whitefish salad, chopped herring, etc

[terra]

I will be hosting a large party and want to get smoked fish platters. Because of the mess and difficulty of serving real pieces of fish, I've opted to use fish salads such as whitefish salad, chopped herring, kippered salmon salad, and lox and cream cheese spread. Most people who live nearby use Hymie's and Murrays, but I find them to be overpriced for not great quality. I have gotten recommendations for a some places in Northeast, such as Jack's on Bustleton and SteinBoy's Famous on Krewstown Road. Does anyone have any opinions on these places or for other recommendations for affordable, high quality salads? I value your feedback.

[monavano]

Steve Steins is very good. Great bagels too.

[jmbrightman]

Famous Deli on Krewstown Rd makes good whitefish salad. So does Wegman's in Cherry Hill.

[KatieLoeb]

Short Hills Deli or Kibitz Room in Cherry Hill are both good. Kibitz in the City at 7th & Chestnut is related to the one in Cherry Hill. I've always enjoyed my food at either location. Perhaps a lunchtime reconnaissance mission is in order? Have a whitefish salad sandwich and see how you like it. Zeke's Deli on 5th Street next door to the PLCB store has pretty good fish platters too. Maybe go for Sunday brunch and bring someone to help you eat the fish platter for 2. That ought to give you an idea of what they have to offer.

[rlibkind]

Does anyone know if any of the aforementioned appies (I'll use the old term for a store that sells smoked fish, cheese, etc., but not meats) makes their own fish salads?

Most places use prepared salads from Acme or one of the other smoked fish processors; in some cases they might add scraps from some whitefish that has dried out a bit or looks less than pristine but is perfectly OK to consume. The Acme product is excellent, but the addition of the leftovers improves it immensely. Hershel's, for instances, uses Acme product, but they will add flesh from chubs if they've got a surplus they've got to move.

I would love to believe there is someone out there is making their own directly from their own fish (even if it's fish that they couldn't otherwise sell), but I find it hard to believe.

When I was a kid the Tabachnick's on Elmora Avenue in Elizabeth NJ (operated by son-in-law of the original Jack) used to take their leftover smoked fish scraps (lox, kippered salmon, sable, etc.) and make what they called "sensation" salad. And it was sensational.

[jmbrightman]

I was under the impression Famous Deli on Krewstown Rd makes their own - the taste varies enough from week to week to support this. That, and the sign that says OUR OWN HOMEMADE.

[chowfun]

You could order from Russ and Daughters. They make the best whitefish and baked salmon salad, nothing else I have ever had from any where else is as good. Their herring is excellent. I have not tried their chopped herring, but their sliced herring is the best. Fresh cut, packed separately from the sauce and onions, never mushy.

[Vicarious]

A few years ago I ordered a large quantity of whitefish salad from Hymies. If I recall correctly, the container said Marshalls (which, IMO, is better than Acme).

[rlibkind]

I was under the impression Famous Deli on Krewstown Rd makes their own - the taste varies enough from week to week to support this.  That, and the sign that says OUR OWN HOMEMADE.

←

Some delis make most of their own salads, but not the herring or whitefish salads. Hershel's is one example: they make their own slaw, potato salad, tuna salad, etc., but not the smoked fish salads.

[monavano]

Just to clarify, Famous Deli and Steve Steins deli are one in the same: Steve Stein's Famous Deli. Here's a link to what they make/have.

http://www.ssfamousdeli.com/deli/smoke_fish.asp

[CoolPapaBell]

Short Hills Deli or Kibitz Room in Cherry Hill are both good.  Kibitz in the City at 7th & Chestnut is related to the one in Cherry Hill. I've always enjoyed my food at either location. 

Everything at the Kibitz Room is awesome. I will have to finally try Short Hills next trip up there. The best creamed herring I had was at the Atlanta Ritz Carlton Sunday brunch.

Then I had the Kibitz Room. If you find a bad item there let me know. I love the BAMF sammich.

Edited December 15, 2007 by CoolPapaBell (log)

[rlibkind]

On my annual bakery pilgramage to The Great Northeast I couldn't resist stopping by the Famous Deli given jmbrightman's and monavano's hearty recommendations. It's an impressive place. As for the whitefish salad, after bringing home a pound and tasting I have no doubt it is homemade. While it's very good, it's not my ideal, though there's nothing not to like about it. My gentle critique is that (1) it's too smooth, with too much mayo, and (2) doesn't taste enough like smoked fish. I guess I just like mine fishier, and identifiable as fish; but then, I would expect there are a lot of people who prefer it less fishy. Since it was priced at $3.99/pound, I'm not too surprised by the surplus of mayo.

I also bought some regular belly lox, but won't try it until Sunday morning. It looks nice and thinly sliced, however. The belly cut was priced at $9.99/half pound while the less fatty regular cut was being sold at $7.00/half; very reasonable prices. I do want to get up there again and try their whitefish, kippered salmon, etc. My server said they cure and smoke much of the fish themselves (but not the lox, which appears to be from Banner). The various vegetable salads also looked very good.

I served the whitefish salad on some onion board (flat bread) purchased the same day at Weiss Bakery, Castor Avenue.