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.

French Dip Review: Canyon Village Market - General Store, South Rim Grand Canyon

Lovely place.

Very sad side salad.

Looks like a lot of roast beef.  And it is quite a bit indeed.  But was dry and not too appealing.

Setting the Stage

I was taking a trip to the Grand Canyon.  It was grand indeed.  I was hungry and it was lunch time and I found a market while there.  I decided to indulge in the French dip.  I was disappointed in the sandwich and its accompanying salad but it's pretty much always fun to find, order and review (and eat) a French dip.

Detailed Tasting Notes

Listed mozzarella but girl said they don't add it
Provolone only
One cook. Made service slow.
Watched him spray on butter. That could be a good thing.
Looks like it's going to be a lot of bread

Summary

Bread - looks dry. Plain. French. 2. A bit too soggy.
Meat - 2. Dry. Not much. Inconsistent amount between halves.
Non-Meat - 2. Added nothing.
Jus - pretty good and hot, 3. Not enough. Some visible fat.
Overall - 2. Dry bread, meat.

Salad. Very sad. Wilted. Ugly diced tomatoes. Italian.

Conclusions

Go to the Grand Canyon to be amazed and impressed.  Order this French dip if you have nothing else you can order.

Cafeteria 15L, Sacramento, CA

Cafeteria 15L

Setting the Stage: Background

• I was on a work trip. My first trip to Sacramento that I can remember. To visit Tableau's client, Sutter Health. I was meeting up with some friends the night before our meeting and we met at Cafeteria 15L. I'd never been there. We met in the courtyard outside and it was really nice. It looked like mostly bar and comfort food (tater tots, for example). After a couple of adult beverages, I was encouraged by my colleagues to get their Prime Rib Dip. I wasn't really in the mood but I went forward with it. These particular colleagues also knew about my side salad review habit so I went through with that as well. We (I) probably annoyed the cute and helpful waitress.

Ambiance

• Very nice outdoors
• Very good service
• A rat outside
• Comfy outdoor furniture

Prime rib dip

• Raw tasting notes
  • Sandwich alone dry
  • Jus luke
  • Not enough jus
  • Bread floppy like wonder Bread
  • Some heb flavor in jus
  • Small, pathetic yet cute ramikin
  • Bread is mealy
  • Bread too absorbent
  • Lots of meat but it was dry
  • Meat flavor fine
• Summary
• Bread 1 of 5 too absorbent
• Meat 2 of 5 too dry but it was plentiful. No option for doneness
• Non-Meat Toppings there were none. This is okay and does not cost the review. I suppose in retrospect that there could have been cheese or caramelized onions on this thing to hold it all together. It became messy and hard to manage/control
• Jus 2 of 5 it seemed like it had good flavor but it was luke (warm, not Skywalker) and came in a tiny little ramekin. I ordered a second helping which shouldn't knock it on points but it seemed annoying to provide so little.
• Overall 2 of 5 lots of meet and the flavor was pretty good but the meet was dry, insufficient jus, somewhat mealy and easily-damaged bread

Side salad

• Greens only for salad
• Bleu cheese crumbles on side
• Nice spring mix
• Two dressings offered
• Viniagrette their house, nice herbs
• Bleu cheese crumbles were in globs because of the heat
• 3 of 5 good quality, dressing too salty, fresh

Tulalip Casino Prime Rib Dip - French Dip Review

Sorry for the blurriness.  Cheese bread?

Cornichons on the skewer, kind of a cute, nice touch.

Didn't look very good or meaty.  Served with an orange slice.  Why?  The whole sandwich kind of has an orange hue to it.  Why? :)

We think we see cheese but it's actually just fat on that meat. :(

Jus looks fine, served in a large cup / bowl.

The money shot, blurry.  Sorry for the bad photography.  We can see it's not overly meaty. :(

Setting the stage

John Angus, Kevin Graham, me, Jason Myers, Matt Coleman and Neil Kloke.  All friends from Anacortes High School who were together at the Tulalip Casino (good crossroads between Seattle, Bellingham and Anacortes) to watch the Washington Huskies Football team lose in a very poor performance to Arizona State University, in Tempe.

We were sitting having beers and this guy named "Cirus" came up and chatted us up.  He needed a seat.  He worked for the tribe and at some point the conversation regarding my French dip hobby came up.  He said there was one in the casino at one of the other restaurants.  At some point he disappeared and I ordered and enjoyed nachos.  

Out of the blue (I thought this was super weird but also super nice), the guy reappeared with a French dip and french fries.  It honestly didn't look very good and I had just eaten so I was not overly stoked.  I tried to refuse his gift but he insisted.  So I demonstrated to my buddy Jason the technique of reviewing a French dip sandwich.  He and I agreed it was a 2 of 5 in quality and enjoyment.  I really appreciate Cirus sharing this with me (it was comped) and we had a good time at the casino, generally.  We will be back.  But I will not be back for the French dip.

Tasting Notes

• The bread was a 2.  Kind of cheap, white  and pillowy with this cheese-top feature which I thought was odd.
• The meat was a 2.  It was not heaping and had visible, ugly fat and was a grayish hue
• The jus was a 3-4 but looked and tasted like something from a packet.  Good taste, large size.
• Jason said, "The fat looks like cheese", which was definitely a memorable yet sad comment.
• Overall this thing gets a 2