Jason’s Deli
http://www.jasonsdeli.com

If you look back at our review archives, you’ll see that we’ve done a few reviews of Jason’s Deli already, so it seems kind of funny that I’d hit it up again for another review.  But, when you are dealing with a deli, there’s always a wide variety of menu items to review, so for this review, I’ll be hitting up another one of their menu items that we haven’t covered yet.

What I Got:   Reuben THE Great, Original Size; $8.39.  Served with chips and a pickle.

Periodically I get a craving for sauerkraut and or a Reuben, so that craving along with a gift card that I won on the Jason’s Deli Twitter feed in their #TuesdayTrivia contest led me to Jason’s to try this one out.  Jason’s states that this sandwhich is made up of “1/2 pound of hot corned beef, Swiss,sauerkraut, Russian dressing, grilled on rye” and I can certainly confirm all of those things were there.  The corned beef was in heaping amounts, as was the sauerkraut, so this was certainly a very large sandwich and looked to be a hearty meal.  The only thing that was kind of depressing about the construction of the sandwich was that it was a little light on the Russian dressing and as the kind of guy that likes to have the dressing just oozing out of my Reuben, I’ve got to say I was slightly disappointed in that.

In terms of taste, this sandwich worked well together.  I tried all of the ingredients individually just to see if one really stood out, but when eaten individually, the ingredients were just average.  The sauerkraut had that sweet and sour taste, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly powerful.  The corned beef was moist and tender, but it lacked any sort of strong flavor and was also just average tasting.  It was not overly salty or peppery as well and while I appreciated that, some people come to expect that from their corned beef, I appreciated its absence.  The Russian dressing was in too small of any amount for me to really discern a taste and the cheese and rye bread were pretty much standard stuff.  All in all, nothing stood out, but nothing was bad either.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, I would.  Despite the fact that the components of the sandwich individually were just average and/or standard stuff, it’s called a sandwich for a reason and when you mix everything together, it worked pretty well together to make for a flavorful (and large) meal.  It certainly wasn’t the best Reuben I can ever remember having, but it certainly was not bad either.  If I had to rate this on a letter grade scale, I would rate it as a B-, which puts it slightly above average and makes it memorable enough to eat again when my Reuben craving creeps up again in a few months.

-IndianapolisEater

At times, I am a grown man and can admit my mistakes.   After three and a half years of writing this blog, I have revisited some restaurants and allowed them the opportunity to change my mind.  Now, I write from the hip at times, brutal honesty.   If it sucks, I will say it sucks (or maybe worse).  That is why I started the blog as the constant 3-4 star reviews from Indy.com and Nuvo drove me nuts.  They never gave a two star review on food (at least that I saw).

I am going to keep most fast food out of the list and only going to concentrate on No->Yes changes

Zest!

Original Review

Wow, that sandwich was horrible.  However, I have been for breakfast twice and dinner three times since that visit.  They have one of the best BLTs in the city.  Service is always great, the food is affordable, approachable and it would definitely make my top ten favorite restaurants in the city.    Try the short rib on the dinner menu.   Lights out!

Amber Indian

Original Review

I have had the buffet twice since the initial review in 11/2009.   It is actually a pretty steady buffet.  I would not recommend driving twenty minutes for it, but it has grown on me.

Sichuan Chinese Restaurant

Original Review

I was on the fence here, but never re-visited it on the blog.  It will not define Chinese food as you know it, but it is actually pretty good.   Try the lunch buffet during the week and if you are more adventurous, try the weekend lunch buffet.

Jersey’s Cafe

Original Review

I said yes to this Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives gem, but they had to deliver on my second visit.  They did and I am a regular customer at this point.   They have their service together now, so it is no more than a 45 minute wait for a sandwich.   A good value and consistently good sandwiches.

Bearcats Restaurant

Original Review

The Rueben was pretty bad, but they make a killer breaded tenderloin.  I was at a business lunch, so I didn’t do a review.

Arby’s
http://www.arbys.com

I’ll be the first to admit that I am no fan of Arby’s.  It used to be my favorite fast food joint, but when the prices kept increasing and the food quality went down, I stopped going.  I must be a glutton for punishment, because on a recent weekend, I decided to hit Arby’s for the first time in over two years for lunch since I saw that they are now offering a limited time offering sandwich called the “Super Reuben.”  Their advertising campaign boasts their food is “Good Mood Food,” so I was daring enough to see if I would feel that way after I ate.

