3 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Good) Awarded to Crossroads Bar and Grill for their French Dip Sandwich in Bellevue, WA on this 26th day of September, 2011 - Angus beef with Horseradish Mayo on Ciabatta

Setting the scene

Met up with my buddy, JP, for Happy Hour after work at Crossroads Bar & Grill.  Was planning on just having drinks, but low and behold, I started talking about French Dip Reviews and I felt inclined to review one.  It’s becoming quite an anti-social endeavor: I geek out reviewing the thing and wind up having to take pictures and notes while I’m also trying to engage in conversation.  Oh well, the woes of a working stiff!

I’d seen this dip on the menu a few weeks back and wanted to try it.  I like this place in general and their deep seemed fancy.

 

 

 

 

 

    

Menu and Ordering

No problems here.  “"Thinly sliced certified Angus beef stacked high on a Ciabatta roll with melted provolone cheese, horseradish mayo and au jus for dipping.  $14.99"  Seemed a bit steep and it’s not prime rib, just Angus, which I figured would be good.  The Ciabatta was new and the horseradish mayo added an exciting flare to it.

Plate

The salad was pretty good: good greens and a “balsamic bleu cheese” dressing that was quite good, although I put too much on accidentally…be warned.

Looked like a good dip, the au jus smelled good, the portion not the largest, especially for $15.

Skewer method

First of my reviewed dips with a classic “frilly toothpick” skewer.

Bread

The Ciabatta was interesting.  Don’t feel like I’ve ever had a dip on Ciabatta.  It was a reasonable soft bread with no crunch but it did a good job of sopping up the jus. 

Meat

The Angus beef was fine.  Definitely served medium.  JP suggested that I ask the wait staff “when was the meat cooked” so I can get a sense of how fresh / important the meet is.  I agree.  The meat was a bit chewy and course but not bad.

Non-meat toppings

This had the horseradish mayo on it with added some flavor although not overpowering and it also had provolone on it.  I didn’t taste the provolone, although it probably added moisture, which wasn’t necessary.

Au Jus

The jus was good and hot.  Good taste, rather dark in color.  No complaints.

Portion

The portion was rather small (like the size of a small hamburger) and for $15 I might complain.

Overall dip

Overall, the dip was good.  It was tasty.  The horseradish mayo was very faint although added some degree of interestingness.

Other (fun?) stuff while there

Got to drink a couple of Boundary Bay IPAs, which are very good and had great conversation with JP about French Dips, technology, Microsoft, relationships, travel, The 4 Hour Work Week, and entrepreneurship.

Summary

It’s a pretty good dip overall but the horseradish may isn’t interesting enough and the size is a bit small.

	Score (0-5)	Comments
Bread	3	Ciabatta was an interesting touch but too small.  Absorbed the jus well, though.
Meat	2	Angus beef but so what.  It was kind of dry and tough and well done.
Au Jus	4	Good, dark, flavorful.
Overall	3	Pricy, small size, some interesting tweaks in the Ciabatta and horseradish mayo but just average in total.

Reason to go back: Not for this sandwich.  They have good beers and the ambiance in here is pretty good generally.  Nice to have a good old bar around Bellevue with pretty good eats.  JP liked his macaroni and cheese with bacon pasta.

5 of 5 DeliciScore™ (From Heaven) Awarded to Gere-a-Deli for their French Dip Sandwich in Anacortes, WA on this 26th day of September, 2011 - Adam's Gere-a-Deli French dip w/ cheddar: get a BOWL of jus!

Gere-a-Deli's a great, popular, long-standing Anacortes staple.

My brother, Adam, ordered a BOWL of jus to manage the risk of outage.

Review: "Good bread, good meat, good jus, cheese was mild but pleasant, atmosphere nice, the previous sandwich [at Island Cafe] was larger and crispier. This was a solid product. 5."

The queue is building and friends are pinging me hard with pictures and requests to review

The last 24 hours has been hilarious with respect to my French dip blog.  People seem to be liking it.  My friend Charlotte, who's a food stylist, promoted the blog on her Facebook and I got a lot of traffic and interest from that.  Thanks, Charlotte!

Brian and Lindsay's SMS messages (and Lindsay's review)!

Brian and Lindsay having a dip at Emory's in Everett.

