New York Delicatessen

Crooks. They had fish on display without description or price tag. Claimed it was halibut. When we cooked the fish, after the first bite it was obvious it was not halibut but rather much cheaper flounder/​flatfish. After ripping us off about $ 16 they were quite unapologetic. That is after fessing up and offering only partial refund.
Never shopping here again.

A bunch of liars.
They sold us lumpfish roe, saying that it was beluga caviar.

So this place happens to be on the corner of Santa Monica and Genese, where there must be at least five other Russian food stores in a block radius distance. The real reason behind the five stars that I’m giving ‘em is nothing more than quality and their persistence. I go in-​there to buy simplicities such as sour-​cabbage and chicken á La French. West Hollywood isn’t anywhere close to being as good as real New York, New York. but in LA, at least you know that the crime rate is down and you could sit down and eat like a normal human being without being apprehended.

It’s Christmas, I’m Jewish, I’m hungry, and nothing is open. You know how it is. I mean, my family and I are obviously going to go out for Chinese food for dinner, but it’s 11 AM and I need sustenance.
I’m in West Hollywood for a week or so and that’s an eminently walkable neighborhood, so Dan and I decide to amble around to see if we get lucky. All we’re hoping for is maybe an apple from a grocer or something — maybe a bag of cheetos from the gas station.
Wrong! Enter New York Deli. Like others have mentioned, it is not what is generally thought of as a New York deli at all, but come on guys, it’s not they’re trying to mislead you. Everything’s written in Russian in the window, with selective English translations, and those translations mostly are very clear about the fact that there is Russian comfort food inside. Cabbage and potato soup. Carrot salad. Blintzes. Etc.
I am mostly Russian by blood, but I am ashamed to say that I am very, very unfamiliar with the cuisine. I’m much more comfortable walking into a Vietnamese or Korean market than I am walking in here. Here, I am reduced to pointing and shrugging (based also on the proprietess’ short descriptions), and we end up with some kind of meaty tomato-​ey thing, stuffed eggplant, sea bass in sauce, and a few blintzes.
We ordered way too much food and had to take half home. But it was all very, very good. Super homemade-​tasting, and in fact, we saw the cook walking in and out of the kitchen with platters of fresh-​made food several times as we sat there. The food looks heavy, but it isn’t, and I felt like I’d had a healthy meal after I was done.
Winner: cheese blintzes. I thought I’d had cheese blintzes before ’til I had them here. Apparently no one else in my lifetime of cheese blintzes had made them correctly (sorry, Mom). This place does.
Also, you get some kind of awesome Polish chocolate after you eat! It looks like a hard candy on the wrapper, like a chocolate when you open it, and like zingy lemon Turkish delight in the middle. Yum! Where can I find more of this thing?

This is NOT a New York deli. No pastrami sandwich = FAIL.
That said, the Russian lady behind the counter made me a pretty decent salami and swiss on pumpernickel bread. Still, this place specializes in Russian food and should be renamed.