What I Got:  Super Reuben Combo; $7.99 + tax.

I’m too lazy to type out a physical description of this myself, so because of that, I’ll let Arby’s do it for me:  ”So how do you make a Reuben super? Well, take warm toasty rye bread, pile on thinly sliced corned beef, melted natural Swiss and tangy Sauerkraut with creamy Thousand Island dressing – then add turkey for a double dose of delicious! Now that’s Super.”

Wow, they’ve decided themselves to dub this one as super.  Well, I’m not so sure about that because there was nothing super about this sandwich.  The turkey, while plentifully placed on the sandwich, was nothing special and was just run-of-the-mill.  The corned beef, while also plentiful, was dry and very bland.  The sauerkraut was messy and lacked the tang of a well made sauerkraut and frankly, I’ve had sauerkraut out of a can that was better than this.  As for the “toasty” marble rye bread, well that was a bit of a fabrication too because when you mix in the minimally applied Thousand Island dressing to all the other ingredients, the bread turns soggy and loses all the crunch that you would expect in a nice, toasty Reuben sandwich.  Oh yeah, the cheese…well, it was so unnoticeable that I forgot it was even on there until I just re-read the description.

Would I Buy It Again?  No, absolutely not.  Sandwiches that are failures like this remind me why I stopped going to Arby’s.  It was boring, essentially flavorless and not only that, it was a rip off!  $7.99 for the combo and all I got was this piece of garbage, a drink and some fries.  Ugh.  Oh well, I’m glad I did this though because I’ll now know to not go to Arby’s again for another two years.  What a failure and this is definitely not good mood food.

-IndianpolisEater

Bellacino’s Pizza & Grinders
12590 North Meridian Street
Carmel, IN 46032
http://www.orderbellacinos.com/

Bellacino’s is a small pizza and grinder franchise with several locations throughout the city and also throughout the country.  Along with pizzas and grinders (obviously), they also offer salads, pastas, wings and a few other smaller items.

Spurred on by a recent Eversave (one of the many growing number of clones/competitors for Groupon) offer for the Carmel location, I decided to give it a shot for my first visit ever.

What I Got:  Reuben Grinder Combo (served with 22 ounce drink and cole slaw); $8.34 + tax.

The Bellacino’s Reuben consists of “Tender corned beef piled high, lots of sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing and cheese.”  Being the amateur Sherlock Holmes that I am, I can confirm that all those toppings were on the grinder, although  the descriptions of the amount of corned beef and sauerkraut may have been a bit of an exaggeration.  It was definitely on there in a fair amount, but nothing about those amounts could be considered “piled high” or “lots.”  Oh well, I’m splitting hairs.  The sandwich also came with a pickle in addition to the cole slaw that came as my side (not pictured).

As far as taste was concerned, they nailed this one pretty well.  The corned beef was tender and flavorful, the sauerkraut had that wonderful bite to it that good sauerkraut seems to have.  The Thousand Island dressing was just regular dressing out of a bottle, not that I was expecting anything different.  What added an interesting and positive twinge to the sandwich was the fact that Bellacino’s oven bakes their grinders.  The oven baking melted the cheese, added a crispiness to the sauerkraut and made the bread delightfully crunchy.  When you mixed all these things together, you come up with a pretty solid grinder.  The only negative, if you can call it that, was that this sandwich was very messy, so grab some extra napkins.  As more of a personal preference too, the addition of spicy deli mustard would go along way to making this grinder even more of a winner.  Overall, it wasn’t the best Reuben that I’ve had in my life, but it was a very satisfying Reuben and that’s all I was really asking for when I went there. 

The cole slaw was homemade as well and was fresh (they had to make it for me since I was one of the first customers of the day).  It was crunchy and added a nice cool refreshing taste to the tangy taste that was brought on by the sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing of the Reuben.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, I would.  Bellacino’s isn’t exactly near my neighborhood, so I don’t think I’ll go there often, but if there is one in  your neighborhood, I would encourage you to visit.  They have an extensive grinder menu and it looks like their variety covers pretty much all bases.  Give it a shot if you are ever looking for a pizza, grinder or both!

