Moe Pancer's Deli

Moe Pancer's Deli, 3856 Bathurst Street has been around since 1957. It's been remodelled (I'm sure a few times over) but the room maintains its' nostalgia. It's a dive but in the best sense of the word.

Tamara our waitress has been working there "forever". She won't divulge the time but she's an older gal. She is exactly who you want to be served by in a delicatessen; a Jewish belle with bleached blond hair, a face full of makeup and fingers adorned with gold rings.

She brings us a delicatessen platter ($15) of tongue, corned beef and pastrami. On the side, the rye bread, french fries and cole slaw. You make your own sandwiches this way which I like because there is no way I could get my mouth around the monstrosities that Tamara is serving up. It's a crazy amount of meat (you've been warned).

I prefer the pastrami over the corned beef. It's more moist; a little fattier. Thrashers of the freshly sliced, peppery meat with hot Keen's mustard and giant sour dill pickles are a combo of awesome.

The tongue on the other hand is a little too moist. It's too soft. I like a tongue with a little substance.

The fries are not fresh cut and are chubby and dry. Go for the potato salad instead. It's roughly mashed and creamy and has bits of sweet red and green pepper. If I had a Jewish grandmother, this would be her potato salad.

The slaw is also quite good. The cabbage is soft, well seasoned and dressed up in vinegar. I may have made it a sandwich condiment.

Meat aside, Moe stays true to its' roots with matzoh ball soup, knishes, kishkas and chopped liver.

Moe Pancer's is a bit of a trek into North Toronto but good food is always worth the effort.