First let it be said that no one in our family enters a restaurant with “Kitchen” in its name without trepidation. Long ago, we put down rules for eating out after many unfortunate experiences. One must NEVER eat in a restaurant whose name includes the words Captain (or, worse Cap’n), Mom (Ma or Mother), or Kitchen. Also taboo are establishments who advertise Home Cooking, Home Made or the terrifying Homade. We pronounce that ho-mad-e (long e). The funniest-ever joke in our family is when a 12 or 13 year old Jonathan made the comment that the awful meal prepared by his grandmother was good enough to be served in Captain Mom’s Kitchen. It makes me laugh just to type it.
That being said, the restaurant review is of Shelby’s Kitchen, Deerfield Beach, Florida
We were on the search for deli. Good Jewish deli. John was craving corned beef and hoping that I would order chopped liver so we could make our famous corned beef and chopped liver combo. It’s after 1:30 and we are hungry. So we start by going to Mr. Deli, a place we’ve been to on previous trips. Oh no, out of business. John’s dad suggests Bagel Dream, we try that next but now it’s after 2 and the place is closed. But three times is the charm. We go, against our better judgment, to Shelby’s Kitchen. We have a waitress who has to write everything down in long hand and has trouble dealing with our order, even though we are the only people in the restaurant. (Older people eat early.) But the corned beef is warm and not fatty and the chopped liver is wonderful. We are a family who loves chopped liver whether it’s served on crostini in Florence or made into an exquisite mousse by Sarah. But, getting back to the sandwiches, the only downside is that the rye bread is a little flabby. John and I make our combo and it’s like Jewish heaven. (John says that Jews believe in heaven more as a metaphor than a reality, but you get my drift.)
Due to the lack of ambiance, incompetent service and flabby rye bread but because of the great chopped liver and good corned beef , I give Shelby’s Kitchen a B+ (John agrees)