Reuben or Patty?

Trilby • Jan 29, 2010 8:37 am
After careful consideration and an exhausting and near-endless pilgrimage, I am sorry to announce that I will no longer be eating Reubens. I've searched high and low for a decent one and have concluded that they are not to be had in my little corner of the world.

I will now embrace the patty melt!

What's your preference? Reuben or Patty? Explain.
glatt • Jan 29, 2010 8:51 am
What's a patty melt? Sounds like a cheeseburger.
zippyt • Jan 29, 2010 9:16 am
Patty Melt and a Bowl of Veggi beef soup on a cold day ,

Yes Glatt its a cheese burger , but better yet its like a grilled cheese sando with caramelized onion , and a Thinnish burger patty , some times a Schmear of mustard , some folkes make them on Rye bread , I prefer Texas Toast ,
Oh and the cheese can make a Big difference , I prefer SHARP Cheddar.

Slurp some soup , dip the sando , YUMMMMMMY !!!
glatt • Jan 29, 2010 9:27 am
You're making me hungry.
skysidhe • Jan 29, 2010 9:50 am
Make your own reuben! Homemade are the best. I make mine with rye bread buttered and toasted on the grill layered with corned beef white cheese and strained sauerkraut ,all melted to perfection with a fresh crunchy Claussen pickle on the side.

Patty melts are good too though.I like mine with lean turkey smothered in caramelized onions and mushrooms.
Juniper • Jan 29, 2010 10:07 am
Penn Station reubens aren't half bad. Not authentic, but still worth a nom.
SamIam • Jan 29, 2010 10:20 am
I make my own reubens, too. I use Swiss cheese and dark rye bread. There's also a New York style deli here in town that makes pretty good reubens.
zippyt • Jan 29, 2010 10:26 am
Rubens Need to be made with Light and Dark Swirled Rye bread
wolf • Jan 29, 2010 10:42 am
Patty Melt, never really liked the Reuben, not much of a sauerkraut fan.

Frankly, though, the Patty Melt comes off as a little effete. Go for the Bacon Cheeseburger, Double if they got 'em.
jinx • Jan 29, 2010 11:10 am
Reuben fo sho! Didn't you read about how hamburger is even more disgusting now than ever?? Off my menu...

Plus I love any sandwich with russian dressing...
Urbane Guerrilla • Jan 29, 2010 11:36 am
No sauerkraut, no reuben. Without the piquancy of the kraut, it's a corned beef sandwich and only a corned beef sandwich.

A history of the sandwich

So Brianna, why don't the local offerings, er, stack up?:3eye:
glatt • Jan 29, 2010 11:42 am
It's a tossup.
lumberjim • Jan 29, 2010 1:06 pm
hmmm...same hairstyle
kerosene • Jan 29, 2010 3:08 pm
I like both, but most restaurants can't get a Reuben right. I like my patty melt with extra done onions and med-well patty...american cheese, please (I know it is all just as disgusting as you can get!) :)
Spexxvet • Jan 29, 2010 3:13 pm
corned beef special.
Trilby • Jan 29, 2010 4:35 pm
Urbane Guerrilla;630784 wrote:
So Brianna, why don't the local offerings, er, stack up?:3eye:


greasy or soggy bread. Not the correct corned beef to swiss ratio OR the dreaded coleslaw instead of kraut.
Flint • Jan 29, 2010 4:37 pm
Brianna;630830 wrote:
...the dreaded coleslaw instead of kraut...
what is this I don't even
squirell nutkin • Jan 29, 2010 8:56 pm
A bad Reuben is not worth eating. I'm sure the same is true for a bad patty melt. All things being equal, I'll take a Reuben.
richlevy • Jan 29, 2010 9:51 pm
My hebrew name is Reuben. If I am what I eat, then I must eat what I am - Reuben.

Besides, since all of the meat in a Reuben has already been pre-cooked, there is no danger from an undercooked Reuben. An undercooked patty melt can wipe out a city.:vomit:
lumberjim • Jan 29, 2010 10:23 pm
I like a nice Reuben. If I was gonna eat a grille swammich, though....it would be a Super Bird.
Image

mooks cut this one wrong.....and I can't find one that's proper...but at least the ingredients are visible.
Trilby • Jan 30, 2010 8:09 am
tomato, swiss (?) turkey??? is that bacon i see?
lumberjim • Jan 30, 2010 9:24 am
yes,yes,yes,yes...on sourdough. Do you recognize the Denny's plate?
Flint • Jan 30, 2010 10:47 am
I like the Reuben at Jason's Deli. http://www.jasonsdeli.com/restaurants

Here's a gallery of Reubens: http://www.rowlandweb.com/reuben/gallery.asp
Trilby • Jan 30, 2010 10:59 am
lumberjim;630960 wrote:
Do you recognize the Denny's plate?


