Sandwich Flop
A reuben is one of those sandwiches where, in its simplicity, it is pretty hard to get wrong. I've only met two reubens I didn't like. Both were from places you'd think would have a decent reuben.
#1 Champps Americana Bar & Grill
Their reuben was the first I didn't like. It had the making of a great sandwich, but the meat was all wrong. It was cut badly, with the entire mass somehow connected. Thick lumps, stringy parts and overly chewy required gnawing to take a bite...and by then, the sandwich had fallen apart. If I recall, I took most of the meat out and ate the rest of the sandwich without it.
#2 Rockbottom Brewery Restaurant
Here is a place next door to one of the best reubens I've had (Union Jack's Brittish Pub), known for some great neo-pub food...and their reuben is off. The ingredients were actually perfect. The problem was in the preparation. The bread was not toasted or grilled, which in most sandwiches would be fine. However, a reuben's trademark is in the contrast of the crisp and crunch of the rye, with the hot and gooey kraut, cheese and Russian dressing inside. Take away the crunch and you just have slop. Not only was my reuben not toasted, but because it hadn't been thoroughly heated, the cheese wasn't fully melted and the contents weren't hot. I took the sandwich home to finish it correctly. That is my lunch today, and I must say it is much better the second time around-after an intervention with the toaster oven.
#1 Champps Americana Bar & Grill
Their reuben was the first I didn't like. It had the making of a great sandwich, but the meat was all wrong. It was cut badly, with the entire mass somehow connected. Thick lumps, stringy parts and overly chewy required gnawing to take a bite...and by then, the sandwich had fallen apart. If I recall, I took most of the meat out and ate the rest of the sandwich without it.
#2 Rockbottom Brewery Restaurant
Here is a place next door to one of the best reubens I've had (Union Jack's Brittish Pub), known for some great neo-pub food...and their reuben is off. The ingredients were actually perfect. The problem was in the preparation. The bread was not toasted or grilled, which in most sandwiches would be fine. However, a reuben's trademark is in the contrast of the crisp and crunch of the rye, with the hot and gooey kraut, cheese and Russian dressing inside. Take away the crunch and you just have slop. Not only was my reuben not toasted, but because it hadn't been thoroughly heated, the cheese wasn't fully melted and the contents weren't hot. I took the sandwich home to finish it correctly. That is my lunch today, and I must say it is much better the second time around-after an intervention with the toaster oven.