The SMS texts that followed:

Lindsay: I don't have much to compare it to, since this is my first FD [French Dip] in years but here goes:

Me: Nice

Lindsay: Cheese garlic bread with prime rib meat.  Great bread that was crunchy enough to add texture but not get too soggy when dunked.  Cheese/garlic added a nice touch without being overpowering.  Nice balance

Me: Lol

Lindsay: Meat was good.  Didn't notice any big fat chunks.  Probably cooked medium.  One order was enough for two people $16.25.  [Au] Jus was room temp but very tasty.  Beefy, not too salty, nice balance.

Woo hoo!  My first review from someone other than me!

Colin's SMS message

My buddy Colin sent me this pic from his phone for my reference.  Thanks, Colin, I'll check it out!

Adam and Angie's SMS message last night

My brother, Adam, sent me this pic.  My response:

Me: Angus, where's that?

Adam: Island Cafe in Anacortes [via picture]

Me: Yes.  I want pics and a full writeup!  Make it happen.

[Hasn't yet happened...he and I will have to talk!!]

Brad via Email

He Eric,
I consumed a french dip sandwedge [Brad is joking, he knows how to spell sandwich] last evening at the Alger Tavern. I would like to write a review on it.
Thanks

Brad

So I'll have to get Brad up and running!

Anyways, it's been funny the interest and attention I'm getting.  Hope you enjoy!

I now own a stuffed animal: Mr. French Dip

2011-09-22_21-11-30_958, a photo by ejveal on Flickr.

My sweet friend Nancy gave me a blue, stuffed hippo chef with a big that says Mr. French Dip.  He says only one thing, "MMM!!".

Fun. Thanks, Nancy!

French Dip Review: Canyons, Redmond, WA. Prime rib and provolone are yummy!, 5 of 5

Setting the Scene

Jessica's dad was in town and we weren't feeling like bar food, so we went to Canyons, a reasonably decent restaurant in downtown Redmond.  I wasn't planning on reviewing a French dip, but the conversation about my new hobby came up and I figured I may as well.  I used Jessica's phone, the Motorola ATRIX 4G, which has a flash, to take the pictures and I think they turned out pretty well.  I hope you enjoy this, my third French dip review (it's starting to become routine!)

Menu and Ordering

This isn’t just a dip, it’s a Prime Rib Dip, which is special.  The price was $13.99.  They had bottomless fries or potato chips, but I opted to sub for the salad for a 99 cents with Bleu Cheese dressing, which is my staple.

Plate

The salad it was served with was pretty good except it was iceberg lettuce, not a favorite of mine.  Besides that it had good, chunky bleu cheese, good tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions (which I love on salads), good croutons, and some small shavings of cabbage and carrot.  Good-sized salad, rather large for a starter salad.



The dip looked excellent when it was served.  The meat looked very meaty and the bread was beautiful.  You can see from the photo that it has a sheen to it.  I was very impressed.  And the melted provolone looked really good.  I was excited!  The overall portion looked quite good as well.  The bread was rather wide.  You’ll note that the Au Jus looks a little empty and I later ran into problems with this.

Skewer method

No skewer in this bad boy.

Bread

This bread was really lovely and tasted good.  Firm and crunchy.  The sheen is what really made it for me.

Meat

This was the first prime rib dip that I’d reviewed.  It was worth it.  Tender, medium rare.  Not fatty at all, which was good.  Lean.

Non-meat toppings

For the first time in any of my reviews, the cheese actually added something!  The provolone was mild but it’s hearty texture gave the sandwich a little something extra.

Au jus

The au jus was fair.  Overall it was pretty good but nothing to really write home about.  The portion was too small.  As I neared the end of the jus, I asked the waitress for more, which took quite a while to get more.  I had to wait with a portion of my dip for the refill to arrive, which is a strike against.  Some visible fat in the au jus, which I think is a sign of a good one.  Mild flavor, not overly salty and not too dark.

Portion

The portion was perfect.  A bit on the bigger side, which I don’t mind.  The bread, as I mentioned before was wide.

Overall dip

Overall, this was a very good sandwich.  Wonderful and pretty bread, really good medium-rare prime rib, delicious and hearty provolone, and pretty good au jus.  The only complaint would be the au jus, which was good but not great, wasn’t enough, and the refill didn’t come in time.

