Episode LI: The Hoppy Monk (SAT)

I celebrated my 33^rd birthday last week and the crew from work wanted to take me out to lunch to get a Reuben. I said thanks, but no thanks. I had a trip to the Hoppy Monk in San Antonio coming up that weekend and I couldn’t be distracted by another Reuben.  We had some great Mexican that day instead.

The Hoppy Monk in El Paso was featured on Episode XL and I often cite it as one of the best Reubens I’ve had. The location in San Antonio has a Reuben de Lengua, which had been on my radar. It was time to check it out and let the world know what happens when you put beef tongue and sauerkraut together.

REUBEN DE LENGUA

“ten-day cured wagyu beef tongue + muenster + sauerkraut + russian sauce + marbled rye”

Appearance – (4.6/5.0)

Lovely stacking.  The marbled rye looks like a cut out cross section of a bullseye. The sauerkraut gives a great visual contrast and the bottom piece has the Russian dressing seeping out.  They may have forgotten the dressing on the top piece. You can also see the salt crystals on the lengua meat and the tiny bits of moisture it pulls out. The fries are generously seasoned with fresh herbs that put some green on the plate.  A flimsy sword/toothpick keeps it all together but overall, a great looking dish. 

Quality of Ingredients – (4.7/5.0)

This one was encroaching on RINO territory (Reuben in name only), by swapping out the corned beef and Swiss cheese, but still had the sauerkraut, marbled rye, and Russian dressing to restore credibility.

Great ingredients and an even better job of marketing them to the customer. The menu and website direct lots of attention to all of the local suppliers and I think that makes the food taste better.  They have the placebo effect working for them here.  When you take a bite, you say to yourself, “Oh yeah, this tastes like it came from that farm I drove by last week in the Hill Country.”  They also have an amazing house made ketchup. Remember, we are in Whataburger country here, so anything that can compete with Whataburger Ketchup and Whataburger Spicy Ketchup has got to be pretty amazing.

This place talks the talk and walks the walk. 

Price – (4.0/5.0)

$11. So this is not cheap, especially for South Texas, but I think the dish as a whole is a good value. For one thing, you know you are paying for the local ingredients.  Another is that they are not shy about bringing you more of the ketchup when you ask. You also know you are paying for the ambiance. There is an awesome beer tap fountain outside and the inside is a long room with community tables so it has the feel of a European beer hall.   

Je Ne Sais Quoi – (4.4/5.0)

Anything that has lengua is going to have a high JNSQ score. I just like this place. I came here a few months back for drinks with friends and that is when I discovered their special Reuben. That was a late night stop with the guys drinking beers and this time I was with my son and two nephews right when they opened early in the day. This place is versatile. The owners are from El Paso, so they have that going for them too. 

Taste – (8.0/10.0)

What happened?! It was too salty for my taste. This might be by design, a marketing trick as old as time.  What do you need with a salty snack? Something to wash it down. The drink menu here is 20 pages long.

I was a fat kid growing up and will be a fat kid for life. I have to watch what I eat (and drink).  I know I can only consume so many calories at a time and I prefer to eat my calories. I realize that this is a microbrew and their whole thing is the beer, I get it. I also grew up in a house where my mother was scared of only three things: scorpions, garlic, and salt. It’s weird. My mom uses very little salt when she cooks and no garlic. So my tolerance for salt is lower than others. What I wanted to do was order a nice local beer, rinse the lengua in the beer to remove the excess salt, then reconstruct the Reuben. I think that would have been awesome. The lengua itself was great and prepared really well. It is a tough cut of meat and usually requires a slow cooker or a pressure cooker to really break it down.  

Overall – (25.7/30.0)

Would I order it again? No.  I had some of my wife’s burger and it was amazing (Burger blogs are a dime a dozen, you can find a write up there); I am getting that next time.  Or maybe the next time I go I’ll drink my calories and get a flight of Texas beer. Either way, I can’t wait to go back.  

Episode XXXVII: The Pig & Pint (ATL)

Sometimes a Reuben can sneak up on you. That was the case when I went out for lunch with my co-workers at The Pig & Pint. 

One of the folks on the team was moving to another position within the company for those I like to call the “Creative Types.” Anything in the Marketing, Loyalty, Sales, wannabe Mad Men, I refer to as “Creative Types.” These are the people that come up with brilliant ideas then act shocked when you tell them how much it will cost. They also justify everything with “brand” and “experience”.  This was a work sanctioned lunch outing so there was no way I was going to miss out. I have not been the best about going out to lunch.

At the end of last year I had to take a training course at work called “Take Back Your Life,” and it was dedicated entirely to Outlook management.  Anyone constantly battling a full inbox knows that it can take over your life, but still, it seems a bit ambitious for the name of a day-long training course. As part of the class, the instructor suggested that you block off time for yourself on your calendar, because everyone knows that there is no way the boss will book a meeting over a time blocked off on your calendar. I blocked off an hour-and-a-half every other Friday to go out to lunch. It has not gone as planned because I have pretty much been stuck at my desk all day every day. I even stopped wearing my FitBit because it just got to be depressing how little I was moving during the day.

