Manchester has a litany of restaurants, but as a general rule you can count on the places from Corey Wry.
With a name that plays on that of its owner, Pastrami on Wry fills the fast-service breakfast and lunch counter portion of Corey Wry’s triumvirate of restaurants in the Silk City (the others being Corey’s Catsup and Mustard for solid burgers and CW’s Chops ‘n’ Catch for a more upscale twist).
Pastrami keeps the classic-corner eatery feel, but bold primary colors and galvanized metal accents give it a touch of the new generation.
“I feel like getting the quesadilla salad,” my girlfriend immediately announces as we sit down on a recent fall afternoon. “Because I could go for a quesadilla, and I could go for a salad.”
My ordering was a little more labored. I wavered between the knowingly delicious Texas-Arizona Chicken (chili-lime chicken with bacon, guacamole, and cheddar on sourdough, $6.75) and the S.F. Connect (smoked turkey, pickle, bacon, swiss on sourdough, $7), before settling on the namesake Pastrami on Wry (pastrami, swiss, and mustard, $6.50). A Hosmer Mountain birch soda and cup of coffee rounded out the meal.
We innocently enough ordered the bacon cheddar ranch fries ($4.50), not noticing the word “plate” next to it. The behemoth that greeted us was both exciting and shocking. This was enough for four! Yet like total amateurs, we shoveled down the delicious fries until our stomach capacities for our actual orders were put in jeopardy. Oops.
Luckily there was still room for half of the pastrami sandwich. I’m no pastrami expert, but it was good. It didn’t blow me out of the water, but it would later be even better when reheated for breakfast.
Speaking of breakfast, Pastrami on Wry is rumored to do that meal very well. Something of a breakfast connoisseur, my girlfriend was disappointed we were instead having lunch.
“I need to get you back here for breakfast,” she said. “The Santa Fe wrap is what dreams are made of.” (Santa Fe Ranchero: scrambled eggs with guacamole, salsa, chili, and cheese wrapped in a tortilla, $6.50.) Breakfast is served until 11:30 a.m.
Fighting through a French-fry stuffed haze, I attacked a side dish of Asian-style broccoli slaw. It was heavy on sesame and had a pepperiness that couldn’t quite be placed. The coleslaw was pretty good, too. Normally an outcast of sandwich accompaniments, this version was glistening in vinegar rather than sopping in mayonnaise.
The quesadilla salad was exactly what my girlfriend wanted. I have to admire the lack of witty experimentation, as crazy sounding salads usually wind up being just that — crazy. The quesadilla was super cheesy, but I passed on wasting precious little stomach real estate on greens.
With the tab coming in at only $23.66 we left, doggie bag in hand, prepared for a snack later.
>>Pastrami on Wry, 550 Middle Turnpike E, Manchester, is open Monday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Information: 860-432-4389 and pastramionwry.net
