Scout Camp!

This weekend I am one of the scribes for Woodbadge course N4-497-12. Today was a staff prep day and lunch was Reubens and tater tots.

During breakfast the cook and I had an intricate discussion. Drain and grill the kraut. Grill the meat. Seeded rye. Grill the bread.

At lunch we discussed the results and he was quick to point out that there wasn't quite enough meat. I would have liked to have the bread crisper.

I used to be an Eagle...

Olde New York - State College, PA

The Olde New York restaurant had been recommended to me as a great place to get a reuben.  Perusing the menu I saw several variants as well as a large selection of German and Italian foods.  This caused some confusion and flashback to episode of Kitchen Nightmares where Gordon Ramsey berates owners for overly large and complicated menus.  Although I was tempted by the promise of würsten I went ahead with plan A and ordered the rueben.

It was on pumpernickel.  It was lightly grilled and the bottom was tiniest bit soggy.  The bread was also a little chewy.  I guess I am a total bread snob.  I want it perfect.  The dressing was okay but there was a lot of it.  The sauerkraut was interesting.  Usually the sauerkraut that I see is white, sharp and acrid.  It is crisp and raw.  This sauerkraut had been cooked, almost stewed and was soft, dark and sweet.  The only time I have seen sauerkraut like this was at Herwig's, a local Austrian restaurant.

All in all it was a good sandwich and the french fries were awesome.

4 out of 5.

Philadelphia Tavern - Manassas, VA

We were down in Manassas for a Jimmy Buffet concert and were looking for a place to eat. The Philadelphia Tavern is a hole in the wall with an old feel to it. The walls are stone with a textured metal ceiling and copper covered tables.

The house specialties are marked on the menu with a liberty bell and the reuben was one of them. I ordered it with high hopes and was not disappointed.

The corned beef was hot and flavorful. It had been chopped on the grill into fine pieces and tossed with the sauerkraut. The cheese was hot and melted. The bread was a marble rye and was nice and crispy.

My only complaint is that the sandwich was the tiniest bit soggy in the middle.

4.5 out of 5

Otto's Pub and Brewery - State College, PA

Otto's is a a local brewpub.  I have previously been impressed with their food but had been warned that the quality had gone down hill.  That seems to be the trend with all restaurants in State College.  They start out good and then things just slide.

Being a facebook fan I received their weekly update of what is on special.  This week they had a reuben pizza.  This isn't going to be a typical review since this isn't a traditional reuben.  This is more a review of the concept.  Instead of red sauce there was the russian dressing.  Pastrami, sauerkraut and swiss cheese topped it along with a sprinkling of caraway seeds.  It was baked in a wood fired brick oven.  I know because I was sitting there watching the oven.

The end result was sadly too greasy, and remarkably bland.  The dough was chewy as well.  Oh well.  It was a good idea, probably not worth trying again though.

Smoky Mountain Brewery - Gatlinburg TN

They built it and people came. Gatlinburg is a tourist destination with nothing really there. Pigeon Forge and Dollywood are just down the road but once again there is no reason for them to be *there*. Yes, this is a beautiful section of Appalachia but nearly every on of the 120,000 square miles is beautiful.

At a rest area we saw a brochure for a distillery tour of the first legal moonshine distillery in Tennessee. This led to the beer, wine, and shine trail. Visiting 5 locations would earn us a free shirt. Following the trail to the Smokey Mountain Brewery, we stopped for a late lunch.

I ordered the reuben, otherwise what would be the point of the story? For a side I choose broccoli in cheese sauce. If you were to look at the picture, there seems to be a dearth of cheese on the broccoli. It is there, more underneath than on and a tad runny. The beers I had were good, the selection tended towards over-hopped ales, but the summer wheat was great for a hot day.

Cutting to the chase, the reuben was pure awesome. The bread was well-grilled with a buttery crispness and not soggy . The pastrami was flavorful and hot. The cheese was gooey. The sauerkraut was tangy and bold. The dressing added just a hint of sweetness.

5 of 5

Finicky Frank's Cafe - Omaha, NE

My wife and I were in a quilt shop in Fremont and I overheard a woman talking about a local restaurant called Finicky Franks where she had the best reuben that she had ever had. Googled, GPS'ed and Went(Go'ed?). Frank's is a little hole in the wall in a strip mall which while only a hop skip and a jump from the freeway is not in an obvious place. Outside there is a patio with signs for regional beers. Inside the decor is modern.

We were there about 12:30 and there was a reasonable crowd. I ordered the "Finicky Reuben" with a side of hand cut onion rings. The waitress said that it was a very popular choice and that she had served 10 so far that day.  I had high hopes.

The sandwich came and the bread was nicely browned and not at all soggy.  The cheese was melted and there was a good mixture of sauerkraut, dressing and pastrami.  I could tell why the woman in the quilt shop had called this the best reuben she had ever had.  It was an excellent reuben.

The onion rings had a lot of potential but failed to live up to it.  It tasted like a good quality onion but the batter was sadly lacking.  It had no seasoning in it.  It tasted like flour with a hint of beer.  A little salt and pepper would have made it an order of magnitude better.

My only complaints with the reuben were that the cheese could have been more melted and a proper rye bread instead of the marbled.

4.5 out of 5.

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The Brick Kansas City, MO

What kind of city names itself after another state? For that matter what state allows another state's copy of its city to be nicer than its own? Geography aside, the Brick is a bar near the headquarters of The Kansas City Star with art on the walls and stage for live music. They have local craft beers, including a wheat which is excellent on a hot summer day.

I ordered the reuben with a side of sweet potato fries. I guess I am becoming a broken record with those., but they are so yummy.

The sandwich came with marbled rye which seemed a bit doughy and not at all grilled. Fortunately, it wasn't soggy. The corned beef had a nice cooked taste. It had been grilled before the sandwich was assembled.

The reuben could stand to have a bit more cheese. The dressing was an appropriate amount but poorly distributed.

All in all, the sandwich was okay but not wonderful; however, I did have an excellent raspberry lemonade cupcake for dessert.

3 out of 5.