Museum of Science and Industry - Chicago. IL

I am late on this.  I ate this sandwich Saturday afternoon.  Usually I get the post written within a couple of hours, but I am late this time.

Part of me wants to blame the lateness on my being on vacation.  Part of me wants to blame it on the bout of depression caused by eating this sandwich.  I was just lazy about it and I admit it.

I am reminded of the grilled cheese sandwich from the old Infocom game Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.  It is a sad hard stale thing.  Not really worth eating.  In the game, you even lost points for trying to eat it.  In the game you fed it to the dog to keep him from eating the microscopic space fleet.

I should have known better than to order it.  It is museum food.  Museums, like airplanes and hospitals use their hostage situation to coerce you into buying over priced food.  Since the food is so overpriced, it doesn't sell well.  Since it doesn't sell well, it goes stale.  Since it goes stale, bloggers end up waiting 3 days to tell people don't eat this.  Since I imagine even in a museum dedicated to gourmet cuisine the food would be atrocious. 

It was stale.  It was bland.  The meat was bland and tasteless.  The sauerkraut was bland and tasteless, the dressing was almost tasteless.  The bread was a crime against humanity.  It was tough and chewy and hard and tasteless. 

The sandwiches were premade and sitting out in a display case.  When I ordered mine the pulled it out of the case and put it dry into a sandwich press.  I should have known how it was going to turn out when the thickness of the sandwich didn't change when the person heaved the handle of the death machine down and the handle didn't fully go down.

On the plus side the museum was awesome.  They had several Mold-O-Ramas.  I also thoroughly enjoyed the Mythbusters exhibit.  It was awesome to see actual things built on/for the show.

Not a smooshie-headed lion but still awesome!

Cafe Karla - State College, PA

Cafe Karla is a small coffee shop on the back side of a professional building.  I have been meaning to try it for a while since it was walking distance from where I work.  When my wife pointed out that the special today was a Reuben I knew it was fate that I eat there today. 

The board listed the sandwich with the ingredients.  It came with a pickle and some chips.  I ordered a cup of chipotle cheese soup to go with it.  I had a choice with the chips of either the standard bagged fair, or I could have some of the home made chips.  These potato chips are made by a local Amish family and sold at the farmers' market.  It is amazing how great something as simple as potato chips can be.  Or how transcendently awesome they can become with good ingredients and care.

On to the sammich.  The obvious thing that hit was was that it was grilled in a panini press.  I am a big fan of the traditional griddle so I was a bit put off by this at first.  After tasting it though I think it is an passable substitute.  After biting into it, I found the true star of the sandwich was the corned beef.  This is not sliced deli corned beef but a thick chunks like you would see served with potatoes and cabbage for St Patrick's Day (or perhaps sauerkraut and homemade potato chips).  The sauerkraut was a bit mild and I didn't taste the Russian dressing.  There was a slight mustard taste to it that I am not certain about.  All in all it was a great sandwich for a cold day.  

Rating. 4 of 5

Bullfrog Brewery-Williamsport, PA

Let me start by saying that I love brewpubs.  Brewpubs are awesome, the beer is incredible, the food is incredible.  Even if you don't drink, you should try a brewpub for the food.  Every one I have been to has been excellent, and they all have been different.  The Bullfrog Brewpub in Williamsport was no exception.  They have a great collection of beers and some excellent food.  Most of the meat comes from a sustainable co-op in Troy, PA, and they source everything as locally as possible.  

There were many choices to be made with the Reuben at the Bullfrog, turkey, pastrami or tempeh (a variety of that which is not meat)  There was also a choice between coleslaw and sauerkraut.  I went the traditional route with pastrami and sauerkraut.  My side of choice was garlic fries.  

I was rather surprised to see the dressing on the side and once again a marble rye.  The contents of the sandwich were a bit wet which caused the bread to start to get soggy but on the whole it was well grilled and crisp.

The pastrami on it was incredible.  It had a great flavor.  It tasted like meat should taste.  It was salty, peppered, and mildly smokey.  If the pastrami was great, the sauerkraut really raised the bar.  It was a peppered kraut rich in flavor and texture.  It blended well with everything else and added a sharpness which I didn't realize I wanted until I had it.  

The sandwich came together and was one of the best ones that I have had.

Rating 4.5 of 5.

A sample of the beers available.

Arby's - Reedsville, PA

Need a Reuban... Not!

