Ruben | The power of corned beef

I won't go on and on about Ruben, not since they don't deserve - because they really do; except I wrote about them before, so I'll just paste links to previous posts.

The picture below is from last week; I was drinking out with friends and when we got the munchies we realized Ruben was around the corner.

corned beef on white bread, with mustard, herb aioli, horseradish sauce, lettuce and tomato

The sandwich was amazing as always, so was the service.

Look at that pinkish, juicy meat.

LOOK AT IT.

Read more:

The Search for Tel-Aviv's Perfect Sandwich: Ruben

Corned Beef Sandwich @ Ruben

Beef & Turkey Pastrami Sandwich

Read this post in Hebrew

Another BLT from Dixie Grill Bar, Tel-Aviv

Quick update:

Since the previous BLT from Dixie was so good -  I ordered another one, it turned out to be even better!

That is all.

BLT from Dixie Grill Bar, Tel-Aviv

Ordered this beauty over the phone and hoped for the best; luckily I got much more that I bargained for.

A fresh ciabatta bread, crunchy lettuce, a delicious tomato, mustard based mayo and a large amount of thickly cut bacon, both crisp and juicy.

That lovely sandwich and a side of fries, my lunch was pretty epic.

BLT from Dixie Grill Bar, Tel-Aviv: bacon, lettuce, tomato,mustard mayo, ciabatta

The order arrived in less than 30 minutes, it was wrapped neatly and contained everything we've payed for (don't you just hate it when items are missing or arrive with a topping you asked to remove?).

It was one of the most efficient deliveries I've seen in quite a while and the tip was high enough to show our appreciation. 

This was a total 10/10, with top notch food and service.

I will gladly order from Dixie again.

Corned Beef Sandwich @ Ruben

Two days ago I posted about a Ruben's sandwich that was a tad on the mediocre side. It was even more disappointing since I'm trying to consume less meat, so each meat that contains meat needs to be worth it.

Yesterday I posted about a roast beef sandwich from Science and got negative feedback from r/eatsandwiches about it looking bad and not containing enough meat.

This is today's lunch, another sandwich from Ruben, it was delicious, amazing, mouth watering, 300 grams of meat and joy + a couple of amazing gherkins.

300 grams are over 10.5 oz, it's their medium size. I used to have the 400 grams as my regular, then went down to 200 since I was trying to change my diet. This was just me being very hungry. I could hardly move after this sandwich, the long walk back to the office helped a bit.

The sandwich contains: above mentioned 300 grams of steamed corned beef, lettuce, tomato, mustard, date syrup, horseradish sauce and a special secret herbs sauce they make.

It was really good; enough to make me forget about vegan guilt and the previous sandwich I had there which was meh.

Bye bye now.

Roast Beef Sandwich @ Silence

Silence is a place I visit mostly for grilled cheese panini style sandwiches. It's dirt cheap, the food is food is good (i.e. delicious and fresh) and the staff is super nice. You can't really ask for more.

They have a long transparent showcase deli style fridge with most of their ingredients.

All you really need to do is tell them what you want to eat, and construct the dish along with the person serving you. All of the dishes are basically salads or variations on sandwiches, but there are enough ingredients to keep you interested for a while within the given genres.

Also available: winter soups.

I was a bit bored with grilled cheese so I took a ciabatta with roast beef, mustard, lettuce, arugula and a bit of tahini. Along with an ice cold bottle of Fanta.

It was a good lunch, no regrets here.

That's it I guess.

Beef & Turkey Pastrami Sandwich

I've dedicated two whole posts to Ruben's sandwiches, not to mention at least a handful of random images.

They make great sandwiches, simple yet delicious, juicy, tender, with the option to enlarge the sandwich into monstrosity with is always great.

This post is a bit special, keep that in mind.

If you're not a regular reader (or a follower on Instagram) you might not be aware that I'm trying to go low on meat consumption, maintaining mostly a vegetarian and vegan diet.

This is hard to gather from the meat stacked sandwiches, but there are other meals, some less photogenic, still delicious though.

As promised - this post is different.

I want to tell you mostly about the guilt that comes along with this change in nutrition.

Once you realize how horrible the meat industry is - it's hard to turn back to the ways of old. Sort of like waking up from the matrix.

