Ruby & Rach @ DJ’s Food Hall – Sydney CBD NSW

Jurisdiction: American

Outcome: Jury’s still out

Ratio decidendi: If you do visit, stick to the Reuben or the Rachel.

Scope of inquiry: Reuben ($14), Rachel ($14), Breakfast Bagel ($10)

Case Note: Assessed as a sandwich (I can feel your quizzical looks, just stay with me here), the Rachel scores well. You get the initial crunch from the lightly toasted rye which is followed up with a juicy combination of wagyu pastrami, slaw, swiss cheese and Russian dressing.  Assessed as a Rachel however, I find the flavour of the pastrami heavily muted by the slaw and Russian dressing, dropping points in the process. I’d enjoy it so much more if the pastrami played a more prominent role – any chance we could dial up the meat ratio Mr Gibson?

The breakfast bagel (toasted with pastrami, two eggs and swiss cheese) looked good on paper but disappointed. The eggs and pastrami seemed to have spent way too much time on the hot plate – the end product being rather dry and uninspiring which was made very apparent by the absence of any sauce to try and bind it all together. Non-negatives (I wouldn’t go so far as to say they were positives) were a well toasted bagel and stringy swiss cheese. I do wonder whether I would have enjoyed the bagel if simply consumed with just the cheese.

Obiter Dicta: My breakfast bagel experience may have been somewhat prejudiced by a novice-looking employee on the stove. From her body language she reminded me very much of the time I had to fill in on the breakfast shift at Maccas without any sort of training. A more experienced service staff member eventually took over but perhaps the damage had been done. I’d go during the ‘shoulder’ period around 2pm when the peak lunch crowd has faded but Tony Gibson is still manning the plate.

Ruby and Rach are widely regarded as having one of the best (if not the best) Reubens in Sydney. While they certainly make a good Reuben (based on my experience when they were back at Strattons Hotel), I personally prefer Bowery Lane’s rendition where the salt/corned beef features more prominently (similar to my gripe above with the Rachel) .