CORNED BEEF/PASTRAMI REVIEW: Hometown Bar-B-Que Industry City

My search for the best corned beef/pastrami in New York continues….

This restaurant has started a GoFundMe campaign for its staff in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Please consider donating. They are also offering delivery and pickup during this time. 

There has been a very close relationship between Jewish pastrami sandwiches and Texas-style brisket. They’re not so different from each other. Both come from the chest or breast of a cow. Both are smoked and sliced to maintain the fatty goodness. Both make me (and similar eaters) salivate.

The big difference is that pastrami is usually cured (salted and preserved) first and not smoked nearly as intensely.

But Billy Durney from Hometown BBQ understands that there is a synergy between the two. And so when he finally opened a second location of Hometown (my favorite barbecue restaurant), he decided to honor the Jewish deli sandwich.

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this Industry City location. Originally Jewish deli food was supposed to be the focus. For some reason, the concept changed over the months and it’s mostly a re-imagining of the original Red Hook joint but with some added smoked specialities.

And thankfully a Pastrami on Rye is still on the menu. And that’s why I trekked out to Industry City on a miserably rainy weekend afternoon.

Like the brisket and other smoked meats at the original, the quality of the beef preparation here is incredible. Carved to order, it’s smoky and tender and worth the $17 price tag (which is a bit lower than most Jewish delis nowadays).

That being said, I thought it leaned a little closer to the Texas BBQ and veered just a bit away from the kosher notes.

As far as the meat goes, the only issue I had is that I thought it could have used a bit more aggressive pepper, but it was fatty, thick and smoky.

I also wanted more of the brown mustard to help cut the fattiness. Another quibble is that the rye bread was buttered and toasty. This was really not necessary as the meat provided plenty of butteriness already. The rye bread should be soft and able to soak up all those meat juices.

Here the bread was closer to a Texas toast, which was maybe the point. But it didn’t work quite as well for me.

But just like at the original, it all comes down to the meat. And the meat is really good.

What Durney has created here isn’t exactly a Jewish deli sandwich, but rather a new interpretation bringing a bit of Texas to the Jewish delis. Only in New York!

Does Hometown Bar-b-Que Industry City have the best pastrami in NYC? While it could use a bit more seasoning, I thought the meat was fatty and tender. It gets an  8 out of 10 for that but I wish the perfect elements of a Jewish sandwich remained.