Meat doesn't look as good once you flip that switch in your head. It looks more like dead animals.

This is why every relapse to meat needs to be worth it.

You can't just eat meat products if they're not amazing, I can't that is. If I go our and eat something dead - I need its death to have a meaning. You can't just kill a cow and a turkey for a mediocre sandwich, it makes no sense.

If you eat meat once a week or twice a month, that meat needs to be meaningful, flavorful and it seriously needs to be good enough to justify its consumption.

Now, you all now that not every meal is a party in your mouth, not every steak gives you a foodgasm and not every sandwich features the pastrami of a lifetime.

This makes things even harder.

The sandwich in the photo above was okay. I can't say it was mediocre but I also can't say that I didn't feel bad for wasting my "meat ticket" on it.

It disappointing me in a whole new way. A way that is rather new to me and as such stings even more.

This sandwich was the the unjustified death of two animals. I don't need that on my conscience.

If I'm going to eat meat every now and then - I need it to be great. I need it to be so good that I won't mind all the horrible stuff that comes with the territory of meat eating.

I wish I had some magical conclusion I could share, a notion about vegetarianism or veganism, it's just a different way of thinking, even for a borderline enthusiast such as myself.

Consciousness is unpleasant, that's what you can walk away with, that and a picture of a beef and turkey sandwich, with mustard, horseradish sauce, tomato and lettuce.

Don't be fooled by this post; it's not that easy to turn a life around, the next post is going to be about a corned beef sandwich, an amazing one, luckily.

Fleishmann's Deli

This is not the first time I mention Fleishmann's Deli although I did spell the name differently last time.

They've already opened a Foursquare account so I know how they want to be called, although I tweaked it a bit since it wasn't following some grammar basics (which is kinda arrogant of me).

Anyhow, let's keep it simple, this is a short one: Fresh Moroccan bread, chipotle sauce, BBQ sauce, yellow mustard, horseradish sauce, lettuce and lots of corned beef.

I was pleasantry surprised to discover chips and delightful pickled cabbage in my take-away bag [and a tiny chipotle sauce container].

It was a superb sandwich, as good as I remembered.

The only bad thing I can think of is that they don't have enough opening hours so it's kinda hard to get my fix.

Otherwise - epic.

Note to self: on my next visit I should check out their pulled beef sandwich, it looked pretty good.

The Search for Tel-Aviv's Perfect Sandwich: Fleishman's Deli

Me and a few people from work went out for lunch today - to a quiche place I adore.

Yeah, I know, quiche, right? But that place is amazing. Was amazing actually, we discovered that it moved.

Instead of the familiar venue I found Fleishman's Deli, same location, different dimension. 

They were wise enough to place fresh, gorgeous sandwiches in the window display, I fell right into that trap.

BBQ sauce, chipotle sauce, mustard, tomato, lettuce and sliced pickles

I ordered a corned beef sandwich. 

They use fresh frena bread; frena is a Moroccan style bread, named after the frena oven in which it was traditionally made. The traditional way also includes river stones (for thermal reasons).

When compiling the sandwich I asked for: BBQ sauce, chipotle sauce, mustard, tomato, lettuce and sliced pickles.

The sandwich is served with a side of potato chips and sweet pickled cabbage.

There were sauce bottles and various dipping sauces on and behind the counter, it was like a party in my mouth.

the best corned beef sandwich I had in quite a while

I'm gonna stop here cos I'm pretty tired of writing this post, wasn't going to post anything new today but the sandwich was so amazing I just had to share.

Just let me add that they have four special gimmicks that are worth mentioning:

1. There are self serve taps with various types of soda (no brands but they were all good), you just pay for a cup and drink whatever you want. This concept is rarely used in our parts of the world due to both sides (i.e. business owners and customers) being assholes. People will drink your "free" soda all day and fill up bottle they brought from home - and on the flip-side, if you can charge for extra drinks it's considered a loss.
2. There are vases with fresh green onions all over the place, just pick 'em and eat away.
3. They use a machine that keeps the potato chips warm and fresh. The kind of machine you find in cinemas and nacho stands, but the fact that they bothered and that the chips were actually fresh is pretty new in our culinary scene. It's usually stale-ish servings or just factory sealed bags in our areas.
4. They have really cheap booze! 9nis for a shot of Stoli or Jameson is pretty decent. 

