Business

DINING OUT: A taste of home at Mejlander and Mulgannon

May 7, 2014 Helen Klein

BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Helen Klein

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Hearty comfort food is the recipe for success at Bay Ridges Mejlander & Mulgannon, where owner Tommy Mulgannon Stramka offers up family recipes and other traditional fare as well as top-notch service to keep his customers coming back for more.

The cheerful deli has tables for eat-in customers who get to enjoy the view of foods set out in glass cases as they savor the delis home-cooked specialties, from traditional breakfasts to stuffed sandwiches to a changing selection of hot dishes.

On my visit, I sampled two of the delis stellar sandwiches, as well as several examples of its home cooking.

The Prime Rib Hero features thin slices of tender, freshly cooked beef piled onto a crusty hero loaf which has been soaked with juices from the meat and spiked with creamy, pleasantly spicy horseradish mayonnaise. At $9.50, the sandwich is a true bargain and, as Stramka points out, is like nothing else served up by area eateries.

The Pastrami sandwich ($7), piled high on rye and slathered with mustard, is a pastrami-lovers dream come true, with tender, flavorful meat that is virtually devoid of fat.

The Cream of Chicken Soup ($3.50, cup; $4.75, pint; $8.50 with homemade bread or crackers) went down really easy. Studded with chunks of chicken, carrot and celery, the smooth as satin, herb-flecked concoction is soothing and warming exactly what comfort food is meant to be.

M & Ms Shepherds Pie ($7) features a satisfying mélange of ground beef and vegetables including peas, corn kernels and lima beans, topped according to time-honored tradition with mashed potatoes. Yum!

For lovers of Tex-Mex fare, M & M also offers homemade Chili ($5/pint) based on the recipe of Stramkas mom. The hearty ground beef stew was sweet and tender rather than blazing hot, chock full of kidney beans, and chunks of tomato and onion.

The delis Mac and Cheese ($5/pint) is delicious indeed. Pasta elbows are bathed generously in a rich cheese sauce that is flavorful without being sharp.

As an added bonus, customers who eat in for lunch or dinner get a free fountain soda with refills.

Stramka, who came to the deli business after a Wall Street career, is committed both to serving only top-notch food and to doing it with a personal touch in the community he calls home.

I was working 12 to 14-hour days and I thought, I could be doing it in my own neighborhood, Stramka recalled, adding that he reached out to two childhood friends, Peter Mejlander and Charlie Wheeler, to open up the deli in 1992, buying them out a decade ago or more.

The rest is history as M & M has made a name for itself, and Stramka has expanded the catering side of the business, maintaining the personal touch by responding himself to all queries.

He has most recently augmented the delis repertoire by adding a selection of the delightful confections produced by Brooklyn Cupcake. With flavors ranging from basic but not at all ordinary vanilla and chocolate, to Dulce de Leche and Tiramisu, these cupcakes ($2.50) are exquisite and ethereal with icing that is light and airy, and just sweet enough without being cloying.

They are absolutely scrumptious and, as such, a perfect match for the specialties that have put Mejlander & Mulgannon squarely on the Bay Ridge culinary map.

MEJLANDER & MULGANNON

7615 Fifth Avenue

Brooklyn NY 11209

718-238-6666

Monday-Friday: 7 a.m.-8 p.m.

Saturday: 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Sunday: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Free delivery Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m., with minimum $10 order

Order on line at seamlessweb.comeat24.comdelivery.com and grubhub.com

Curbside delivery

Catering