We’ve enjoyed fish & eggs for breakfast at Mama Dip’s (Roadfood.com review) in Chapel Hill, NC and White Rose System (Roadfood.com review) in Linden, NJ, but we’ve never heard of a fish & egg sandwich…until we momentarily stunned the counterman at Kennedy Deli on Rockaway Boulevard in Jamaica, NY by ordering one. We spent the night near JFK Airport after a long flight from South America (reports to follow!) and ventured into the neighborhood before catching our morning flight home to Boston.

What I thought was fried chicken in the prep case was actually fried crappie, so I asked the counterman if he’d make an egg & cheese sandwich, on a bagel, with this fish. “No problem!” he replied after a little hesitation, as if this were a new sandwich combination. It was a real winner (above), kicked up a few notches with the house hot sauce. The cashier, however, was a bit befuddled as her fingers hovered over the register keys. “That fish confuses me,” she muttered as she rang up the tab: $3.50. Kennedy Deli is a real neighborhood stop, and we caught up on the news as customers came and went—and the friendly banter with the staff can’t be beat!