That's all, enjoy the rest of the pictures.

Also, I gotta state again that the sandwich was EPIC.

a display of steamed corned-beef sandwich awesomeness

a bowl of sweet pickled cabbage, a side of potato chips, lemon soda

warm corned beef pleasures

a tap of goldstar beer, green onions, bread and a potato chip heater

Roast Beef Bagel

Wasn't even my idea, it was the lady.

We were at a new delicatessen, it was crowded, claustrophobic even.

I went out for a breath of air, she hung in inside for a while, and later came out declaring she's craving for a roast beef sandwich. 

I'm not one to argue on such matters.

poppy seed bagel, mustard, roast beef, grilled eggplant, cucumber, tomato, lettuce

Tal Bagels, that was our destination of choice.

The place was kinda empty, but with enough people to not seem suspicious.

While our roast beef was sliced and heated and we chose our bagels. I picked poppy seed and she wanted a zaatar bagel, later switching to a light bagel.

My poppy seed bagel also featured: mustard, roast beef, grilled eggplant, fresh crunchy cucumber slices, tomato and lettuce. Heating the meat made it lose the pinkish hue, but the flavors and softness made up for that. All and all it was a sandwich justifying the fact we ran out of the hippest deli in town.

The Search for Tel-Aviv's Perfect Sandwich: Ruben

Ruben is a place that you can easily get addicted to its produce. They have several branches yet they're able to keep the original ma & pa look and feel, kind service and most importantly - incredible sandwiches.
Ruben, which sounds like Reuben and kinda looks like it too - is not your classic Reuben.

The pictures below were taken in the Carlebach \Yehuda Halevi branch, it's the closest one to where I live and I ate quite a few sandwiches there. You can smell the cured meats outside the store, and when you walk in the serving counter is right in front of you, there are bar stools to sit on and look out the huge windows. There's a second floor, with more stools and windows, and even a balcony.

Juicy, moist, thinly sliced corned beef, sauces, gherkins, a frosty Dr. Pepper

The menu is quite simple. Three sandwich sizes, two types of sliced bread, there's beef, there's turkey, sauces and vegetables, just name your ingredients and it's made in front of you while you drool. You might even get a few slices of meat to snack while you wait. Each sandwich gets a side of two delicious, crispy gherkins.

The fridge is packed with all the usual drinks, plus Dr. Pepper and several types of Dr. Brown's. There are also  two taps of beer (and pitchers if you're that thirsty).

Now for the sauces: there's a superb horseradish sauce, mustard, mustard cut with date syrup, herb aioli, and a hot sauce. The vegetables are pretty basic: tomatoes, lettuce, onions and pickled cabbage with onions.

A perfect corned beef sandwich

The sandwiches are of the kind that makes you come back again and again. Tender, smoked, moist meats, fresh and delicious everything, it's a foodies wet dream. The prices are reasonable and there's always good music playing in the background.

The only bad thing I can think of would be the opening hours, this place should operate 24/7.

If you're a fan of sandwiches - Ruben is a place that you must visit.

The Search for Tel-Aviv's Perfect Sandwich: Delicious Deli

I was told that Delicious Deli Bar have an amazing hot pastrami sandwich, which made me think a visit is due. I was also told their burgers were superb, but burgers aren't my cup of tea so I really didn't care.
It was but a matter of time.

It was a Saturday night. The Delicious Deli Bar, located at the Tel Aviv Port Market was one of the few stands still operating, most people were busy eating ice cream on the boardwalk, in the almost cool air of the sea.

400gram NY hot pastrami sandwich

Sriracha bottles on the counter and a soda fountain with various colorful syrups were a nice touch. This went great with the smoke (baked and with cajun seasoning, not sure about actual smoke) potato wedges I ordered along with the sandwich. There was also a mustard based sauce involved, it was epic.

I ordered the NY hot pastrami sandwich, which is just like their plain hot pastrami sandwich, but with 400 grams (0.88 pounds) of meat in it. My sandwich was mistakenly served to a lady sitting at the counter next to me, but the issue was soon rectified and I was able to strike.

