Mort’s Delicatessen – Golden Valley, MN

TheDoctor and I were fixin’ to brew some high-octane cider after work, and little did I know that the actual gathering of ingredients and preparation for said brewing takes exponentially longer than the actual mixing and brewing process. One reason for this is the trip to the liquor store to acquire beverages to consume during the brewing process. Another reason for this is to go to the home-brewing store and pick up a bunch of chemistry set things and magic juj-ju powders. Yet another reason it takes so long is stopping for some dinner. TheDoctor suggested Mort’s Delicatessen as a possibility since neither of us had been there. It proved to be an excellent choice.

The front of this place has a deli counter where you can get all kinds of sliced meats and sandwiches and desserts from a glass case. Or you can sit in back and get the full experience. You can grab a table or booth, or you can sit at the counter like old guys – that’s what TheDoctor and I did.

The menu is pretty serious. All kinds of meaty deliciousness ad full dinners. It was extremely difficult to choose. When in doubt, I choose what I think is the most dirty-sounding thing on the menu. In this case, it was “Mike’s Kentucky Hot Brown” Yes, that’s the name of it. If someone ever asked me if I wanted a Kentucky Hot Brown, even if his name weren’t Mike, I think I’d be oooged out just a little bit. And since I was able to stick with a theme – something I like to do from time to time, I also ordered a Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda. If only I worked for UPS. TheDoctor decided on the Rueben which happened to be on special today. Cha-ching!

We didn’t wait long for the food to come out. I wasn’t even sure what I was getting, so imagine my surprise when this heaping pile of brown came out (see how dirty it sounds!?!?!?!).

The Kentucky Hot Brown is fresh rotisserie turkey (one of Mort’s specialties) sitting on what tastes like challah bread french toast (yes, really) covered with grilled tomatoes and bacon and then slathered in homemade parmesan cheese sauce. Heavy? Yes. Delicious? Yes. I had just had a turkey dinner at another restaurant so I didn’t know it was going to be a similar type of thing when I ordered it. However, this one proved to be much better than the previous night (and that was delicious, as well!!!) The meat was very juicy and the tomatoes and bacon added some really interesting flavor in my mouth. Adding the parmesan sauce just made the whole thing that much more awesome. Add in the homemade potato chips and you’ve got yourself a serious meal.

I’m going to have a difficult time NOT ordering Kentucky Hot Brown whenever I see if on any menu from here on out. And yes, I’ll giggle like I’m 12 when I say it. Mort’s appears to have awesome everything TheDoctor thought his Rueben was really quite good (as was the homemade rootbeer they had). This place will work it’s way back into the rotation sooner, rather than later. I really liked it.

Then we went home and poured a bunch of apple juice and magic dust into our newly built chemistry set to make hard cider. Now we have to sit and wait for 6 weeks to drink it… Sigh…




Top 5 things about Mort’s
1. Mike’s Kentucky Hot Brown
2. Super nice wait staff
3. Tons of things on the menu
4. It’s across the parking lot from the liquor sto. Bonus!
5. Would be a good place to grab a quick sammich after work

Bottom 5 things
1. It’s slightly pricey, but not for the amount of food you get. Plus the daily specials are a great deal. It saved TheDoctor like $5
2. Too many delicious things to choose from - alright, that’s not technically a bad thing
3. They don’t have Fox Sports Network, so you can’t watch the Twins play – do I really care? Nope
4. I wish I had known about this place for breakfast – it looks like they have some great options
5. I still can’t say Kentucky Hot Brown without giggling

www.morts-deli.com