and sink together into the pool of mustard on my plate before I quickly and efficiently shoved it in my mouth. Good cheese. Excellent Patrami. And a nice little ménage à trois with a plate of crispy, fresh, hot fries.

The fried chicken was crispy, flavorful and hot with my mashed potatoes, appropriately homemade-ish lumpy, with brown gravy that looked comforting, and tasted better.

I was going to end this post here and then I remembered that I actually had apple pie, too! Holy hell, I thought I did pretty well on my diet that night. Clearly I am delusional. Anyhow, the pie crust was dense and buttery and the apple filling tasted like my mom's homemade applesauce.

And now my sister Erika is jealous. She said she hasn't had good pastrami since 1996! She needs to come visit Kenny and Zuke.



P.S. Kenny and Zuke's has the longest list of sodas available than any other place I've been. So if you are a root beer snob or a cola connoisseur you should check out their menu.