Ben Ash Delicatessen

My husband and I were up from NJ and enjoying the city on 5/31/05. We wanted to grab a quick lunch and decided to try out Ben Ash. We soon realized that the menu was extremely over-priced, but we were hungry and just wanted a quick lunch. The appetizer of mozzerella sticks was not cooked long enough - the cheese inside was still hard. My husband got a turky burger that was practically well done when he'd asked for medium. And I had ordered crabcakes, only to find that there was no crab in them at all - just shrimp. We called the manager over, and explained that we were not happy with the food. He stated that crab is not a flavorful meat, and that is why they put shrimp in the crabcakes. He said, "at least it's whole shrimp, at least we don't grind it up to look like crab." Even after explaining that we eat crabcakes often and that crab meat IS very flavorful, he made no apologies and did not offer to take anything off the bill. Fortunately, seeing "Spamalot" and dinner at Bombay Palace later that night made up for it!

The staff at ben ash was never extremely friendly but the place was clean and the apple strudel was to die for...We had a pastry and coffee every night after the shows and were always pleased with the taste! The chocolate cigars, almond cresents, and cheesecake were marvelous. We did not ever eat a sandwich but when food was brought to tables nar us, we were amazed at how large the portions were. It was a bit pricey but well worth it!

Had a pastrami and chopped liver on rye, unbelievably huge. Expensive, yes ($18.95), but it's good for two meals (but just one for me). I'm not big on "atmosphere", so that didn't matter to me. The service was fine. Not real busy, which is just fine with me, too. Bigger than other delis - went to the Stage and sat shoulder to shoulder with strangers. Maybe that's part of the NY experience, but it made me uncomfortable. This place was fine.

It's steep. It doesn't matter. I don't know about the food, but the cheesecake is worth it.

We tried a lot of different meals at Ben ash's, breakfast, dinner and dessert, and I must say that everything we had was SUPERB. Anyone who ever visits NYC just has to go to Ben's. I would not miss it for the world. I agree that the food is somewhat expensive but considering the huge portions it is abolsutely worth it. Like one of the waiters said: "In New York we eat a lot.". So there is no need to wait in line at Carnegie's when you can go to Ben Ash's. It is places like this that make NYC great.

Looked good from the outside but disappointing once seated. Prices are outrageous even for the theater district. Saw others being served and the portions were ridiculously large. There's a minimum $10 or $12 charge per person which is insane with kids. We ordered a piece of cheesecake to go and left without ordering food. Went to Carnegie Deli instead which was good but not great. Ben and Ash cheesecake was very good. Katz's is better than Carnegie as far as pastrami goes. Better atmosphere, too.

Saw Ben Ash from the outside, and thought it looked like a good deli. Made the miestake of not leaving once I got there. Place was empty (bad sign). Ordered a corned beef sandwhich, and while the sadnwhich was huge, corned beef was only so-so. No real garlic taste, and some pieces were dark in color. Atmosphere was drab, and waitress barely spoke english.