Recently, Arby's commercials have been promoting their reuben and their "super-reuben" a reuben/rachel hybrid.  For the uninitiated a rachel is a turkey reuben.  Reedsville is outside of my normal stomping grounds but the local Arby's has been closed due to a tendency for people to confuse the dining room with a drive through.  This is my second attempt to hit a non local Arby's.  The first ended in frustration when I attempted to visit one that closed at 9 pm.  "Needing a Reuben Now" must not occur after 9 pm in Bradford, PA.

I visited the Reedsville Arby's at about 8 pm and found it reasonably active.  I ordered the reuben with a side of curly fries and a drink.  The reuben came wrapped in paper.  The bread was stale and dry.  It might have been toasted but it didn't seem to be.  The surface of the bread had an odd flat texture, almost polished.  In addition the bread was bland, chewy and stale.  The pastrami had flavor like it had been boiled for a while or perhaps microwaved.  The dressing was watery and the cheese was practically non existent.  Yes, this was a reuben and perhaps it would satisfy a craving if there was nothing better available.

The only thing that saved me from great disappointment was low expectations.

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Garfield's Pub - State College, PA

Garfield's Pub, a national chain of casual dining restaurants.  Kitsch on the walls, uninspired food, and frou-frou drinks.  One of a dozen chains that are almost indistinguishable.  This one is in the Nittany Mall in State College, Pennsylvania.  I ordered the reuben with a side of beer battered onion rings and the featured beer, a vanilla porter (as opposed to a chocolate one?).

The bread was dry.  Not just not soggy, but actively dry.  It was like it was thrown on the grill without oil or butter.  Once again it was a rye pumpernickel swirl, a fine bread on its own but not aggressive enough.  The corned beef was thinly sliced and well stacked.  The sauerkraut was okay.  The Swiss cheese was excellent. It was melted and tangy and was probably the best part of sandwich.  On the whole it wasn't bad.  3.5 of 5.

As for the beer, it was okay, a bit hoppier than I like with a hint of vanilla.  The beer battered onion rings were mediocre.  They were battered in what is essentially catfish batter; a lot of corn meal, not much beer flavor and far more batter than onion, and only 3 rings for an upcharged side.

Perkins-State College, PA

Perkins is a chain of diners much like Denny's. They serve classic American food and have an attached bakery with all manner of pies and cakes. They also take their coffee seriously; instead of the bottomless cup of coffee, it is a bottomless pot. The quality is okay, but the quantity is excellent. I am here for an early dinner before a meeting about an upcoming Boy Scout Camporee that I am helping to organize.  The rueben was even listed on the chalkboard at the entrance as the special sandwich.  Yes!

I ordered the Reuben with a side of sweet potato fries (Hooray Vitamin A!)  The waitress said that she had just had that yesterday and that it was a good choice.

The first thing I noticed about the sandwich was the bread, a nice rye, reasonable thickness, evenly toasted.  It tasted slightly of margarine.  The corned beef was layered thick.  Although it was sliced thin the way it was stacked it was like a monolithic slab.  It was slightly off center making the sandwich slide.  The sauerkraut was crisp and flavorful and the dressing was passable but barely there.  The cheese was nicely melted.

All in all an excellent sandwich but the meat dominated,  It could have stood to have a another slice or two of cheese and a shade more dressing.  The biggest area for improvement would be the layering of the ingredients.  If the meat had been "fluffed" a bit more it would have been a bit easier to eat.

Final score 4.5/5

As a side note, the sweet potato fries were tasty.

Daily Special W00T!

If you order coffee they bring you a thermal carafe, and when it runs empty they bring another, and another, and another.

The inspiration...

A reuben sandwich consists of pastrami, swiss cheese, russian dressing, and sauerkraut, served on grilled rye bread. It is a sandwich of intense flavors that should be well balanced. Each of the ingredients have potentials to dominate lesser food stuffs, the joy of the rueben is that it is balance of greatness; game seven of the world series; overtime in the superbowl.

Fifteen years ago I had a Rueben that was the best I had ever had. The kraut was crispy and sharp, the swiss was aged and melted just right, the pastrami was hot and rich, and the rye bread had been grilled just right, It was crisp with a strong aroma. As I bit in the flavor of the layers exploded in my mouth.

The problem was that I couldn't remember where I had it. For nearly 10 years I searched restaurants in the area trying to remember where I would have had it. When I finally found the restaurant I was overjoyed. The reason it took so long was that it was at a breakfast restaurant.

Recently my wife showed me the blog Nachos NY dedicated to reviewing nachos. She suggested that I start one documenting reubens.