Stopsky’s Deli: Opening Weekend Turnout
Stopsky’s Deli
3016 78th Ave. SE
Mercer Island, WA 98040
Grade: B-
Average Price: Large Sandwich $9
Dish to Get: Smoked Whitefish Salad Sandwich ($10.75)
Pretzel
It’s not often I go to Mercer Island for many things, let alone for food, since there are not a lot of go-to dining destinations in Mercer Island. But when I heard about a Jewish Deli opening there, I decided it was worth the trip out to Mercer Island. 3 days after opening weekend, I stopped in at Stopsky’s with my two Jewish friends in tow, Sam and Danielle, to keep me honest about my review. Stopsky’s features not only a carry out service with baked goods and sandwiches, but also a sit down dining experience as well.
Trying to get a table within 40 minutes was a bit chaotic; To curb our hunger, we decided to get some baked goods: a pretzel and rugelach to share. The pretzel was decent – make sure you ask for their mustard (which is nice and spicy), that definitely gives the pretzel a bit of pizazz. The rugelach was pretty amazing though, for those who don’t know what a rugelach, the best way to put it is that it’s a rolled cookie made with cream-cheese dough and filled with jam. The version we had at Stopsky’s was filled with a fruit flavored jam, nice and crisp on the outside, but buttery and flavorful on the inside. Definitely getting the two baked items during our wait was a good move there. Little known fact: the baker of Stopsky’s was the co-founder of Columbia City Bakery in Seattle.
Rugelach
After 40 minutes or so, we were finally seated, and took a look at the menu. The menu is pretty overwhelming: split into breakfast items, soup, salads, sides, noshes (exclusive Stopsky’s recipes), and sandwiches. After getting help from Danielle and Sam, decided on a couple of Jewish classics:
1) Matzoh ball soup:
Matzoh Ball Soup
- Review: While the matzoh ball was nice, definitely with some flavor, the broth was not. It tasted more like cabbage than any sort of chicken broth. What’s sad to say is that even the broth at Goldberg’s deli had a better flavor than Stopsky’s, but the matzoh ball itself was definitely better at Stopsky’s. The soup was my least favorite item on the menu.
2) Robin’s Reuben has corned beef, emmentaller, sauerkraut, Russian dressing and seeded rye
- I actually did not order this myself so it wouldn’t be fair if I actually reviewed it, but please see my below review for the corned beef sandwich.
3) Corned Beef Sandwich
Corned Beef Sandwich
- Served with their house, spicy mustard the corned beef was tender, but I think it could have had more flavor to it. While the sandwich was decent, I think the coleslaw that was paired with it was a bit better. I think it would have tasted even better had the coleslaw been better layered within the corned beef: most of the flavor was on one side of the sandwich where the coleslaw was.
4) Smoked Whitefish Salad served with capers, preserved lemon, pickled shallots, horseradish aioli, on a salted Kaiser roll.
- This by far, was my favorite dish. The saltiness of the whitefish was just perfectly paired with the pickled shallots, it brought a nice crunch and balance of flavoring. The salted Kaiser roll kept all the flavors nicely without overwhelming the sandwich. Definitely my recommended dish to get at Stopsky’s.
I gave Stopsky’s a B- because while their Smoked Whitefish salad and rugelach were A items, the matzoh ball soup definitely hit the mark, and the corned beef sandwich was average. According to Danielle, I Love New York Deli in the U-District is definitely better, and therefore Stopsky’s gets a B-. Also, I heard that they ran out of lox while we were there – how do you run out of lox? I think Stopsky’s has great potential, but still has a couple of things that need to be ironed out. Nonetheless, Stopsky’s is still a great addition to Jewish dining establishments in Seattle.
Read MoreAh-mazing Pie in Fremont in Single Size Portions!
