Reuben Republic, Marrickville – Rating: 19/25

Reuben Republic

With humble roots as a food stall at Double Bay and Frenchs Forest markets, Reuben Republic has now set up its headquarters in Marrickville. If pork shoulder and melt-apart pastrami sound like something you could sink your teeth into, then you’re in for a treat!

With heavy New York influence, tall Reuben sandwiches and bagels are the order of the day and there are also brand new egg-centric breakfast menu items.

Caramel milkshake

Strawberry milkshake

The milkshakes ($6.90) were standard fare. While they didn’t blow me away with any amazing ingredients or fancy flavours, they were made well and served fast & cold. The flavours are chocolate, caramel, strawberry, vanilla, espresso or wild berry. Some of these are available as smoothies too.

The next thing I’d like to see at RR is some environmentally friendlier glasses as opposed to disposable cups. This is a brand new establishment so the breakfast crowd hasn’t found it yet. You won’t have an issue finding a table and the staff are extremely helpful and friendly. The interior is clean and all very well planned. Each fitting has been chosen for a reason and it’s all very chic and cool.

Fresh juice

Freshly squeezed juice (small $5.90, large $6.90) comes in three combinations: orange (Valencia orange), tropical (pineapple, apple and orange) and apple (Granny Smith Apples).

Skim cappuccino

Flat white

While they use a signature blend at RR, I didn’t enjoy my coffee ($3.50). I found it overly milky and there were no bold flavours to speak of.

T2 tea ($4) as English Breakfast, Earl Grey, mint, pomegranate or jasmine is also available.

East coast Reuben

West coast Reuben

There’s a good chance that you or someone in your party will be ordering one of these. The signature dish at RR is the Reuben sandwich and it comes as the East coast Reuben ($12.50) or the West coast Reuben ($14.50). They both have a healthy portion of the housemade pastrami, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing. The East comes with warm sauerkraut and light rye while the West comes with ‘funky slaw’ (funky certainly isn’t a term I would use for an ingredient if I was designing a menu!) and dark rye. While both sandwiches were delectable with a stack of ingredients, I preferred not only the dark rye bread but also the coleslaw that came with it. The pastrami itself was delicious served in reasonably thick pieces that simply crumbled apart as I bit into it; amazing.

Crispy pork roll

If a roll or sandwich at RR doesn’t have pastrami on it, it will more than likely have pork shoulder. The crispy pork ($10) is a bargain for a baguette with pork, funky slaw, Russian dressing and some delectable pieces of crackling on top. The roll was overfilled which is how I like them. It gets messy but it’s well worth it! While the pork was great, it just didn’t have the flavour punch of the pastrami though. I will stick to that RR specialty every time I revisit!

That’s not to say that there aren’t other options. Any New Yorker will tell you that they’re proud of their bagels and these are on offer at RR too. They come with cream cheese ($7.50, add smoked salmon for $2.50), Reuben (pastrami, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing, $12.50) or salt beef (pastrami and Russian dressing, $10). Recently sous vide eggs have been added too which mean that there are even more breakfast options available.

So while the menu is currently small, it certainly satisfies and Reuben Republic will only go from strength to strength. Congratulations and I hope to see them prosper (and maybe even open more)!

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