Things are getting better and I was happy to be out with the crew. I didn’t even know this place had a Reuben!

Reubenesque
“Shaved corned beef, pickled red cabbage, 1000 island, Swiss cheese, grilled sourdough”

Appearance – (3.9/5.0)

The plain, somewhat-grilled sourdough really takes over here. That is not something I am used to seeing with the Reubens.  There is so much color inside, with the red cabbage and corned beef, trying to get out but it just doesn’t seem to be making it all the way through. Rye has more color to it, especially when it has the marbling going on. This was probably done in an attempt to lure non-Reuben eaters to order this dish. This whole sandwich is a RINO (Reuben In Name Only) and the white sourdough is advertising it.

Once you get past the sourdough the presentation is nice.  I would have liked the stacked approach to show off the inside of both halves but at least they took the time to slice it and separate the halves.

Quality Of Ingredients – (4.3/5.0)

Well done here. The pickled cabbage and 1000 island dressing tasted homemade. The shredded cabbage was not cut uniformly, which usually lets me know that it was done by someone in the back and not by a machine. The color on it really popped too. The other dishes around the table looked like they were homemade as well. I did not get the sense that anyone in the kitchen was cutting corners. The place just smelled good when you walked in so you knew something good was going on back there.

Price – (3.7/5.0)

$10 may have been a bit much given the small portion size. The server did not charge me for my Club Soda, so I will give them credit for that, but I think this one could have been in the $9 range.  $10 is really a psychological break point and you need something special to charge that.

Je Ne Sais Quoi – (4.4/5.0)

It was nice to rediscover this place. I had been here years back, before it was the Pint & Pig. There were not too many good Happy Hour places around the office before this came along. There is a smoky Irish Pub, a smoky beach bar, and a smoky seafood dive bar. You see the trend. I don’t mind a smoky bar when I’m in Vegas, but sometimes you want a chill place to have a margarita after work where you won’t have to change your shirt when you get home. They have some good drink specials and I hope to come back for lunch or Happy Hour soon.

Taste – (8.8/10.0)

This was a good RINO and I am glad they did not try to hide it by giving it an appropriate name. They took away the rye and sauerkraut. I don’t think Swiss cheese is as polarizing as these two.

The pickled cabbage had enough vinegar to give it a kick similar to that found in sauerkraut. The sourdough was a mild variety and very well could have been white bread.

What really brought this whole sandwich together was the homemade 1000 Island. It was creamy and it was used in just the right amount.

Overall – (25.1/30.0)

Would I order it again, yes, but maybe not on my next visit. There are a few things on the menu I would want to try first, like the pulled pork. This place smelled just enough like bbq smoke to get your mouth watering. Then you see the pulled pork come out and it looks as good as it smells. Once I’ve tried the pulled pork then I’ll be able to make an informed decision on where to go from there.

Episode XXVIII: Slideways (ATL)

Every once and again a Reuben will catch me by surprise. I heard Slideways had a Reuben on the menu but I had never seen it myself, so I was pleasantly surprised to walk in and see that they were featuring one that day.  Slideways is a sliders place but I went ahead and got the full size to really see what this Reuben was made of.

 Reuben
“Smoked beef Brisket topped w/melted Swiss, Sauerkraut, & Russian Dressing.  Full size on Multi grain Bread.”

We have possible RINO here (Reuben In Name Only)!!!

Appearance – (4.3/5.0)
I think the natural outdoor lighting helped this one out. They went with a simple but effective stacked presentation and the tots look great. I know that in the last review I dogged the straight-from-the-freezer- fries, but I really like tots. The Russian dressing and sauerkraut are playing a prominent visual role here which is ok, but I think overflowing melted cheese is more appealing.

Quality Of Ingredients – (4.7/5.0)

No surprise here for anyone who has been to Slideways.  The straight up smoked brisket is an interesting choice for a Reuben. It is the same underlying cut of meat as traditional corned beef but the end flavors are very different. The brisket had good fat content and it was not overdone with smoke.  Unfortunately there was not enough Swiss cheese for me to get a good sense of its quality. The Russian dressing was tangy and homemade. You could see the finely diced pickles in it. The sauerkraut also had a homemade kick to it. The multigrain bread had lots going on but I could not tell if any of it was caraway.

Price – (4.8/5.0)

$5.69! Even when you add the tots and a drink it is only $7.69. Throw in a nice al fresco dining experience and this is a wonderful value. It is very easy to drop more than $10 when you go out to lunch with co-workers. Even $15 after is not out of the question.