-IndianapolisEater

The Bar at the Ambassador
39 E. Ninth Street
Indianapolis, Indiana  46204

If you live in Indy and read restaurant news, you probably heard that Yats! pulled out  of the much anticipated Bar Yats! at the last minute. One of the partners forged ahead to create The Bar at the Ambassador.  I have been there twice in the last month.  One my first trip, I tried the Reuben and it was pretty good.  Service was top notch and the restaurant itself was a comfortable place to grab a quick bite.  The menu has plenty of New Orleans flare all over it with red beans and rice, fried catfish and jambalaya.  However, they have a burger, a few salads and some other enticements.  Hence…

What I Ate: Pastrami.  Rye, Pastarami, Cabbage, Swiss Cheese, Thousand Island with Russian caviar served with chips on the side; $9.00.

At first sight, I thought that this is a nice sized sandwich.  Pastrami was leaking out the side and all the meat-to-bread ratios looked on point.  The good news is that it tasted as good as it looked.  The rye bread was toasted nicely, the pastrami was sliced a little thicker than I had it before and the cabbage provided a nice crunch.  What I really liked is the “Thousand Island.”  To be honest, I think that it is mislabeled, because I didn’t taste any relish at all.  The caviar was probably a waste of money as I didn’t taste a lot of it, but it did add a certain sophistication to the sandwich.  However, I loved the “TI” sauce.  I also tried a little bit of the Red Beans and Rice that my co-worker ordered and I enjoyed that as well.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes, easily. I actually like this place quite a bit.  I enjoyed both visits.  I liked the pastrami so much that I will probably order it again the next time that I go.  I am not going to go as far as saying that this is a new culinary hot spot.  However, it is a cool place with a welcoming staff, and great food.  It gets my thumbs up.

-wibia

Bearcats Restaurant
1050 N. Senate
Indianapolis, IN
http://www.bearcatsindy.net

At the former site of the Loading Dock, Bearcats Restaurant has a nice captive crowd in the Stutz Building.  I needed a quick lunch on the northside of downtown and decided to give it a try.

The menu was lunch standard.  Salads, wraps, three burgers and all moderately priced.  However, it was a coin flip between the hand-cut tenderloin and the Reuben.

What I Ate: Dublin Reuben $7.99.  In-house roasted corned beef, kraut, rye and Thousand Island dressing

The sandwich arrived promptly with the restaurant 70% full.  At first glance, I was bummed to see the straight out of the bag frozen fries, but unfortunately it is difficult to find hand cut fries at places like this.   The good news is that they were just cooked.

My first glance at the Reuben was a lustful one with the corned beef hanging off the side.  I enjoyed the first bite and the next few came with a good amount of frustration.  The Thousand Island was not evenly spread on the Reuben, while some bites had a ton and others very little.   Same goes for the kraut.  Individually, the ingredients were better than the sum.  The corned beef was enjoyable, but I found it to be cut a little thick for my taste and it could be a little more tender.   However, I did not find one piece of fat.   The corned beef was also just plopped on my sandwich as one half had a ton and the other half left a few bites with just bread and dressing.   The Swiss was a non factor and it could’ve used a little more.

Would I Buy It Again?  No. It wasn’t better or worse than the nearby competition.   I liked the actual corned beef, but the sandwich was carelessly assembled.  My biggest problem was…the service!

Though the service was prompt, they were extremely unprofessional.   I was sitting at the bar and the bartender and servers were talking about scheduling issues, other servers, not having enough money, day care issues, etc.   I don’t mind a casual lunch place, but the reason I go to lunch is to get away from BS at work and I surely don’t want to hear about others.

-wibia

Penn Station
http://www.penn-station.com

Overall, I like Penn Station.  They are known for their Philly Cheesesteaks and honestly, it is the worst sandwich there (well, maybe artichoke).  I prefer the Italian or Pizza sub.   Wanting something a little different, I ordered a medium (nine inch) Reuben for roughly $7.00.

It is kind of a stretch to call this a Reuben.  They use their regular sub roll in place of rye bread.  There was a ton of sauerkraut and Thousand Island on the sandwich and both really masked the corned beef and the swiss cheese.

Would I Buy It Again?  Umm…probably not.  This Reuben was poorly assembled, but if I want a Reuben, it has to be on rye.  New rule:  when at Penn Station, I am going to keep ordering the Italian or the Pizza sub.

Also, the guys from the Reuben Realm agree.

This is a great website and I signed up last year to be part of their crew.  I don’t receive e-mails anymore and considering their last review was in September, I think they are finished.  Guys, if you are reading this, please re-unite the band and get the website going again!

-wibia