Coconut Cream Pie
3515 Fremont Ave N
Neighborhood: Fremont
Dish to get: Coconut Cream Pie
Price: $5 for larger sized pies
Grade: A
Move out cupcakes, pies are the new “it” food, but you should only get the pies from Fremont’s Pie. Their pies are amazing, walked in here just out of sheer curiosity due to my sweet tooth, and asked the cashier what was the best pie. Her answer was: the coconut cream or the mixed berry. We chose the coconut cream pie pictured above, and it was a welcoming surprise. The first thing to note is that all their pies are not meant to be eaten with a fork or knife, you pretty much just need to bite into this single portion sized handful of goodness. The crust of the pie was definitely created with the thought that one would eat this pie with their hands, because you cannot cut into the crust. Instead, the crust is thick enough to hold the pie filling, without creating a mess, but the the crust is still full of flavor.
The coconut cream pie we got, was just so great, I don’t even know if I can describe the flavors to justice. I don’t even like coconut typically, but this coconut pie was tasty. Perfectly sweet, not too intense with the coconut flavor. Eating this thing, just made me want more. I even went up to order a mixed berry pie to go for my roommate, because I thought it was so good.
Pie also features mini pies, (much like mini cupcakes), as well as savory pies such as Mac&Cheese, Meatballs, Spicy Chocolate and more! I can’t wait to go back and try the savory pies as well. Added bonus, if you check-in via Yelp at Pie, you get a free mini pie!
Read MorePoquitos: great ambience, but not quite there with Food
Grilled Corn
Poquitos
1000 E. Pike St Seattle, WA
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill
Dish to get: Tacos | Grade: C+ | Price: $11
I’ve been meaning to try Poquitos for awhile now. Anytime a new Mexican restaurant Seattle opens in Seattle, I think to myself, “ah, another chance for Seattle to redeem itself when it comes to Mexican food.” As some of you may already know, I am discouraged by the lack of tasty, authentic Mexican cuisine options when it comes to Seattle. So I came into Poquitos with much anticipation.
The ambience of Poquitos definitely gets some big points, the laid back vibe and side patio makes for a really great summer stop for food, but of course as you know, I get straight down to business, focusing on the food rather than the ambience. Ordered the Grilled Corn (sliced off the cob with crema, lime, cotija, and chili pequin), the Ahogada Torta (a Mexican style sandwich with pork carnitas), and the Mushroom Tacos (roasted crimini mushrooms, grilled onions, chipotle, and asadero cheese).
1) Grilled Corn – Poquito’s grilled corn was decent, but the first thought that came to mind was that it is nowhere in comparison to New York’s Café Habana. Grilled corn is relatively easy to make, it really comes down to how you season it that makes the key difference. So while Poquito’s corn was tasty, I’m not sure if it was too much chili or the cotija didn’t go well, but it just didn’t round out the flavors of say Café Habana’s grilled corn. For those of you who have been to Café Habana in New York, that is the best tasting corn I have ever had. Their flavors are pretty much perfect – they use similar ingredients, but not so much chili and if I recall correctly no use of cotija at all. Overall, I think Poquito’s Grilled Corn is only okay, nothing spectacular.
2) Ahogada Torta – I didn’t order this, but my dining companion did, in an attempt to reminisce the flavors of the large torta we had in Puerto Vallarta Mexico, that was oh so tasty. Poquito’s Torta fell short because the pork carnitas were a bit dry, not tender, and the dipping sauce rather than the torta swimming in the sauce, actually should have been drizzled just a bit on the carnitas, inside the sandwich. It just made for a really messy meal.
3) Mushroom Tacos- while tasty, the flavors were pretty consistent, and I think the best adjective I would describe is safe. For the most part the tacos were extremely salty, and I needed some kind of balancing flavor to add, so I added some of the grilled corn and that made the taco a bit better. Served with a side of rice and beans, the mushroom tacos are definitely best value when it comes to a $11 meal, but I can’t say that I was dreaming about this taco (like I have had of Puerto Vallarta’s street side tacos).
Mushroom Tacos
Torta
Overall, I think Poquitos is comparable to Barrio in the sense they both serve Mexican food, both have nice ambience, but still have not hit the mark when it comes to Mexican food.
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