Black Pastrami Rueben & Cabbage Soup @ Brent's Deli in Northridge, CA
I know, this is two dishes, but I always get both of them and either is more than enough reason to head to the Valley! Brent's is straight out of New York. The same place, with the same clientel you would find in the big apple. I have learned that any Deli packed with a large Jewish population usually had pretty dang good food. The first thing you see upon entering the very crowded Deli are cakes and eclairs so big that Paul Bunyan would need several friends to help finish just one of them!
Back to the stars though. These sandwiches are enormous. The regular pastrami is good enough, but the Black Pastrami just has something extra in the flavor. It is super thin, moist, peppery, and piled higher than you can open your mouth. Served on wonderful rye bread, a half sandwich is a meal unto itself. The soup, which you can get in a 1/2 sandwich & soup combo, is like candy. A sweet soup, if you can believe it, packed with chunks of cabbage and beef. It is like having dessert for lunch. Your tastebuds will thank you!
Chicken Makhani (Butter Chicken) at Amber India in Palo Alto, CA
Actually, the whole place is amazing. Hands down the best Indian I have ever had. It is also the first Indian I ever had, which is really strange. Fact is, I have been searching for something as good ever since and, while I have found some spots that come close, nothing has ever matched it. We had four dishes, all of them fantastic. The Butter Chicken stole the show though. Rich, creamy, a million different flavors dancing on your tongue, and a nice kick of Indian spices. Perfect :)
Oatmeal Pie @ Butterburrs in Pocatello, ID
There is not much good eating in Pocatello, but this pie is the real stuff! Butterburrs is one of those all-day breakfast kind of places, and the food is not extraordinary but it is solid. There a few pleasant surprises on the menu and its good enough that I would certainly not steer you AWAY from it. But, the reason it makes this list is because of the Oatmeal Pie. Think Pecan Pie filling (caramel) on homemade crust and topped with carmelized oats, coconut, and black walnuts. This is like the best oatmeal cookie you've ever had, kicked up about 5 notches and then put in pie form. I came home and told my wife it was now her mission to figure out how to make it :) My mouth is watering right now. Is Pocatello too far to go JUST to get a piece of pie?
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