Foodcraft

Foodcraft was bursting at prime time lazy lunch o'clock and the atmosphere (minus the baby which kept accidentally-on-purpose spraying water from its sippy cup at me) was a fun weekend local crowd. I made the mistake of arriving hangry and the first thing I saw was the mountains stack of Tella balls i.e. sugar coated spherical doughnut balls bursting with nutella. The sight of them alone was enough to start the makings of a sugar coma. But I was there for the reuben, well the "new york reueben" exactly.

The new york reuben (take away for $12, but sit down for close to $20) constituted of braised corned beef, saurkraut, swiss cheese and russian dressing. It also came with a hectic basket of chips - maybe that's why they call it the "new york" reuben. I was expecting a giant stack of juicy meat, given the new york reference and was left disappointed, with the hangry feelings not quite satisfied. Props to Foodcraft for the double cut stack, that in itself is the first double cut format of reuben that I've come across in Sydney. The sandwich itself was good, but not great and didn't have any star players. The chips were delicious and although the dressing on the side worked well to dip the chips in, the sandwich itself required some operation to get the dressing involved as an internal ingredient. A single slither of gherkin graced each layer and the bread wasn't as fresh as one would expect for a cafe that busy. The sandwich was also cut in half with a knife that obvsiouly was used prior for something that resembled pasta sauce, with the cut edges smeared with this unknown imposter condiment.

Come hungry for the Tella balls but give the reuben a miss.

7/10

Website: Foodcraft

Single Origin - CBD

Single Origin, or "Single O" for short is one of Sydney's leaders in making the most out of the humble coffee bean. Nestled among many other quick lunch fixes along York St is the bite sized spot where you can satisfy your caffeine addiction and grab something to eat on the go.

The Reuben is listed under the N.L.T (Next Level Toasties) list, at $14, and is simply listed as: smoked wagyu, sauerkraut, swiss cheese, green salad. The lack of gherkin was a bit upsetting but the green side salad partially made up for it. The bread was king even though it was a sourdough and not rye, with the perfect balance of crunch on the outside and soft in the middle. The wagyu was good, but paled in comparison to 2042's (in Newtown) smoked wagyu and felt more like a deli pastrami style. There also needed to be more of it to really beef up the filling (pardon the pun), and the same goes for the kraut and cheese. The upside of this was that it didn't leave me with reuben regret, which is often experienced after devouring a more sizeable counterpart. The dressing was nowhere to found and seeing as it wasn't listed as an ingredient on the menu board it probably has never made an appearance.

This reuben was not designed to be a monster, but a simple lunch solution. The lack of gherkin and dressing really let this down, but the bread was spot on.

7.5/10

Website: Single Origin Roasters