This is a waste of a hot pastrami sandwich

I wish this was the tale of the perfect sandwich, of a lost treasure, the discovery that will change my life, something I could share with joy and recommend to all my beloved carnivores, but it's not, it wasn't.
The meat was dry and chewy, with a taste you'd not even expect from supermarket leftovers.
It just wasn't good. There was even a large  blood vessel chunk visible in the heap of meat prior to my first bite which was kinda gross.
I ate some of it, but most of it went to a nearby dog that appreciated it. I just ate the potatoes, the bread which was pretty good and drank my lemon soda, allowing the disappointment fill in the room I saved for food. 

The menu offered the above mentioned hamburger and another type of sandwich, but I didn't want to play this game anymore. I've had my share, learned my lesson, walked away.
Perhaps this was just a bad day at Delicious Deli Bar, it might have been anything actually, but for me it was a horrible first impression that made me feel as if all of the raving recommendations were nothing but PR and unjust hype.

Vegetarian Lunch: just baking stuff

It's Saturday and I'm awfully hungry. That's the essence of this post. I need a snack, to stay on the healthy side (if you've followed my previous posts you'll know what I need to balance the other stuff I eat).

My solution? Baked goods: Broccoli, zucchinis, mushrooms, vegetarian hotdogs, just a drizzle of sunflower oil, some freshly ground black pepper. That's it.

I was going to make a tahini sauce and experiment with adding some ginger and coconut flakes to it, but I succumbed to my hunger - the smells just overpowered me.
I ate the veggies and dogs with a bit of mustard, sriracha and sweet chilli sauce. It was delicious.

Later I think I'm gonna try making a new variation on a lasagna, should be interesting - I'll even  keep you posted if it turns out good.

Vegetarian cocktail wiener sandwich

A short post about a sandwich that is easy to make, delicious, colorful and full of awesome. As always, you can use this as a recipe and name your sandwich after me or just use the instructions as inspiration.
This time I actually have no name for it, although I thought of naming it after some country combining the colors of the sauces (i.e. Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Camroon, Republic of the Congo, Grenada, Guinea, Lithuania, Mali, Senegal).

The ingredients are:

• A rustic style grain baguette.
• Sriracha.
• Wasabi sauce (Sandwich Pal).
• Yellow mustard.
• Vegetarian cocktail wieners.

You don't have to be a genius to make this sandwich, just apply the sauces to your liking, add your wieners and that's about it!
Notice that I baked mine, I prefer the taste. The wieners get a different taste after a good sear, even though it's not meat they're still just somehow better after being heated.

Close your bread and you are ready to go.
I could have added vegetables, but there were none to be found in my fridge at that point. It was a late and on a weekend and I ate them previously, but forget about my excuses, throw in some tomatoes, lettuce, even some pickles (not just cucumbers, ginger would make a great addition), or even a slice of cheese.

Corned beef sandwich for lunch

A bun with a baguette-like crust made the perfect bed for hot corned beef, served with tomatoes, cucumber slices, a dressing of mustard and tahini, at Rothschild Cafe.

Add some friends from work and a cold soda (carbonated water) with slices of lime, and you get a fun break in the midst of an unpleasant day.

Although in a perfect world this sandwich would offer more meat, I found it to be quite satisfying and just in the right amount to make my hunger magically disappear - yet not leaving me bloated and sleepy.

The original sandwich was supposed to have sauerkraut in it, and mayo instead of the tahini, but I made my choices. This composition seemed somewhat better, and I was right.

My Breakfast Sandwich: Cervelat

Pan seared slices of smoked cervelat, on whole grain dutch bread, with yellow mustard and HP sauce.

This is the stuff that delicious heart attacks are made of.

Don't judge me, I ate some vegetables afterwards.

Have a good day.

Corned beef sandwich

Just for a moment, try to ignore this amazing sandwich.
Look at those gherkins. They tasted better than you imagine.

Now, the sandwich.
Woeber's Sandwich Pal horseradish sauce, spicy mustard, date syrup, lettuce, tomatoes, 400 grams of juicy corned beef.
All served between two slices of super fresh rye bread.

Again, you read the letters, you make words in your head, your imagination starts working overtime.
Yet again, you can't even imagine how amazing this sandwich was.

