Knish Mecca of Manhattan

EATERY:

Yonah Schimmels Knish Bakery

LOCATION:

137 East Houston Street (btw 1 & 2 Ave), New York, NY 10002

REVIEWS:

Haha, I love how oxymoron the title is. <a href="http://www.knishery.com/">Yonah Schimmels Knish Bakery</a> is one of those places that even if you think the food sucks you will still give them 120% respects. Founded in 1890 and opened in the same location since 1910, Yonah Schimmels Knish Bakery is one of the few remaining Jewish businesses that still exist in LES. According to <a href="http://www.jewishquarterly.org/article.asp?articleid=251">David Katz</a> from Jewish Quarterly, Yonah Schimmels was the quintessential Jewish community symbol. He wrotes “When the LES was still strictly Jewish, Schimmel’s was a mandatory stop during political campaigns; there are newspaper clippings of visits from Robert F. Kennedy, and Governor Nelson Rockefeller, along with photos of New York Jewish entertainment icons Eddie Cantor, Barbara Streisand and Zero Mostel.”

RANTS & RAVES:

So lets talk about what I got there. I take the owner’s recommendation and order the Roasted Garlic and Mashed Potato knish ($3.75) and a Hot Borscht soup ($3.00). The knish is gigantico, definitely 1.5 times bigger and thicker than my fist. The taste is supa roasted garlicky. The mashed potato inside is quite moist with great texture. But after eating half of it I am already full, probably because the mashed potato dries my palate out. I need some other exciting and different thing to trigger and bring my appetite back. I should have order the more traditional knishes like cabbage ($2.75) and spinach ($2.75). So I try the Hot Borscht soup (originally I ordered the cold Borscht but for some communication mistakes I ended up getting the hot). Wow, it is intensely SWEET! Do they put yam in it? I like Russian Borscht and this definitely does not taste like that. Later on I learned that the recipe is originated from Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe and that’s the way it supposed to taste like. And I am wondering maybe there’s not enough sour cream to counter balance the flavor? Anybody out there can explain to me how is it suppose to taste like? Since I don’t know Jewish cuisine very well :-) I will definitely go back and have try other knishes and the legendary 100 years old yogurt. In conclusion, all I can say is their tasty knishes are as original as the 100 years old corrugated tin tiles ceiling.

TAGS:

New York Jewish CHEAP ASS PICK! Lower East Side