I am way overdue at writing a full review on NOCA but must post this.
Had read a good deal about the Wagyu pastrami & have been unable to get it out of my brain. My sister & brother-in-law were heading to NOCA tonight so I told her she must get it.
Ok fine, end of story, right? Nope. My subconscious kept churning all night & on the way home from our first Yelp event, we had to detour by NOCA for some Wagyu pastrami of our own. Called Eliot & said they could do to go. Got there & it was packed - nice to see as it shows Arizonans have good taste. Saw my sister & bro-in-law & actually got an early taste of it but mainly tried to stay out of the way.
Ended up getting our to go order, ducked into Bashas to swipe some to go silverware (we're very classy) & jumped into the car. Opened up the box & started salivating immediately.
Two gorgeous hunks of Waygu. With reading the descriptions I had, I really had no idea what to expect. Thought maybe it'd be sliced pastrami piled up or something. Nope. It was definitely Waygu in all its glory. Still intact. It just additionally had a beautiful pastrami crust on it.
It was amazing. Luscious, tender, flavorful, amazingly rich. Wonderful pastrami accent but definitely didn't overwhelm the meat. Came over crispy whole grain mustard spatzle with a little horseradish crema on top.
Flat out amazing. Love NOCA.