Food porn? YES.
Me being a tease? Well, no. I'm dying for one of these right now and I'm at work, pretty far away, it's scorching hot outside, this place discontinued their delivery service and I'm as miserable as you probably are.

Food thoughts: Italian stuff and sandwiches

Something is terribly wrong with the way Domino's make cheesy bread around here. It's dry, not cheesy enough and the dips are not that great either. At first I hoped it was a one time thing but after a few orders I realized this is just the way they prepare it and that sucks.

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I was stuck at work and hungry as hell. Someone said they're ordering from a place I hate - there was not choice, it was either that or starving. I went for the pasta deal, hoping it will suck less than the other stuff I've tried. To my surprise it was pretty good, the salad was fresh and its vinaigrette sauce was heavenly; the pasta was cooked to perfection with a sauce that resembled a home made sauce with rich flavors of fresh tomatoes; there was freshly bottled lemonade, a bun that came in handy for the sauce that was left, some butter and a lemon muffin for desert. The grated parmesan was fresh and rich in flavor (I used it on both the pasta and the salad), and there was even a stick of butter that also complimented the bun. As if that wasn't enough, it wasn't even expensive!

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Pesto and mustard, corned beef, in a sweet sesame roll. There were bits of kabanos (Polish smoked dry sausage) on the side, and some disgusting olives. The sandwich was okay but I was promised this places is incredible. It wasn't. 

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Just some roast beef in a baguette with tomatoes and mustard. Nothing special to look at but sure felt good in my mouth.

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This pizza was dry, with a taste of burned even. The roquette and arugula mix was not fresh at all, it might have been just old or overheated in the oven. This pizza was an epic fail.

Food porn: pizza and meats

I gladly present four dishes I'd love to eat each and every day + one I don't ever want to see again.

Enjoy!

A new place called Kababa - a word play on kabab (kebab an Arab word for skewed meat) and baba (father) is now serving chicken shawarma alongside veal doner and a variety of skewers. All of the above might sound very old-school and hardcore but the place is operated like a McDonald's, with trays, brand paper cups and lots of employees to take your order and put it into a touch screen computer. Also: the meat is cut by a robot!

8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8

Thin crust pizza with pineapple, corn and eggplants. It was awesome when it was hot but half an hour later it became tasteless. Seriously, it went from being a great pizza into cardboard just like that.

8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8

This never came near my mouth but I just had to take a photo. I'm not a fan of meatballs or minced stuff in general. It sure smelled good but still - I feel bad just looking at it.

8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8

A slice from a nearby Sbarro with a side of grape drink. This is a personal favorite that goes back to childhood. This specific branch was closed several weeks after I took the photo :(

8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8

These gherkins alone are amazing but that whole meal is just mind-blowing. Turkey pastrami, corned beef, mustard cut with date syrup, it was like a miracle in my mouth. All that and an ice cold can of Dr Pepper.

Food porn: pizza and stuff

Back with another batch!

I'm kinda hungry cos I've yet eaten today and it's past lunch time. These pictures are killing me so I'll get this over with and run out to grab something.

Enjoy!

Grilled cheese bagel with pesto sauce, tomatoes, corn and fried eggplants. It was better than one might imagine.

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Just a plate of hummus from a place called Assaf (the name of the owner). They're really great and are easily  on the top of my favorite hummus places. There are two types of hot sauce on the table, complimentary falafel balls and relay sweet pickled cabbage that's served the moment you sit down. Their pitas are puffy and really soft.

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An amazing pastrami sandwich by Ruben. It resembles a reuben sandwich but lacks the cheese. The meat is actually somewhere between pastrami and corned-beef and it's kept in a warm humidor. It's packed with overwhelming flavor. I ordered mine with mustard, horseradish sauce, lettuce and tomatoes. They also have a pretty good turkey pastrami.

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This was actually one of the first places around to have Sriracha sauce. The pizza is so good you don't even need the sauce but still... The service is horrible but the quality of the pizza justifies a visit. This pizza is so good that it tastes amazing even after a night in the fridge - no heating.

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A new pizza place I tried offered free toppings so it was hard to refuse. The pizza itself was pretty much okay but the cherry tomatoes and the mushrooms were pretty great. I will order the hell out of this pizza.