sacha & sons, mandarin gallery.

not my first time at sacha & sons- i went when they just opened with R. it has been a while (is it a couple of years now?). i remember over-ordering (as usual) and liking everything we got, but it was the grilled reuben that i remember being particularly enamoured with. having been to katz in new york, it did measure up, but of course, new york portions are still heartier. so of course, when i decided to revisit sacha & sons, it was with the grilled reuben in mind.

came by for a weekday lunch, so the place was comfortably quiet. i got a corner table, was given a menu, and was told to order at the counter. strangely enough, though, they do charge for service- i vaguely remember that they didn't use to.



there was a set lunch available- half sandwich with half salad or soup, so that was what i went for. of course i got the grilled reuben with pastrami ($20), adding on an extra $2 for the smoked trout salad. there was a choice of either rye or brioche with the grilled reuben, and having tried the rye i decided to get the brioche (even though i really liked it with rye the other time).



turned out to be wrong choice- rye really goes much better with the grilled reuben. not that the brioche was bad, though. personal preference, i suppose. i also remembered them to be more generous with the meat- the meat-to-bread ratio this time was much less (not sure whether it's because of the thickness of the brioche?). it was still an okay grilled reuben, though. my half sandwich came with coleslaw, pickles and the smoked trout salad, all of which i liked. it was surprisingly filling. i ended up being REALLY full after the sandwich... but i'd ordered the blintzes ($12) as dessert (because i have an obsession with blinis after having really good ones in berlin, of all places).



i was expecting empty blini wraps with sour cream and homemade jam on the side, and was expecting to assemble my own wraps. what came, though, were two pillowy parcels filled stuffed with ricotta. i was really full, but it was so good that i finished all of it (and nursed a food baby). i particularly liked that it wasn't sweet. the ricotta got to be a bit much in the end, though, so i left some of it. surprisingly enough i really liked the homemade jam. usually i leave jams untouched, but this one was different- more sour than sweet, adding acidity.



what i didn't like, though, was the service. i probably spent ten minutes waving and trying to get their attention so that i could get them to refill my water and serve dessert, before i gave up and went over to the counter. i managed to get a waitress's attention once (she looked in my direction and nodded) but she got distracted by a complaining customer, and never remembered to get back to me. it's ridiculous to be paying for service and yet be getting none- that's one of my pet peeves.

still, the blintzes were good enough to warrant a return. it's really hard to get blinis in singapore, i realise, so i'll take what i can get. it reminded me of what i had in a polish restaurant, but it was labelled as polish pancakes there. i'd probably share it next time, though- it's way too much for one person (even a glutton like me).


sacha & sons
mandarin gallery
#03-02
http://sacha-deli.com.sg