Tuesday, October 2, 2012

4 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Great) Awarded to Wilde Rover for their Turkey Dip Sandwich in Kirkland, WA on this 2nd day of October, 2012 - Turkey Dipper

I was meeting my friend Rob for lunch at the Wilde Rover today.  I decided to enjoy a beer while I was waiting for him to show him.  I had a Newcastle Brown Ale which is good, but it's no Mac & Jack's African Amber, which Rob had when he showed up.  Oh well, a beer's a beer.

They have a lunch menu.  That's nice.

I had thought about Fish and Chips but then I saw the "Weekday Lunch Trio" option, which was pretty nice.  And one of the options was the Turkey Dipper.  I have to have the dipper.  So I asked the waiter what was on or with the dipper and he said that it had cheese and mushrooms on it and a poultry broth that you dipped it into and that it was popular so I was interested in getting it.  I got that and a cup of the Northwest Seafood Chowder.

Here's my Newcastle Brown Ale in a Guinness mug.  I don't really like Guinness (too thick) but I did have it once with Blackcurrant syrup at Fado in Seattle and it was quite good.  (FYI)

This picture might not do it justice but overall I was pretty impressed when this was served.  It was on a shiny, clean, nice plate.  It came with soda bread and my soup looked pretty good.  The sandwich looks kind of small from this angle but it was actually pretty good-sized for being a half size.  The jus impressed me as well.  This may be the first non-beef jus I've even had!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The meat looked fine and the mushrooms were good, too (mushrooms not overly fancy but good, especially for a mushroom lover like me).

The bread they served it on was very nice; it seemed home made.  It was perfectly absorbent.  The meat was not overly dry like turkey can be, nor was it overly salty or deli-like.  The bread was finished with a dusting of flour, which made it seem fancy and substantial.

The color and flavor of the semi-thick jus was quite good.  It was very fun to be dipping and dunking my sandwich into a non-standard juice.  

The cup of Northwest Seafood Chowder was also quite good.  The cute little baby potatoes in it were excellent and the flavor was very good as well.  It may have been just slightly too salty but I was very pleased with it overall.

You can see that the bread soaked up the jus well and has a nice texture.  The mushrooms were pretty good but could possibly have been made to look better.  The turkey was fine and mild, a good break from beef, beef, beef.

Summary

4 of 5.  This was very good.  It wasn't a 5 because it was just not quite gourmet enough but it was a very excellent, fine sandwich.

Points for: mushrooms, great bread, a healthy serving size for a half, good turkey, non-beef jus, that they went out on a limb with a non-standard dip option that people apparently like, nice lunch options, serving it alongside good soda bread and soft butter.

Negative points for: the mushrooms could have been prettier, thicker, meatier; the turkey could have been more thick or robust; the jus should have been a little hotter but I could have just been talking for too long before I dove into it; the cheese if it was there wasn't really noticeable but it was fine.