French Dip Review: Bastion Brewing Company, Anacortes, WA

Their menu and FD.  I got the one with brisket.  I was a bit spooked by the term "BBQ au jus" which I would later come to fine was indeed just BBQ sauce, which was a major disappointment and slight.  No one messes with baby... I mean E's jus.

 

This looked like quite a sandwich.  I didn't order this one.  This is not the French dip.

So I sat at the bar.  I was there because my brother likes this place and I was getting him a little something something for Christmas.

This was the Hazy Pale, which was quite good; 4 of 5.  I liked it.  The bartender was friendly and did a good job.  There were quite a few patrons in the place.  It seemed like a popular local haunt.  Many restaurants have been in this place over the years, by the golf course.  I hope they will last a long time. 

Brewery making stuff.  These seats would fill up more throughout my stay.

I had to walk over to another room to order my food, which surprised me a bit.  The food service was really slow.

Their menu and story.

You can see by this time I've ordered a second beer and my food got served. The barkeep selected a Winter Ale that he thought might pair well with my French dip.  At first glance I realized that the sandwich was quite small.  I wasn't impressed. The bread was "too white" for my tastes as well.  Getting a large cup of BBQ sauce for dipping is also not so much a delight.  There were orange skewers in use, which I enjoyed but otherwise I was skeptical of what I was about to receive.

There is it.  Not a ton of meat.  And the bread, like I said, was too white. And it's just not too large of a half-sand. 

A close-up of the BBQ sauce "jus".  zzzzzzzzzzzzz 

The baked beans I got as a side dish.  Their flavor was "sweet", which I didn't enjoy.  The quality seemed reasonably high but I didn't so much love the flavor.  Not bad, just not what I wanted. 

A view of the 'burnt ends' on the sandwich.  The sandwich alone was meh.  Not too tasty.  Lower bread slice too hard.

Another view of the sandwich while being eaten.  Some fat in the brisket, which was fine.  Just not overly tasty.

The "Money Shot" but it's just with BBQ sauce. :(

Another view of the sandwich.  Maybe the bread was too dense?

So I didn't love that sandwich.  The place was fine and the beers were good.  I headed to my family home on the big island of G...

Where one might literally believe that the ferry is called NO SMOKING.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.  Thanks Bastion Brewing for my first visit.  I won't be getting the French Dip again any time soon.  It's not a proper FD.  Please change the jus and bread.

Raw Notes.

Beer

.Hazy Pale. 4. Quite good.

. Jolly Pig Winter Ale. 4. Also quite good. Spiced.

Food

. Baked beans. 

.. Flavor. 2. Too sweet.

. French dip. 2. Expense, hard, small, lackluster beef, not real jus.

..Size. 2. Small.

..Bread. 3. Too hard and crunchy, homemade but plain.

 .. Sandwich alone. 3. Fine. Small, too crunchy. Dry.

...Skewers. 4. Orange skewers.

..Jus. 2. Not jus.

.. Meat. 3. Not notable.

... Flavor. 2. Fine 

..Non-Meat Toppings. There were none.

. Baked beans. 

Location. 3. Whatever.

Service

.Speed. 2. Very slow.

. Ordering. 2. Odd. Had to go order separately then they delivered to the bar.

Summary: The "crouton bread" and the au jus because it was not au jus did not save the too-crunchy bread. For me it was just an overwhelming BBQ sauce forward taste and nothing like a French dip sandwich, really. And the beef did not play a prominent role.

Coming Soon: Better display of review summaries.