It is rare that I will ever rave about a sandwich. My grandfather was a master sandwich maker, though he never went pro, and my family speaks of him with an awe reserved for NFL players and Nobel Prize winners. He would pile meat upon cheese upon bread, always applying the prefect amount of condiment (mustard/mayo/ketchup), until there was what could only be described as the perfect sandwich, not too dry, not too wet, and with a balance of flavors and aromas that would inevitably make the mouth water. Unfortunately no one else in my family was able to imitate such genius, and as such I have never had a love for the simple art of sandwich making, until very recently.
While I have no love of sandwiches I do have a weakness for pastrami. As a child my mother would fry some up in a pan and toss it down in front of me. No mustard, no bun, just greasy cuts of deli meat which I would quickly devour. So when I stumbled across the Rubicon Deli on my way home from a particularly long run it crossed my mind that perhaps it was time to rediscover my joy of pastrami, be it in sandwich form or not.A week later my fiancé and I managed to find a parking spot on Mission Street, a miricale as it was just a bit past noon, and went inside. The interior is what I would call fast food trendy: Bright colors, hard seats, and pictures of surfers on the wall, but definetly clean and inviting. Having slept late I was in no mood for dithering so I got in line and went strait up to the counter to give my order. I knew instantly what I wanted, the Half Pound Dom Pastram, and despite my
normal aversion to pickles I found myself holding my tongue and getting them in the sandwich. My fiancé knowing that I am a bit of an ass when I'm hungry quickly ordered the Achin' for Bacon. We also got chips, no french fries at this place, and a drink. Sorry no fountain drinks here, you can either get something from their fridge, which ranges from milk to Mexican Coke, or they have iced tea, sweet tea, which I recommend as it isn't too sweet, and lemonade with free refills. Then we sat down.I was only halfway done with my chips when the food was brought out. Feeling a bit self conscious about the sheer amount of food I'd consumed over the holiday I decided to order only a half, but as you can see the Rubicon's half is more than most sandwich places' full. I took a bite, waiting for the acidic taste of pickle to overcome the taste of pastrami, but something strange happened. I could taste pickle, but there was a decided lack of brine in the bite. I took another bite , this time making sure to grab a hunk of pickle as I did, and it was the most amazing thing. The pickle tasted good, really good. The pickle added to the overall flavor of the sandwich as opposed to overpowering it. The pickle was so good it actually distracted me from the pastrami for a second, but only for a second. My next few bites were filled with confidence and it became a bit of a challenge to slow down and enjoy the combination of pastrami, swiss, sauerkraut, pickle, onion, and yellow mustard on garlic cheese bread. I paused halfway through to take a bite of my fiance's sandwich. In it was turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and avocado on pesto flavored bread. Personally I would have added a dash more mayo, but her sandwich was great, with a hearty portion of turkey and bacon in the middle.
I finished off my sandwich and the rest of my fiance's, wolfed down the chips, which also tasted great, and was left with a little chocolate chip cookie. I don't want to sound like a cookie snob, but I like my chocolate chip cookies with a bit more give, or flavor. This in store made chocolate chip was definitely head and shoulders above the stuff you find in the stores, but I still found it a bit dry and lacking in flavor. Still, I'll never complain too much about a free chocolate chip cookie, no matter how small it might have been.Walking out the front door to a street filled with surfer types and late risers I smiled. Now that was a great sandwich, one even my grandfather would have enjoyed.
-Dedicated to the memory of Robert Brandon
The Rubicon Deli
3819 Mission Blvd.
San Diego CA, 92109
858-488-DELI
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