The Reuben Ranger is back! My apologies for taking so much
time off between entries. I can only imagine the difficult decisions my readers
faced not knowing whether or not to order the Reuben.
I have a new job and the busy season is the fall. That is behind
us now, kind of, and I should have some more time these days to get back into
it.
Lisa, my learning team buddy from business school, was back in town this week. We went out after work and it gave me a chance to get back in the game. You may remember Lisa from Episode IX. She is no stranger to the blog.
I found myself back at Meehan's this time in Atlantic Station. Episode XV was at Meehan’s in Vinings. It was expensive, but I went back to edit the blog when management got back to me explaining the price. I don’t know if this location is under the same management, but I found myself ordering another very expensive Reuben. The description on the menu is slightly different from the Vinings location and I was excited to see how this one would match up.
Corned Beef Reuben
“Heywood’s Provisions corned beef with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing on marble rye”
Appearance –
(3.7/5.0)
Well, this has never happened before. I don’t have a picture
to share with you. I took one, I did. I don’t know what happened to it. Danny has become more adept recently at
accessing pictures on my cell phone. I am going to blame him for deleting them.
I realize now that I could never be a novelist.
First impression of the plate was good before I spotted what
appeared to be Nacho cheese coming out of my Reuben. I looked up and realized I was sitting under
a nice stained glass lamp that was giving everything underneath it a yellow
hue. Crisis averted. It was in fact overflowing Swiss cheese and I am
completely okay with that.
As much as I have talked about toothpicks there was a new wrinkle with this one. The Reuben was cut in half then one half was placed on top of the other at an angle. Then a skewer was piecing both of them to keep them aligned. I can appreciate that some effort went into the presentation. The fries fill out of the rest of the plate and the portion seems generous.
Quality Of Ingredients – (4.5/5.0)
The Heywood’s Provisions corned beef was not as good as I
remember it from the Vinings location but just as expensive (I’m adjusting for
one year of inflation). The flavor was
good but it was not as tender. It was the end of the night so I don’t know if
this was the end of the batch. It is locally sourced and I think the underlying
product is a good one but it could have been prepared a bit better.
The Swiss cheese was very good and the sauerkraut Ph level
was just right. Nothing special about
the fries, straight off the Sysco truck and into the frialator.
Price – (3.1/5.0)
$13.00. Lisa was
nice enough to pick up that tab on this one. Thank you big consulting firm, but
$13 bucks is $13 bucks. I come to Meehan’s Atlantic Station all the time to
watch the Tottenham Hotspurs play.
Come On You Spurs!
The weekend buffet they set up for Spurs games is solid and only $7, and that includes the coffee! That’s a good price for two hours of entertainment plus a great buffet. I don’t want to give the impression that Meehan’s has a poor value proposition because that is not the case. The execution on the Reuben needs to be better, though, to charge that much.
Je Ne Sais Quoi – (3.6/5.0)
Late on a Wednesday night this place was almost empty. For some reason our host still decided to sit
us next to the only other occupied table; we pretended not to listen to each other’s
conversations. The vibe when I come on game days is great. There is a small but
loyal group of Spurs supporters.
The sandwich itself did not have much of an X factor. The marbling on the rye also had me stumped. I could not line up the patterns between the two halves of the sandwich. Did they cut the bread then flip one half before putting it together? Maybe they knew I was coming and wanted to game the system and boost their JNSQ score. Mission Accomplished.
Taste – (8.8/10.0)
Despite the lack of tenderness the overall taste was good. I
didn’t comment on the Russian dressing at the Vinings location and it wasn’t very
noticeable on this one either. Sometimes when the sauerkraut is too pungent the
dressing can cool it down. This sauerkraut
was just right so the weak dressing becomes less of an issue.
The sandwich did pass the ketchup test. About halfway through the meal I dip the Reuben in ketchup to see if it tastes better or worse. A Reuben is complex enough and if it taste better with ketchup then something is wrong. This one did not taste better with ketchup so the fundamentals were there.
Overall – (23.7/30.0)
Certainly not the highest score, but decent. Would I order
it again? No. As I mentioned, the breakfast/brunch food is great and I’m sure
if I go there again during lunchtime I can find a burger that would be just a
bit better than the Reuben. I look forward to many more early mornings at
Meehan’s cheering on the Spurs!
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