Katz’s Delicatessen

Katz's Delicatessen has been feeding the Lower East Side since 1888, and its big, bright dining room on the corner of East Houston and Ludlow Streets is one of the last links to the neighbourhood's past as a centre of Jewish immigrant life. Neon signs, wood-panelled walls covered in photographs of famous diners, and long rows of tables give it the feel of a canteen, and it is busy from morning to night with locals, tourists and film fans.

The ordering system is part of the experience. At the door you are handed a paper ticket, which you carry to the counters where carvers slice meat to order; staff mark what you have bought on the ticket, and you pay for everything at the exit. Hold on to it, because a fee applies if you lose it. Table service is available along one wall if you prefer to sit and order from a waiter, though most people queue at the counter for the theatre of watching the meat being cut.

The pastrami sandwich on rye, piled high with hand-carved, house-cured meat, is the reason to come, and it is big enough for two light appetites to share. Corned beef, brisket and hot dogs are the other classics, with matzo ball soup, potato latkes and a plate of pickles alongside. Fans of the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally can find the table where the famous scene was shot, marked by a sign hanging above it.

Katz's is good value for the quantity of food, though not cheap for a sandwich. Queues build at lunchtime, in the evening and all weekend, so mid-afternoon on a weekday is usually the calmest time. It suits everyone from solo travellers to families, and groups can arrange reservations through the website. If you want to take the experience home, the deli ships its pastrami and other products across the United States.

The deli is at 205 East Houston Street, a couple of minutes' walk from the 2nd Avenue station on the F line. Russ & Daughters' original shop is a few doors along Houston Street, and the Tenement Museum and the Lower East Side's bars and galleries are a short walk south.