BEEF. It’s what’s for Dinner.

Literally, but let’s start at the beginning of the night. After venturing out to Allston to finally try Pho Viet’s banh mi, we were extremely disappointed when the woman behind the counter told us they were all out of sandwiches. This is the SECOND time this has happened to me. I promised Div I would give them one more chance, but come on, Tuesday night at 7 PM and you’re out of banh mi? Trying to think of sandwich places close by, we drove by Michael’s Deli (an Anthony Bourdain hot spot), only to find that it closes at 5:30 on weekdays.

I remembered a few friends telling me about the Brookline Spa, so we decided to check it out. Expecting a fancy, pretentious sub shop, we were pleasantly surprised by the casual, college-style deli. Although the other five customers in the shop were all dressed in gym clothes, this didn’t deter us from grabbing a six pack of Long Trail and skipping over the healthy options (salads, wraps and a section called “healthy choice sandwiches”). One board displayed a list of top 25 sandwiches, so we ended up choosing the Reuben and the Rajin Cajun.

Normally, I’d say it’s difficult to compare a hot sandwich with a cold one. In this case, I can easily say that the Reuben is miles better than the Rajin. The Reuben is served hot on marble rye bread with grilled corn beef, sauerkraut, Russian dressing and swiss cheese. The flavors come together pretty nicely, the sauerkraut and melted swiss cheese standing out in front of the other ingredients. The Rajin Cajun is served cold on a nondescript sub roll with seasoned roast beef, pepper jack cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. Oddly enough, the tomatoes are chopped into cubes instead of slices and placed right on top of the sub. Although a condiment lover, I was disappointed that the horseradish mustard overpowered the entire sandwich. Div pointed out that if you tried the roast beef by itself, you could taste the Cajun spice in which it had been seasoned. Unfortunately in the sandwich, the mustard completely took over all other flavors. Overall the sandwiches didn’t live up to their hype, but they were enjoyable nonetheless…especially with our Long Trails. I’m still intrigued to try the other 23 sandwiches on the Spa’s top 25 list, so if you have one that you live by, let me know.