Gottlieb's Restaurant

A classic establishment, retaining of times perhaps when things were simpler.
The corned beef sandwich was just corned beef.
The chicken soup was, without chicken.
The soup was served warm and ended up cold.
The soup should be hot! Flavor was a bit diluted.
The corned beef was of the lean variety, but lacking any richness and marbling you might hope for.
The pickles? Those were excellent.
Served at a relaxed pace.
18% tip added automatically.
As a first impression, I wasn’t left particularly impressed.

Serious glatt kosher restaurant.
For some reason I never ate here when I lived close by in 1990 so I rectified by visiting close to closing time.
I wasn't sure if there was table service or you ordered at the counter but the counterman set me straight and I sat down and was overwhelmed by the menu.
Should I get traditional deli or some of the Hungarian specialties? I overheard the charming waiter speaking in Engbrew to a customer that the gefilte fish was fresh so when I got my chance to order that was the first dish.
I expressed my happy problem of having too many choices and he said 'start with the gefilte fish and go from there'.
After a minute he brought over bread and what I thought was beet salad (that was one of the healthy dishes I was considering ) and he said "a little something while you wait' so I spooned a glob of the purple into my glob and like proust getting a bucket of water dumped on my head I then remembered my childhood, which may have been the most recent interaction with the non-white horseradish.
Whoop! When the fish came I smothered it with that.
Then I asked the waiter, Yitz (Isaac?) About the cherry soup.
He said it's just me but I like hot soup on a cold night.
I asked whether I should get the savory Kugel or the dumplings and he said the Kugel was just made so I ordered that.
And the Hungarian chicken and the stuffed cabbage.
I got a Dr Brown's wild cherry soda to cure the cherry craving and a seltzer after to settle the fresser stomach.
The Kugel wasn't to my liking but everything else was tasty, the chix in partic.
All and all a small cozy and pleasurable event.

Owner response

Happened upon Gottlieb’s while on a day trip to South Williamsburg, and I was pleasantly surprised that they had Hungarian food (Gulyásleves, Paprikás csirke, töltött kaposzta, uborkaszaláta).
I got the töltött kaposzta and it was wonderful! The service was friendly, the atmosphere was warm and simple.
My boyfriend got the corned beef on rye and it was also delicious 😊

Owner response