Other (fun?) stuff while there

The ambiance in here’s not bad.  It was reasonably crowded and looked like other folks were having a good time.  They serve an interesting blend on the menu from a Thai Peanut Chicken Wrap to Ribs, Steaks, Burritos, and Pastas.

Summary

Overall, this was a good dining experience.  Everyone I was with enjoyed their meal and I got to review another (very good) French dip.

	Score (0-5)	Comments
Bread	5	Very good looking, good tasting, big.
Meat	5	Really nice looking and tasting medium-rare prime rib!
Au Jus	4	Good, mild, not too dark, not top shelf.
Overall	5	Great dip, great bread, provolone, and meat.

Reason to go back: a really great dip, other fun food.

3 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Good) Awarded to Arby's for their French Dip Sandwich in Redmond, WA on this 15th day of September, 2011 - Arby’s French Dip and Swiss: Meh. Get Two.

Setting the scene

It’s Arby’s.  Nothing to write home about (besides Arby’s Sauce and delicious roast beef sandwiches).  I wasn’t looking forward to this French dip but I felt obliged to do it, simply because it is very obvious and probably quite popular as a nationwide phenomenon.

So I went to my local Arby’s and threw down on a French Dip and Swiss.  At the time of writing this, EIGHT people liked this on Facebook.  I would hazard a guess that probably 80,000 actually like it but 79,992 are embarrassed to admit it.  Here’s my review!


Logo on their garbage cans.  Woo hoo!  Let’s eat this!!!

Menu and Ordering

It’s Arby’s.  Who cares.  I ordered the thing.  I will admit, sadly, though, that I watched them spray the au jus out of some hot water heater thing.  Like maybe even added boiling water to a powder in front of my eyes?  It didn’t make the au jus in a styrofoam cup look any more delicious, gourmet, or very well cared for.


I got some Jalepeno poppers with it because the other options didn’t entice me.  Total cost with a beverage: $7.03.

Plate 

They threw in some “Bronco Berry Sauce” for my poppers.  WTF is Bronco Berry Sauce?  The au jus comes with a sheath for your protection.


I unwrapped the items.  The Bronco Berry Sauce looked interesting.  The dip looked small.  The au jus was steaming and smelled pretty good.  I had an ice-cold sugar free lemonade.  I was generally looking forward to this but the dip looked so small!

Skewer method

No skewers were injured (or used) in the making of this dip.  Like the au jus shield, Arby’s customers are not to be trusted with hot or pointy things!

Bread

I was actually reasonable impressed with the bread.  It was nicely toasted.  Not too soft.  Not too hard.  It soaked up the au jus nicely.  There was not enough of it.

Au jus

The au jus was hot, pretty tasty but nothing to write home about, and JUST BARELY ENOUGH.  It seriously GOT DOWN TO THE WIRE with this au jus but was BARELY able to cross the finish line with me.  Phew!

Meat

Arby’s is known for its roast beef.  There wasn’t a ton on here but it was pretty good / what you’d expect: thin-sliced, meaty, good.  Probably not enough / I got my $3.99 (sandwich no meal) worth.

Non-meat toppings

Arby’s markets the French Dip and Swiss.  There aren’t onions on this, thanks God.  The Swiss cheese is processed and only serves the purpose of an unnecessary lubricant for a meal that becomes very well lubricated by the jus.

Portion

Too small.  I would recommend to anyone that if they’re going to go this route in their French dip quest that they GET TWO (2)!!!!!!!!

Overall dip

Overall the dip was pretty good.  The bread was good.  The Arby’s beef was good.  The cheese is to be forgotten.  The au jus was hot and JUST ENOUGH.  The portion was too small and I should have gotten two.

Other (fun?) stuff while there

The Jalepeno poppers were not fun.  They were cream cheese filled, fatty and unnecessary.  Slightly spicy but not really.  The Bronco Berry Sauce –in looking at the ingredients—had no berries in it but looked like jelly.  It behaved and tasted more like Sweet & Sour sauce.  Forget these and stick with fries or potato wedges or some such thing.

Arby’s Sauce IS TO DIE FOR.  Die for it.  What you really want at Arby’s is 500 Jr. Roast Beef sandwiches with 1,000 Arby’s Sauces.  Nothing (maybe not even the world’s best French dip? (Sacrilege, I know)) tops Arby’s Sauce.  (So succulent and delicious).



