French Dip Review at Roosevelt Ale House, Seattle, WA

Setting the Stage

I was hanging with my buddy Garth and we went to his neighborhood bar to have lunch.  The Sounders were playing on TV (lost).

Tasting Notes

Jus 4, rich and flavorful
Sandwich small, low of meat and onion
Steak knife provided
I assume to cut your sandwich in half, which I did
With Garth
Saw his neighbor Donavan who I know as a pm
Sounders playoff
Good, yet weird beef 3
Sandwich has goat cheese taste 0
Jus 2 tastes bad
Is it a zero?
Tastes like goat cheese
Onions taste like shit
Sandwich alone 1
Terrible flavor 0
Small size 5"
Better without jus 0
Fail 0 terrible
Salad lettuce only 2, dressing good 4, overall 3

Summary

Jus 4 of 5

Meat 3 of 5

Non-Meat Toppings 0 of 5 Bad onions and bad taste

Bread 2 of 5

Overall 0 of 5  I hated this sandwich, wasn't impressed.

French Dip at Gere-a-Deli, Anacortes, WA

Setting the Stage

I was out Christmas shopping with my dad for my mom.  It was a fun trip.  We went to Burlington to Best Buy and picked up a bunch of fun electronics like a Google Home and a new HDTV.  We were on our way back and it was lunchtime.  Gere-a-Deli it was: an Anacortes favorite for sure and I hadn't eating their French dip since becoming a professional viewer five years prior.

Gere-a-Deli is great and has a wonderful feel.  Like I said, it's an institution in Anacortes and deserves the acclaim.  

The French dip, however, (I got the 6" variety) is a nice sandwich but just not all that delicious.  Thanks to Gere-a-Deli for a very high quality experience but please do a little research into adding a horseradish option, a cheese option a more flavorful jus.

Tasting Notes

Green skewers
Light colored jus
Nice looking beef
Not necessarily buttered
3 across the board
Light jus

Summary

Bread 3.5 of 5 Nice but nothing too fancy or interesting, not buttered, I don't think.

Meat 3 of 5 Nice amount but not overly flavorful.

Non-Meat Toppings Nothing else with this.

Jus 3 of 5 Fine taste and hot but pretty light as well and didn't really seem to special.

Overall 3 of 5 Gere-a-Deli does a great job but this sandwich lacks luster, flavor and features.

French Dip at Island Cafe, Anacortes, WA

Setting the Stage

I was home for the holidays and found myself between ferries.  My brother, Adam, had told me I needed to check out the French Dip at Island Cafe, so I did.  

I showed up and didn't know what to think.  I had expected it wouldn't be that nice of a place but it really was nice and clean and welcoming inside.  There were nice waitresses and a few locals and it just seemed like a nice, casual place to be.  And it was really clean.  

I had the French dip and was pleasantly surprised and I guess happy to learn that their French dip was better than that of Gere-a-Deli, another A-Town staple, which I'd had days prior.  Good job Island Cafe for a nice French dip sandwich!

Tasting Notes

Side salad looks good 4, big, cold, good croutons, tomatoes, red onion
Salad so big I want ready for the fd
Sandwich alone 4, nice beef flavor
Pretty good size
Roast beef looked dry but is fairly, tender, good saltiness, jucy
Jus for, hot, floaters, 4
Beef not stacked as high as Gere a deli but better flavor overall
Chewy and soft, well Toasted
Enough jus
No skewers
Garnished with dill pickle chips and red onion slices
Salad a bit too wet
Better than Gere a deli's overall

Summary

Bread 3 of 5 Didn't look that great but was fine.

Meat 4 of 5 For really good beef flavor and a good amount.

Non-Meat Toppings Didn't have any and that's okay.  Keep it simple, stupid.

Jus 4 of 5 As it was hot and had some floating bits of taste.

Overall 4 of 5 Beats the FD at Gere-A-Deli with its tasty beef flavor, good salad and nice jus.

Normandy Park Ale House Beef Dip

I was going to meet up with my neighbor and pal Dave Niederkrome who owns and operates the Normandy Park Ale House.  I hadn't spent much time in Nomandy Park (near SEATAC Airport) before.  Coincidentally I had another business meeting in the area beforehand so this worked out quite well.  Dave had been on my podcast previously and is an expert in business finance.

Here it is.  It's a lovely building in a strip mall and very nice inside as well.  It had a good, neighborhoody vibe and nice waitstaff and patrons.

It's called the Beef Dip there.  Dave and I were chatting and I figured I'd move forward with the review.

It came with fries and the jus was unique.  It could have been augmented via larger bread and skewers in the bread to let me know it was fancy and tasty.

The size was not huge.

But the meat and flavor were good.

Tasting Notes

Thanks to Dave for his graciousness and kind spirit.

The sandwich was average sized.
The jus was sweet and had a distinct, nice flavor. 
Nice Macrina (local bakery) bread but not large.
The taste overall was great.
It had a nice cayenne taste.
This sandwich gets a 4 of 5 overall. 

Thanks, Dave, for the opportunity to visit your very nice establishment and best of luck on all of your pursuits.