Reuben Republic

The name says it all: Reuben Republic - Artisan Pastrami. The casual cafe which specialises in meat sandwiches is set up on busy Marrickville Road, which makes the location ideal for a quick bite. The most difficult decision is which reuben to order - do you opt  for the more traditional "East Coast" reuben, or instead, shake up the neighbourhood with a "West Coast" reuben. I challenge you to read through these two options without the Ali G east side/west side sketch popping into your head. The third option is the bagel, for those who are looking for that extra jaw workout on a tougher bread variety.

 My favourite part of Reuben Republic is that you can order a plate of pickles as a side dish and not wanting to chance pickle regret, the pickle plate was ordered. Not expecting the plate to be that large, albeit it does say on the menu that it is a "large" plate, it was a substantial mound of pickles. As an avid pickle enthusiast who enjoys dunking a hand into a giant pickle jar to fish myself a pickle at any time of the day, I am disappointed to say that the pickle plate defeated me (and I even had some help). The pickles were thick cut and so juicy, with many stuffed into an East Coast reuben and would need at least 3 people to polish off.

Reuben Republic takes the prize of the neatest aligned slices of pastrami and the orderly sandwich remained so until the first bite. The meat itself was hot and without doubt backed their claim of having "artisan pastrami". The quality of the meat should have seen this rated a 9/10 but it was let down by the other ingredients not being as generously packed as the serving of meat.. The sauerkraut was delicious, in the classic european style and the cheese was as expected. More of these two ingredients yes would have made it into a monster, but would have added so much more to the overall package. The pickles on the side were the same as the ones in the giant plate but should have been inside preferably, not that it stopped me stacking in more than probably necessary. The light rye, both in colour and density, was a welcoming change from the sourdough varieties on other reubens.

Artisan pastrami lives up to its name - I'll be back to try the "West Coast" variety.

8.5/10

Website: Reuben Republic

Naked Duck

Dropped right in the middle of tourist strip of the Darling Quarter and tucked behind the IMAX, quacks the Naked Duck. Predominately a lunchtime business crowd busies this cafe, as a fast and healthy option in between a day at the office. I was unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on your perspective) to visit during Darling Harbour's "Month of Love", where PDAs are encouraged and a sea of hearts and bright lights assault the senses even during the daylight hours.

The reuben is not on the permanent menu, but graces the "specials" board. Although how "special" this selection of treats is, is yet to be determined as it has seemingly remained the same for at least the past year with the reuben being one of the contenders. Greatness was not expected, mainly due to the fast in-and-out nature of the cafe and it leaning more towards a sandwich haven than anything else - not that there's anything wrong with that. I selected the take away option with no rosemary fries, which dropped the price by one dollar and saw me leaving the cafe with a neat styrofoam take away package in hand.



The specials board promised braised corned beef with sauerkraut and swiss on rye sourdough and that's (almost) exactly what was delivered. The braised corned beef had a slight deli ham taste and feel to it and the rest of the ingredients were something that your mum could whip up for you in a jiffy after soccer practice. The beauty in the sandwich was not in the end product, but how it was made in the hustle bustle of the cafe prep area. As I watched a number of other sandwich orders being placed, the method of constructing the sandwich is something I have not yet witnessed anywhere else. The filling of the sandwiches were meticulously stacked on top of each other on the large cutting board and lined up in a row, eagerly awaiting the separately toasted bread. For better or worse, the fresh sandwich ingredients were then swooped up by the toasted bread and delivered to their owner. The filling stayed fresh but the cheese suffered a lack of melt-age, but it was worth it just to witness a host of naked sandwich fillings lined up neatly in a row.

Come for a quick bite - the salads and roast meat looked a lot more delicious than the sandwiches and seemed to be the order of the locals.

7.5/10

Website: The Naked Duck

2042

I recall coming to 2042 at a time not toobmuch prior to starting this blog and ordering the Reuben. Was its undeniable deliciousness the catalyst that start this quest to find the ultimate one? Who knows. What I do know is that the Reuben did indeed match up to the one that was preserved in my memory from a few years ago.

One thing that stood out with this Reuben ($17) was that the different layers of ingredients were clearly defined. In order: rye bread, cheese, smoked wagyu, sauerkraut, gherkins, cheese, dressing and bread. The idea of marrying a slice of cheese immediately to each slice of bread was genius! Double the meltage and a touch of symmetry in the layers begged the question of what a symmetrically stacked Reuben would be like...

The Barossa smoked wagyu was one of the higher quality meats I've come across in hunting Reubens and it must have been sent straight from flavourtown to 2042. In the shadow of the wagyu, the pickles (tangy American style) and sauerkraut were good but were not the stars of the show. The sauerkraut may have potentially been straight out of the jar, as it tasted awfully close to the jar I buy from Harris Farm - which is not necessarily a bad thing seeing as that one is from Poland. The dressing, albeit tasty, was lacking in the "Russian" department and didn't have a tomato component but still worked.

Meat lovers unite for a quality helping of smoked wagyu.

8.5/10

Website: 2042