Their logo is a cowboy hat.  How fun.  My friend Brian thinks that Arby’s is total white trash.  I disagree.  I think they have some nice options and I completely LOVE dipping ANYTHING into zesty, tangy, succulent Arby’s Sauce.



And their French Dip with Swiss, although small and carrying unnecessary cheese, ain’t half bad for the $3.99 price tag.  Remember: Get 2!

	Score (0-5)	Comments
Bread	2	Surprisingly good but not enough.
Meat	2	Small portion, not exciting.
Au Jus	1	Hot and salty but not that great. From a powder.
Overall	3	Good value. Basic staple.

Reason to go back: it's Arby's, it's cheap, it's good enough, you could get some Arby's sauce!!!

4 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Great) Awarded to Maggie Bluffs Marina Grill for their French Dip Sandwich in Seattle, WA on this 11th day of September, 2011 - The First Official French Dip Review

I have been really excited to do my first official French dip review.  I asked my Facebook friends if they had any recommendations of where to start my quest and Spencer Chan suggested that I try the dip at Maggie Bluff's in the Magnolia area of Seattle.  I'd been to Maggie's one time before and remember having enjoyed the experience.  Here's my review of the dip there.

Setting the scene

Jessica and I showed up at dinnertime on a sunny summer Saturday night.  It was a beautiful, warm evening and Maggie Bluff's (MB's from now on) was pretty busy..but the wait wasn’t long at all.  We were seated immediately. 
Many people were out on the patio enjoying food, drinks, and conversation in the sun, looking out onto Elliott Bay Marina and beyond it, Elliott Bay, Mt. Rainier, and the Seattle skyline.

Menu

The menu was well laid out.  There were a lot of other things that looked good as well.  Jessica got the chipotle steak tacos.
I got the French dip of course, which included by default Swiss cheese and grilled onions.  In general, I don’t prefer getting the cheese and onions, as I find them superfluous, but I got them for the purposes of consistency.  (See the rating system page.)  The bread was from local bakery, Macrina Bakery. 

Plate

The food was quick to arrive and looked very good on presentation.  I was stoked to get the tots but torn having to choose between those and garlic fries.

Skewer method

They used a quite and nice bamboo twisty on each roll.

Bread

The bread was very good and pillowy in texture but not too soft.  It soaked up the juice nicely and was delicious in general.

Au jus

Served in a nice white ramekin.  An insufficient amount arrived initially but it was the right temperature and very tasty so I dove in.  When I had depleted my first helping, I asked for more, which promptly arrived and was equally good.
 

Meat

The meat was good.  Standard roast beef it appeared that was tasty enough.

Non-Meat Toppings

The swiss cheese was good and added some flavor.  The grilled onions were not too many.  I did not notice the onions much except for one bite when it crunched a bit…I kind of liked that.

Portion

The portion was very good.  There was enough of everything.  Overall I would say it was a rather large portion.

Overall dip

Overall, the dip was great.  The tots were hot and crunchy.  The dip, great.  The au jus, as you can see, had a little bit of fat in it (but not too much), which makes for tastiness!

Other fun stuff while there

I decided that I want to buy a standard poodle.  This doggie was roaming around with its owners and it was so cute.  Jessica, who’s a vet, also thought I may be interested in a Labradoodle or Goldendoodle.

They serve “Grown Up Milkshakes”, which we didn’t order but we will next time for sure!

Summary

We had a very good dining experience here and the French dip was quite good.  The au jus was very good, the bread very good, the meat, nothing to write home about, and the toppings were fine.  The options of sides was a real winner.

	Score (0-5)	Comments
Bread	4	Real good. From a local bakery.
Meat	4	Good. Nothing wrong here.
Au Jus	4	Delicious and authentic.
Overall	4	Great dining experience, setting, dip and options.

Reason to go back: the location, view, tots, and good, fresh-tasting french dip.

Let's review French Dips!!!

Hello, my name is Eric Veal and I use this site to keep track of French Dip reviews.  I *really* love French Dip sandwiches and want to provide a platform for people to get reviews.  (And provide reviews).   (And also to give me an excuse to try a lot of French Dips.