Kosher Blog

Rubin’s new “Gourmet” menu

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had a chance to try several of the wraps featured on Rubin’s new “Gourmet” menu. The menu — made up of innovative wraps and salads — is a nice change from standard deli sandwiches. However, the individual items (priced at $9.99 and served with pickles) range from terrific to terrible.

PILGRIM WRAP
Sliced turkey, bread stuffing, and cranberry sauce: a favorite combination of mine, but this isn’t the best execution. Stuffing was concentrated on one end of the wrap and turkey on the other, leaving me with lopsided bites. Rubin’s stuffing, as usual, is tasty, but too homogenous to be spectacular. This wrap ought to be served with piping hot gravy on the side.

CHICKEN CAESAR WRAP
Lettuce, grilled chicken, croutons, and Caesar dressing. Another lopsided execution, with the dressing concentrated at one end. Grilled chicken tasted too much like charcoal, which scant dressing couldn’t mask.

THAI CHICKEN WRAP
Greens, shredded carrots, grilled chicken, and peanut sauce. The best wrap we’ve had so far, and we’ve had it several times already. Perfect proportions of ingredients, and great flavor from the peanut sauce. Only improvement would be to offer a drizzle of hot sauce for added kick.

TERIYAKI CHICKEN WRAP
Rice, sauteed chicken, broccoli, carrots, and “teriyaki” sauce. The worst wrap of the bunch. Couldn’t finish it due to copious amounts of sickeningly sweet sauce that exhibited no “teriyaki” flavor at all. Also, too much rice and not enough chicken.

ROAST BEEF TARRAGON WRAP
Roast beef, asparagus, and tarragon mayonaisse. A good choice, but it all depends on the doneness of that day’s roast beef. Ours was rare and delicious. Asparagus was nicely cooked: not soggy, not too crisp. Tarragon gives some subtle, but out-of-the-ordinary zip.

TURKEY COBB WRAP
Sliced turkey, greens, tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, grilled pastrami, avocado. Not bad, but too much going on in this one wrap. Textures of egg and avocado are too similar for use together. Pastrami lacks the smokiness and crispness that bacon usually provides in a Cobb salad.

In addition to this gourmet wrap/salad menu, Rubin’s reports that they’re introducing a “steakhouse” menu soon, which will include “upscale steak entrees such us prime rib, veal marsala, rack of lamb, sea bass, and new chicken & duck entrees.” While these new entrees sound delicious, and I appreciate their desire to fill a critical niche, the hard fact is that Rubin’s ambience just doesn’t allow for “upscale.” Their rib steak is delicious, but it’s hard to enjoy a $27 dinner plate with kids running around, neon signs glaring, and neighboring tables practically on top of you. It makes for a kitschy deli, but a terrible “upscale steakhouse.” For $30, I want upscale service, upscale ambience, upscale china, and upscale wine selection — not just upscale food.

So, enjoy the new wraps and salads, and let’s hope that Rubin’s survives its identity crisis.