Zaftigs, Brookline, MA, USA

Ordered at Zaftigs, Brookline Jewish Deli in Massachusetts.

This night was all about comfort. Comfort in our surroundings, comfort in our activities, and most importantly, comfort in our food.

Having literally just moved back to America, American comfort was exactly what we craved, and with that in mind, we decided to head to our old neighborhood in Brookline, Coolidge Corner, and try out one of the restaurants we had been to a hundred times before. The Regal Beagle had a 20 minute wait, so we popped over to Zaftigs, a jewish-style deli that has become a staple in Brookline dining establishments.

We got the only table available in Zaftigs – I was surprised as normally I’d peg Zaftigs as a popular place for breakfast and lunch, but not so much for dinner. I guess I was wrong! And as we sat down, shivering from the excessive air conditioning, we noticed everyone else was comfortable in t-shirts while we donned sweatshirts. Over the coming weeks I would quickly realize Americans absolutely love air conditioning and most restaurants are freezing in this country, but that’s another story for another time.

As we sat down and I perused the menu, I flip flopped between breakfast food and sandwiches, but once my eyes hit the “ZAFTIG CLUB” I knew this would be my meal. With no description on the menu, I simply said the items name, with which I was immediately met with a wall of questions. What type of bread would I like? Challah, definitely. What type of meat did I want? Roast beef tempted me, but our waiter recommended the turkey, so I went with that. Would I like mayonnaise? No, and thanks so much for asking!

The waiter walked away and immediately we were glowing from the fantastic service and friendly, American atmosphere of Zaftigs. Yes, this was definitely a night that embraced us with comfort… until the food arrived.

I’m not sure who at Zaftigs creates the sandwiches, but from the best of my knowledge, the ZAFTIG CLUB is more like a turkey (meat) sandwich. What’s the difference between a turkey sandwich and a zaftig club? The world may never know, and I think the photo speaks for itself. Turkey turkey and more turkey. This was a club for a turkey lover. If I had chosen the roast beef, I probably would have thought the same for roast beef lovers; there’s simply no room in this sandwich for anything else.

The challah was dry and didn’t bring back any memories of my childhood (part of me was hoping to taste those memories) and left me a bit disappointed, as I know Zaftigs has great challah.  The rest of the ingredients were barely noticeable, although of high quality. A tiny slice of tomato proved quite moist and yummy with the 3 bites I could include it with, as did the lettuce. And that was pretty much it – a turkey sandwich somehow labeled as a club.

The crispy fries at the end definitely helped fill me up and leave me satisfied, but as for comfort food, Zaftigs did not win me over. Fortunately it left me with enough room to walk over to J.P. Licks and dig into an oreo coffee ice cream – now I was in my comfort zone !

Location