This Hole-In-The-Wall Life

Globe European Delicatessen

Comments (0) Thursday, Dec 11 2003

Photo by Tenaya HillsThe meat counter at Globe European Delicatessen is a long-as-a-Cadillac cornucopia of sausages of every grind, animal and taste. There are gooey pork blood sausages; Polish and Lithuanian veal cuts with a crusty outer skin; brat-, knack-, liver-, bock-, knock- and seemingly every other kind of wurst ever stuffed by Bavarian hands.

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Globe European Delicatessen

1928 Harbor Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

Category: Restaurant > Deli

Region: Costa Mesa

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But sausage is but one appetizing aspect of Globe European Delicatessen, which has been hawking German, Dutch and other European produce from the same address for more than three decades. There's beer, naturally, more than 30 brews with labels depicting soused monks or busty fräuleins playing chug-a-lug. In one brightly lit corner is a shrine to jams. There's the pricey Swedish Winssenertopf plum butter jam—at $8.70 for about 16 ounces, it's still a deal. There are also 17 types of Hero's Preserves, the renowned Swiss jelly concern that has spread opulence upon even the stalest bread for over a century with such improbable flavors as sugar beet and quince. The best chocolates out of 13 brands here are the Ritter Sport bars, which, at $2.40, might seem a bit much (you could buy four Snickers and a couple of Hershey's Kisses for about the same price), but the silky, coconutty Ritter square is worth it. Cheaper but still exquisite are the Manner wafers, products of a company founded in 1898 that crams five layers of wafers alongside four layers of cream so powerfully flavored—super-tart raspberry is the best—that it's the nearest artificial approximation to fruit.

Load up on these and other goods —if you're a sucker for pickled herring, the fine liberal German weekly Der Spiegel,or cheese wheels large enough to fire from mortars, Globe European Delicatessen is your lollipop.

But remember that you originally came for meat. I recommend any kind of sliced sausage, nose-draining mustard and melted sharp Muenster cheese wedged between two slices of German rye—a sandwich with more folds than an Oktoberfest accordion. For just $4 (with a complimentary side of potato salad flecked with bacon), you're ready to polka.

Globe European Delicatessen, 1928 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa, (949) 642-3784; www.europeanfoods.com.