No - I didn't. Denny's? Is that better than Waffle House?
lumberjim • Jan 30, 2010 11:04 am
5 times better. put your zip code in here
jinx • Jan 30, 2010 12:05 pm
Flint;630969 wrote:

Here's a gallery of Reubens: http://www.rowlandweb.com/reuben/gallery.asp


Hey, Exton Diner is on there.... I've eaten there a few times...
kerosene • Jan 30, 2010 12:22 pm
lumberjim;630960 wrote:
yes,yes,yes,yes...on sourdough. Do you recognize the Denny's plate?


I caught it!
Undertoad • Jan 30, 2010 1:17 pm
jinx;631011 wrote:
Hey, Exton Diner is on there.... I've eaten there a few times...


It gets all As on the report card

http://www.rowlandweb.com/reuben/reviews.asp
lumberjim • Jan 30, 2010 1:43 pm
how could they NOT have sampled a NY Reuben....?
jinx • Jan 30, 2010 2:03 pm
I agree. A real jewish deli somewhere at least... Maybe should have gone to Hello Deli in Exton, before it closed.

I never had a reuben at Exton Diner, but everything else there is pretty mediocre.
lumberjim • Jan 30, 2010 2:53 pm
Bread and Bagels here in Cherry Hill is purported to make a nice dry Reuben. (not grilled)

I've only ever had their Chicken Salad Hoagie...and that's the best I've had...largely because the bread is so fantastic......
jinx • Jan 30, 2010 3:26 pm
That dry reuben from Arby's wasn't half bad... or maybe I was just hungry enough to not care.
richlevy • Jan 31, 2010 10:03 am
jinx;631032 wrote:
I agree. A real jewish deli somewhere at least... Maybe should have gone to Hello Deli in Exton, before it closed.

I never had a reuben at Exton Diner, but everything else there is pretty mediocre.
Have you tried Lion Share yet? They're in Restaurant.com and we tried them for the first time a few weeks ago. Good food. The salad bar was fresh, clean, and well stocked. It sucks that they demolished the original building when they remodeled. I think it dated back to the 1800's or earlier.


BTW, what's all this 'dry' crap? A real Reuben should have sauce coming out of the sides when you push down on the bread.
lumberjim • Jan 31, 2010 12:23 pm
dry meaning that the bread is not grilled....or soaked in butter. still the same inside....
bluecuracao • Jan 31, 2010 3:34 pm
The reuben at Famous 4th St. Deli, where MB works. They like to stack their sandwiches about 3 times higher than need be (lots of to-go boxes are used). Haven't tried this particular sandwich yet, but I have sampled the house-made corned beef by itself. Sooooo gooooood...
Cloud • Jan 31, 2010 6:03 pm
patty melt, for sure. Rye bread + grilled onions = yum. but sauerkraut is good for you (probiotics) if you can stand it.
Pico and ME • Jan 31, 2010 6:34 pm
Reuben over a patty melt, always.
jinx • Jan 31, 2010 6:49 pm
richlevy;631206 wrote:
Have you tried Lion Share yet? They're in Restaurant.com and we tried them for the first time a few weeks ago. Good food. The salad bar was fresh, clean, and well stocked. It sucks that they demolished the original building when they remodeled. I think it dated back to the 1800's or earlier.


They didn't actually demo it, it's still there under all the teal and mauve vinyl. But really, how depressing...

If you're in that area, eat at Ron's, there's really nothing better around in that price range.


Blue that reuben looks amazing.
richlevy • Jan 31, 2010 7:17 pm
jinx;631294 wrote:
If you're in that area, eat at Ron's, there's really nothing better around in that price range.
We haven't been to Ron's in years. I still remember their Reuben Stromboli. Interesting.

I think Ron's had traditional and pastrami Reuben's.

Looking over their menu from the link, it looks like 3 kinds of Reubens, but no Reuben Stromboli. Also, they've slightly changed their name. I guess the 'Schoolhouse' was getting in the way of all of the drinking.

Maybe we'll go back to Ron's one day. I still like the menu at Drafting Room. Our friends liked the beer selection at Drafting Room, as well as the fact that they allowed sampling.

BTW, I still can't believe those are the original walls at Lion Share. I guess it's possible to repoint 19th century stone, but it really looks like they tore it all down and replaced it with fake stoneface.
Pie • Jan 31, 2010 8:10 pm
Reuben. There's a great one over at Clyde's. :drool:
jinx • Jan 31, 2010 10:00 pm
richlevy;631305 wrote:

BTW, I still can't believe those are the original walls at Lion Share. I guess it's possible to repoint 19th century stone, but it really looks like they tore it all down and replaced it with fake stoneface.


Take a closer look. I drove past it twice a day during the renovation.
Flint • Feb 1, 2010 12:11 am
ƒuckers are makin' me hungry and I had to have a Lebanon Bologna and Muenster on Rye ...
bluecuracao • Feb 9, 2010 7:28 pm
I finally tried the gigantor Famous 4th St. reuben pictured above, about an hour or so ago. I'm still sitting at a table in the deli, not able to move.