Max's Sandwich Shop, restaurant review: The magnificence of New York's Katz's Deli in north London

Not for the first time in recent months, this column begins with a happy recollection from New York. On a dank night last April, I stumbled out of the Ludlow Hotel, a few blocks down from the East Village, looking for salt and hydration. Across the road was a famous Jewish deli with queues around the block at 3am. In the city that never sleeps, someone, somewhere, is always stuffing their face with a sloppy Reuben. Probably from Katz's.

This iconic emporium, where Harry met Sally, has as its signature dish perhaps the most celebrated sandwich anywhere. It contains a bucketload of corned beef, from the brisket, or pastrami, succulent, bitter sauerkraut, melted Swiss cheese amd Russian dressing (mayo plus ketchup and a few spices), all in soft white rye.

Since that unforgettable meal-in-a-dish, I have been on the search for comparable glories closer to home. Over the past few weeks, I have finally found it, in a most special place called Max's Sandwich Shop.

Simplicity in menus, as I never tire of pointing out, is a virtue loved by customers, smart chefs and restaurant managers alike. Most of what Gordon Ramsay gets up to in his hilarious Kitchen Nightmares is simplifying the exhaustive menus of overzealous young chefs, eager to flaunt their wares. Max's, named after owner Max Halley, formerly of Brindisa, Salt Yard, LeCoq and Arbutus, might have had the Ramsay treatment, so distilled is its menu. Drinks-wise, you can get cheap beer or wine, a couple of £5 cocktails, and tea for £1. Food-wise, there are four sandwiches (each £8.50), one snack, one side and one dessert. And that's it.

The snack is deep-fried jalapeño mac'n'cheese balls – posh arancini, basically – which my brother-in-law dares me to eat in one go, doused in chilli sauce, despite being straight out of the pan. This makes me cry, so I have another, which is superb: crisp outside, chewy and cheesy inside.

Sandwich number one is the best, and up there with Katz's Reuben. Ham, Egg'n'Chips has slow-cooked ham hock, a fried egg, shoestring fries, piccalilli for that acidic twang, malt vinegar for more of the same, and mayo. It's served sliced in two in a paper bag, with a soft white bap, and is an immediate front-runner for the title of London's Best Sandwich.

Then there is Honza the Hero's OGC: spiced aubergine, tomato and borlotti bean fritter, cream cheese, pickled slaw, sunflower seeds and watercress. See, another meal in one, and this one veggie to boot. The fritter is crisp against the pasty cheese; the sunflower seeds add a little crunch and nutty flavour; and the snappy, fresh watercress slots into the babaganoush-like mixture ideally.

These are followed by a beef onslaught that resembles the Reuben I have been looking for: braised beef, sauerkraut, beetroot, parsley, caraway, baby gem lettuce, cassava chips, horseradish and crème fraîche. This tastes like a hallucinogen-aided morning in Jerusalem's old market. Individually, each element is excellent, and the contrast between the cassava chips and juicy beef is terrific. The only off-notes: the pickled odour of sauerkraut rather drowns the horseradish, and the baby gem is a little lost in this particular food party. Still, you won't regret ordering it.

The same goes for Chris's Infamous Robocoq – robocoq, geddit? This has confit guinea fowl, chicken-liver parfait, chicory, sweet-potato fries and parsley-and-dill pickle salsa. Here the ingredients almost produce a wonderful harmony, except for the sweet potato, which is too heavy and greasy in the mix. Just have them separately.

Which you sort of can do: the only side order is an excellent plate of crushed, fried potatoes, with garlic and smoked paprika mayo, rosemary salt, crème fraîche and diced spring onion – a snip at £3.50.

Dessert is a giant chocolate brownie sandwich (£6) with hazelnut ice cream, salted caramel, icing sugar and pomegranate molasses – a joy, except that the latter is too sickly sweet for the rest of the plate.

So there are a couple of ingredients I'd drop; those aside, this wood-panelled café, home to excellent service, where you can get sozzled with a sarnie for less than £20, is my new favourite local. Its success in raising the British sandwich to a new level, at a time when our food scene is a festival of pretension, is a victory for all those who like to get messy when they eat.

9/10

Max's Sandwich Shop, 19 Crouch Hill, London N4, £50 for two, with wine

Four more foodie notes from the past week

Chocolate-orange bread and butter pudding

I made this using brioche and Lindt. Crucial not to overcook it.

Oxtail stew

Made some of this, too, served with papardelle. Fatty and rich, ideal for this time of year.

Fish pie

My wife made a belter, using fresh haddock and loads of anchovies. Ideally served with petit pois.

Swordfish

Very common in the Caribbean, and I had an excellent fillet for lunch back here recently.