Episode XLIX: City Café Dallas (DAL)

I am a food blogger, not a Foodie. I would love to be a Foodie, but with a 5 year-old at home it is next to impossible.  When it’s Danny’s turn to pick where we’re going, chances are we end up at Chick-fil-a.

City Café in Dallas might be just the place to ease me back into the Foodie scene. It boasts menu items like Shishito peppers and Scallopini Milanese (neither of which is recognized by spell check in MS Word) as well as Bliss potatoes, and Shallot vinaigrette.

All of that will have to wait because there is an $18 Reuben on the menu.

Deli Style Reuben

“Corned Beef, Sauerkraut, Swiss Cheese, and Whole Grain Mustard with French Fries & Kosher Dill Pickle Spear”

Appearance – (4.3/5.0)

The first impression is good with clean, crisp lines on the plate. I had a good view of the chef at the window and he seemed to meticulously wipe the edges of each plate before it went out. He must have been ok with the mustard playing peek-a-boo out of that little hole in the bread. The coloring around the hole suggests that maybe the peek-a-boo was initially an eruption that was scaled back for service.

The bread looks perfectly grilled/toasted. If you start from the edges, you see a healthy burn that transitions to soft white, then a golden brown in the middle. Someone had their eye on that bread the entire time.

Quality of Ingredients – (4.7/5.0)

When I heard we were going to this place for lunch, of course the first thing I did was check the menu online to see if they had a Reuben. The description from the online menu matches the sandwich that was served and is what I included above. Here is what the menu at the restaurant had in print, “Pastrami, Rye Bread, Sauerkraut, Swiss Cheese, and House Dressing with French Fries & Kosher Dill Pickle Spear”.

Here is the comparison:

In-person print menu
“Pastrami, Rye Bread, Sauerkraut, Swiss Cheese, and House Dressing with French Fries & Kosher Dill Pickle Spear”.

Online/Served
“Corned Beef, Sauerkraut, Swiss Cheese, and Whole Grain Mustard with French Fries & Kosher Dill Pickle Spear”

This is a different group of ingredients and I am really curious as to how, when, and why these changes were made.  Have they not gotten around to changing the print menu? The print menu is a standard Reuben. (Corned beef is the classic but Pastrami is an accepted “standard alternative” for lack of a better term).  It looks like they decided to scrap the Rye in favor of Sourdough, go back to the classic Corned Beef, and get rid of the House Dressing to introduce whole grain mustard. Fascinating!

Whole grain mustard is a first for this blog and I had mentally prepared by myself for a mustard Reuben, only to get to the restaurant and find a standard Reuben on the menu. Then the mustard Reuben shows up at the table. Maybe they heard I was coming and were trying to mess with me. This is the burden of food blogger fame.

All of that to say, the whole grain mustard was excellent. The Corned Beef was tender and juicy but the sauerkraut was noticeably muted and tame.

Price – (3.8/5.0)

All week I had in my mind that I was going to eat an $18 Reuben.  That is real money.  When I was living the bachelor life in Boston I used to compare my discretionary expenses to how many burritos I could buy instead. A solid burrito from Anna's Taqueria back in the day was $7.50. So, if I wanted to take a cab back from the bars to Kenmore Square that might be, with tip, ~$15 or two burritos. Was the cab ride worth two burritos, or would I be better off walking home and treating myself to Anna’s the next day? I did this all the time to help make decisions.  I don’t eat at Anna’s anymore but I still try to use this thinking. Today I might think of a monthly payment to Netflix or a trip to Sonic to get Danny ice-cream but the process is the same. Using this logic, I don’t think this Reuben was worth $18.

This is a nice place that is ideal for a business lunch.  It has double white table cloth, good service, and you even get your ketchup served in a personalized gravy boat.  They also should get credit for making what can be a very messy sandwich into something you can eat in front of your boss. All of this seems to be what you are paying for because the sandwich itself falls short of the price tag.

Did I mention there was no pickle spear on the plate? I don’t even like pickle spears but for $18, I am going to want to see it.

Je Ne Sais Quoi – (3.2/5.0)

This place was pretty clean cut and mystery free. The biggest curveball was probably the jalapeños in the calamari.  The single biggest JNSQ killer for this Reuben was the Sourdough bread.  A strong caraway seeded Rye is a risk, so when you see plain bread that is perfectly toasted it signals you are entering a safe space.

This rings especially true because they showed their hand! We all know that at some point they had Rye and decided to do away with it and it didn’t stop there. They got rid of the dressing and went with mustard.  I think the classic Reuben was too much to handle for the business lunch crowd and they had to dial the JNSQ way down.

Taste – (8.8/10.0)

Putting aside the menu confusion, it was a good sandwich.  The sauerkraut was not strong and it could have used that acidic kick.  In my opinion, this is another effort to transform the Reuben into something you can put on the tame business lunch menu.  The saving grace was really the Corned Beef and the mustard. The texture of all of the little whole grains was a new Reuben experience I really enjoyed. 

Overall – (24.8/30.0)

Would I order it again? Yes, but not the next time I go. There are other things on the menu I would like to try before I go back. I also want to hear the story of why they made the changes.

Sometime the scoring rubric does not suit a Reuben well and that is the case here. It was not a bad Reuben, but a risk-averse product is going to have a tough time racking up a high score here.

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.