B & K Salt Beef Bar & Restaurant

Angella

Best Salt Beef & Lokshen Pudding 13th December 2007

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FOOD
If you are eating in this restaurant you start with chicken soup. Loksen soup. That's chicken soup with noodles. And kneidlach. That's dumpings. And kreplach. (Square dough or pasta pocket filled with meat, like ravioli.) Or both.

Afterwards salt beef sandwiches on rye bread, so deep you have to open your mouth wide. Take it away. Or eat in. Usually my family will eat in and buy more to take away.

Or salt beef without bread. You get a plate piled high with bread. Rye bread.

Add pickled cucumbers. Not just the tiny ones called gherkins, but big ones, sliced.

Add latkes. That's grated potato cakes, fried. The Swiss have rosti. The Americans have hash brownies. B & K has latkes. You want to try the latkes.

They do chips too. Big solid chips made from potato. Not those stringy things. Proper chips.

If there are two of you, one of you should have latkes and the other person should have chips. You'll be able to eat a latke and some chips and still have enough to take home.

Save space for dessert. Afterwards there's apple strudel with moist filling apple. Or Lokshen pudding which is tasty, sweet and filling. Made on the premises, I believe. For overseas readers, lokshen is noodles. Lokshen pudding is like bread and butter pudding, with sultanas. Melting in the middle. Crispy on top with sugar.

Yes, it's fattening. You can tell by the clientele and the owner that eating non-fattering food is not a priority. Not while you are here, it isn't.

Need I say more? Okay, I'll say more.

What sort of food is it? Jewish style. Kosher? No. Not officially. To be kosher you must be approved by an authority which won't allow you to open on Saturday and Jewish holidays. But if you want food like bubba (Granny) made, this is it.

DECOR
The place is small. They have redecorated, but it's not grand.

TAKE AWAY
You sit watching a procession of people getting take away food. I suggest you buy some salt beef sandwiches to take before you leave.

I would also look for a sliced chollah (plaited loaf of bread). My favourite chollah is yellow made with egg and with seeds scattered on top, poppyseeds or sesame.

Then some fish cakes. Fried gefilte fish. Or boiled gefilte fish if you like your fish moist. Handy if you have guests.

Ask what can be frozen.

ANECDOTES
When my late father was dying in hospital I asked him if there was anything he wanted. He said, 'A game of bridge. And a juicy steak. Actually, what I really want is a salt beef sandwich!'

If anybody is going through Edgware, please could you just get me a salt beef sandwich? And a latke. And a piece of lokshen pudding! Thanks.

I don't think it's grand enough to get the top rating of five stars but for food quality, yes, five stars.