The Ram

The Ram has the atmosphere of a chain brew pub restaurant with a large dining area. The service was excellent, with separate checks easily provided. The Reuben had a lot of layered corned beef on it, in thin slices. The meat seemed to me to have quite a 'packaged bologna' flavor, that didn't have any deep overtones--didn't impress me. The sauerkraut was a huge mass, almost as big as the corned beef. It wasn't drained very well, so every time I bit into the sandwich, kraut residue was dripping into my hands--didn't impress me. The sandwich had a little bit of a kick to it, as advertised, but I believe it is due to the enormous sauerkraut onslaught that provided the kick rather than the unnoticeable amounts of Havarti cheese or Thousand Island dressing. It could have used more dressing and less sauerkraut. The bread had a hard time holding up to the sandwich contents. The sandwich would have been better with less sauerkraut and a cheaper price. They delivered a large sandwich, but any value in such a large volume was offset by the outrageous price tag. They were able to provide onion rings as a side for no additional price, even though it was not mentioned on the menu. The onion rings were pretty good. Overall, the sandwich wasn't horrible, it was just overpriced for the quality of beef and imbalance of sauerkraut. If probably would not order the sandwich again.

I have previously had a couple of really good Reubens at The Ram, and always enjoyed my experiences there in the past. So I was tremendously disappointed that this outing went so poorly. 42 minutes after our arrival I still had no food, and my first Diet Coke sat empty in front of me. This was in spite of the fact that they didn't seem busy when we arrived for our reservation at 11:30, we were the only the second table seated in our group, and I'd even warned them that we'd all be having Reubens (so they wouldn't run out of ingredients). When our sandwiches finally did arrive (last of our five tables, though we were the second table seated) the kraut was completely out of control: Tom had only a strand or two, whereas I had at least enough for both of us. There was plenty of meat, which was fine, but I couldn't taste the dressing, and I could only taste the rye around the edges where the meat and kraut weren't piled so high. I couldn't taste the horseradish havarti at all, which was particularly sad because it's the distinctive feature of The Ram's Reuben. And all this for a $12 sandwich. Other than the sandwich and the slow service, it was still the same Ram experience I've enjoyed in the past: nice atmosphere, tasty Ram chips, pretty patterned china plates, metal flatware, linen napkins. The plastic "Coke" logo glasses seem out of place. The tables we sat at had drop leaves that drooped somewhat (a common problem) but were mostly functional. We ended up sitting in a long line of such tables, which limited the interaction of our large group, but that was mostly our fault: we were directed to an area where we could have sat in tables and booths around each other in a more rectangular arrangement. I must admit that I was surprised, though, that when I told them to expect a group of 24 that they didn't arrange for us to sit at prearranged tables in the back room, as they had done for a much smaller outing I'd participated in just a few days earlier. If this had been my first Ram experience, I would never go back.

Still very good taste, but I didn't really like the Havarti cheese and I would have liked more tang--probably more Thousand Island dressing. At $11, it's very expensive.

The beef to cabbage to cheese to dressing ratios were off more than a bit. It was "ok" but I could have stood for more of the signature "horseradish havarti" flavour. The sandwiches seemed to be a bit on the "thrown together" side, but that may have been due to the large size of the party. All in all, it was "OK"

It had a good taste with a little kick, and my ratios were right on for my sandwich. The meat did have a little "pre-packaged" taste to it. The was a little overpriced.

Very crisp tastes. The cheese was a little muted compared with the rye taste of the bread. The portions of meat to sauce and cheese was very well defined.

Slow service; no iced tea refill; no sauerkraut on my Reuben; weak Thousand Island dressing.

That Reuben was so wild with horseradish, I think I'd fail a drug test after eating one. I was practically hallucinating by the time I was through. They get an "A" for creativity, but when it comes to Reubens, I'd prefer to stick to the tried and true formula.

Sandwich was overstuffed so that it would not stay between bread. Lower piece of bread was so soggy it required turning over the sandwich to eat.

The sandwich did not hold together--I could not pick it up, as the dressing was too much and made the back wet. I had to eat it with a knife and fork, so it wasn't a sandwich. The sandwich also arrived warm, not hot.

The atmosphere of The Ram was as expected - that of a chain brewpub. The sandwich was offered with Horseradish-Dill Havarti and "kicked up" 1000 Island Dressing. When the sandwich arrived, it was about 2" thick at the center, with about 40% of that bulk being sauerkraut. It looked as though it had been hastily assembled, but that may be due to the large turnout. The bread was a marbled rye, but it was unevenly toasted. Biting into the sandwich proved that the Reuben's ingredients were out-of-balance. There was too much sauerkraut (and the kraut was too bland), and the cheese was entirely overpowered. Only on the margins did the flavour of the cheese stand-out, and when it stood out, it was nice. The horseradish flavour was there, but not overpowering. I would suggest that more cheese (or less kraut) be placed on the sandwich. The 1000 Island dressing was apparent, was fine, but I cannot define it as "kicked up," but as normal dressing. Overall, the sandwich was good, but the balance of ingredients needs to be revisited by the kitchen staff.

Love the generous portion of corned beef and the rye bread was exceptional. Very good balance of ingredients. The portion size was appropriate for the cost.

Too much sauerkraut.