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| - The boss was heading to a diner today for a lunch meeting, and being already tired of my leftovers for the week, my mind starting thinking of diner Reubens, and I had a craving that had to be filled.
I googled 'Reubens' and 'Strip District' and a few dining establishments that have vanished from the Strip District, but not from Google, popped up. The one that was current was the brand new Car Hops, citing 'Reuben' on the menu. So, since the Strip offerings really are limited when you work there, I decided to go for broke and fulfill the craving while trying out the new place on the block.
I had heard a few 'meh' reports from co-workers who tried it once, but was really set on a Reuben. So I went in, and found it on the menu (at $12.50) and pretty much indeed DID go for 'broke' for a lunch sandwich.
The burly tattooed man behind the counter 'warned' me that it was huge, and I replied with a 'this is a test, we'll see.'
When I travel to NYC, say for a long weekend, four out of my six meals will probably be Reubens, because it's the one place (seemingly) on the planet, where you can get a SUPERB Reuben anywhere they serve a Reuben. I think it's NY law. And I DO love a good Reuben.
I placed the order and paid, and then waited about fifteen minutes, and the gal behind the counter brought it out to me in a styro container in a bag, and I walked it back to the office. It had a good weight to it, and I was encouraged.
I sat it down on my desk, pulled the styro container out of the bag, and popped it open. It WAS huge...it filled the entire container, and it did look pretty darned good.
But then I sat down with my soda and a few paper towels and started eating it.
BREAD!!!
Rye bread, that was very possibly more than a full inch thick - a kind of Texas Toast thickness...TONS of sauerkraut and thousand island sauce that made it squishy...but a little light on the meat and cheese.
My co-workers had also commented on the bread being a bit too much and the contents being light in what they'd had...why I didn't listen...I don't know.
Honestly kids...do NOT try to dupe me with a loaf of bread with no stuffing...I'm hip to the jive. What was inside that loaf of bread was not worth the $12.50 price tag.
This was another FTLT visit.
Although, I must admit - while I waited for the sandwich to be made - someone at a table had ordered cheese fries, and they did look awfully good. They were real potato fries, but they were smothered in that gooey orangey fakey cheese sauce, which to ME is what sinfully delicious cheese fries are supposed to be all about.
I 'might' go back and try the cheese fries - at $3.75 for a healthy sized basket, that might be a worthy splurge lunch.
But I won't be going back for a Reuben - or any other loaf-o-bread sandwich.
You don't eat a Reuben for the rye bread. It's all about the meat and cheese - with the sauerkraut and thousand island dressing being VERY secondary, only there for flavor.
And that goes for any other sandwich - it's all about the filling - not the wrapper.
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