rev:text
| - This place is named after the person who invented the Reuben sandwich.
Technically, the founder worked over at Schwartz's where the lines are long.
But there are many fine smoked beef establishments in Montreal including this one. Eating in any of the top twenty will get you something decent.
At smoked beef places, do your ordering with care, even if everything is going to be good.
What is the issue?
This more than any restaurant I know is a "combo" restaurant rather than a pure ingredient restaurant.
Normally, I am a straight ingredient kind of a guy.
I like straight steak, straight pastrami, straight whiskey, no ice, no mixers.
That is NOT how Reuben's is designed and for good reason.
One of the differences between a Montreal smoked beef and an American/Irish corned beef -
is that Montreal beef is dry cooked rather than boiled.
This means that more of the brining chemicals stay in Montreal smoked beef than you get with the American/Irish corned beef
Nothing boils out into water.
This gives Montreal deli an excellent taste but a very strong taste.
A Reuben sandwich is a distinct local solution to the highly flavored meat.
By combining smoked meat with sauerkraut, swiss cheese and bread, you give some complementary flavors to balance out the brine.
WITH the trimmings, the sandwich is perfectly balanced and a delight.
Without the trimmings, it is a stronger raw-er commitment.
Related principles apply to their chopped liver.
They do an excellent chopped liver.
But since the restaurant thinks in combos -
they combine the chopped liver with WONDERFUL WONDERFUL caramelized fried onions.
Both ingredients are good by themselves.
But the whole is greater than the sum of the parts -
and a mouthful of BOTH onions and liver is definitely better than a mouthful of onions followed by a mouthful of liver.
So dilute things down, mix and match and build those combos.
Reuben's is a place where flavors work in teams.
|