The portion size was also just right.  Occasionally I go out to lunch with friends and come home to tell my wife that I am not hungry. This can be very upsetting to someone who had to cook dinner with a terrible-two-year-old clinging to their leg asking to watch another episode of Daniel Tiger.  A reasonable lunch avoids this issue and keeps everyone happy.

Je Ne Sais Quoi – (3.7/5.0)

This sandwich lost its mystery when I reached for the top bread to look under the hood. The bread itself was way too flimsy.  Eating a Reuben is not an easy thing to do. It should be right up there with French Onion Soup as far as things not to order at a business dinner. The only thing harder than eating a Reuben is eating one with flimsy bread supporting it. Sure enough it was a messy experience. The allure of the homemade Russian dressing faded when I realized how much of it there was.

Taste – (8.3/10.0)

Wow, this review went south fast.  Such a promising start, too. Please let me explain.  This sandwich is kind of a RINO and you take a risk when you stray from the formula. The smoked brisket was fine but it just did not mix well with the other components. The Swiss cheese was mostly MIA and as good as the Russian dressing was, there was just too much of it. The sauerkraut was also a bit too strong.  Throw all of that on a thin piece of bread and the thing just never had a chance. It was like a team of all-stars that could just not play well together.

Overall – (25.8/30.0)

Would I order it again, no. There are just too many great things on the menu here to pass up. They have red-eye gravy on their breakfast sandwiches! I love Slideways and I will be back for sure.

A couple of tweaks here and there and they could have a great Reuben. First things first, they need to get bread that can stand up to a Reuben. Go easy on the Russian and sauerkraut; throw on some more Swiss cheese and a champion Reuben will appear. This is why the Reuben is so unique. It is all about the balance of the flavors.

Chin up boys! I am still a fan I look forward to coming back.

Episode IX: Urban Cannibals (ATL)

RINO Alert!
Today we find ourselves in East Atlanta at Urban Cannibals to taste the Urban Reuben. Warning, the Urban is a RINO (Reuben In Name Only). I knew this going in but I wanted to let the Reuben-loving public know what they could expect if they were to try it.

Along the same lines, there are many Reuben inspired sandwiches out there that do not carry the name Reuben. Be sure to look for them as well in future Reuben Ranger posts.  Here is a breakdown in true B school 2x2 fashion. Look for the Classics, RINOs, and Reuben Inspired in this blog.

The Urban Reuben
"House Roasted Berkshire Pork, Cherry Peppers, Apple Horseradish Sauce + Smoked Gouda on H+F Bread Co. Marbled Rye"


Appearance - (3.5/5.0)
I would not quite call this marbling. Is it just me or can you see a goat in the image?

See the horns up top going along the crust. Then the goatee on the bottom and even the socket on the right. The press marks are cool but I wish they would separate the halves for the presentation. I decided to help them out even though it meant severing the goat's nose.

See, now you can see the filling and it looks better.

Quality of Ingredients - (4.0/5.0)
The pork was very tender and grill marks you see on the bread made the meat nice and warm. The smoked Gouda was no joke and it was melting into the pork. The horseradish was ok but I was expecting more of a kick. The only part I was not crazy about was the cherry peppers. There were more of them than were necessary and they were also lacking in kick. They also tasted like they had been stored in the same jar as martini olives.

Price - (3.4/5.0)
$9.99 $8.99 for the Urban. (Urban Cannibals took the time to read my blog and pointed out that despite saying $9.99 on their Facebook page, it is actaully only $8.99. So thank you for reaching out and I am happy to correct it). Now back to the blog.
I think what really got me about this place is that they charge for refills on coffee. The coffee station is in the dinning room and you serve yourself. You pay at the end and refills are on the honor system. I did not know that until I was paying at the end and they asked me. Really? Coffee refills. I don't even think Waffle House does that. (Again, Urban Cannibals reached out and contends the refills are because they sell good coffee and not Folgers)

Je Ne Sais Quoi - (4.3/5/0)
Before I knew about paying for coffee refills I was really enjoying this place. It was super smoky inside and I think my shirt still smells like kitchen smoke. I actually like that, adds character. The sandwich itself also had some intrigue and sticking with the smoking theme it was the smoked Gouda that did it for me. I tried giving some to Danny but he did not seem as interested.

Taste - (8.6/10.0)
Even though the horseradish did not have kick, it did have a great taste. The rye was nice and toasty and Danny helped me out with the crusts. Grilling a sandwich can really be hit or miss but in this instance it really added value. It brought everything together and spread the smoky Gouda throughout. Here is Lisa going in for a bite.

Overall - (23.8/30.0)
Just checked my math here because it seems like a low score for a good sandwich but I guess that is the way it is. There have been others like this on the blog that are not much to look at and are expensive but do taste great. I would come back to this place and plan to (they have other Reubens on the menu) but not sure if I would order the Urban again.