Comfort foods sure to please taste buds and wallet

Much of my writing centers on discussing the esotericism of food and as a result I tend to get labeled as a food snob. Not that I should expect any different after all when you use more than five words to describe what shade of purple a wine is or when you use the word umami without sarcasm or irony some of the natural fallout is that people will suspect that your tastes are expressly highfalutin. But in truth though I do love gourmet food, I just love food in general and if it’s good I don’t much care what it is or where it has come from. So I have decided to share with you some of the foods that I love in spite of myself. These are items you can find at a number of the kosher fast food (please read “moderately expeditious food”) restaurants that exist around the New York area that are not only wonderful but also extremely affordable. They are as follows.

Subsational Philly Steak Sandwich: During my time at YU there was a Subsational located in Washington Heights and I was one of their regulars. Though I debate the wisdom of the name Subsational, which to me sounds like they are flaunting being less than sational, I have to admit that I became mildly hooked on their sandwiches. My favorite was the Philly Steak a wonderful mélange of sliced steak, peppers, grilled onions and BBQ sauce. Today there is no Subsational left in Washington Heights but they can still be found in several areas of Brooklyn.

Kosher Delight Buffalo Wings: I am not proud of this one but I love the chicken wings at KD. They have a distinctly light but crispy texture that no other kosher restaurant seems to be able to replicate. They also use a sauce with a higher sugar content so it sticks nicely to the wings and offsets the spice nicely. I would never recommend that you make this a regular staple of your diet but if you find yourself in Midtown and craving the perfect after drinks food this is it.

Dunkin Donuts Egg and Cheese Croissant: I love breakfast food at all hours of the day and as a result I eat one of these egg and cheese croissants way more often than I should. They are light and flakey and something about the egg and cheese in the center is addictive. My addictions to these sandwiches are made worse by the fact that there are kosher Dunkin Donuts all over the place the city, Long Island, Monsey and Teaneck. These are best accompanied by D&D’s hash browns, a Dunkachino, and a bearclaw pastry.

Pizza Crave Mozzarella Stick: Usually when you order mozzarella sticks they give you a few of them but that is not the way Pizza Crave located on Central Ave in Teaneck operates. They give you one giant stick of fried mozzarella that is about as thick around as a half dollar. It is both ridiculous and amazing at the same time. Eating this behemoth is not easy, especially if you like dipping it in the tub of marinara they give you but it is definitely an experience worth having. If you happen to be passing through Teaneck I highly recommend making a stop.

I love these foods not only because they are tasty and inexpensive but because there is something tremendously comforting about them. They remind me of when I was younger and they act as the perfect accent to watching football. These are foods that I would choose to eat instead of any number of “gourmet” items because when you get down to it, it’s really hard to lackadaisically eat Coq au Vin while relaxing on the couch watching TV. That is why I still have a special place in my heart for some of the simpler joys provided by fast food. That place is slowly developing into a blockage and will probably require me to get an angioplasty at some point but until then bring it on.

Zechariah Mehler is a widely published food writer and expert in social marketing. Follow him on Twitter @thekoshercritic