Irish Dip at Union in Anacortes

Sitting at one of the tables in the middle of Union in downtown Anacortes.  I hadn't seen Josh for years so it was fun.  Great to catch up with that guy.

Yeah, it's a bit of a dog and pony show but I pretty much have to get the French dip if it's on the menu and I haven't had it before.  I was obliged!!!!!!  Had never heard of an Irish Dip, I don't believe, so creativity points for that.  Cheese and mayo on a French dip is just a waste of time and energy.  These toppings are for "chefs" who don't realize that butter, toasting, great bread and jus are the truly essential components of doing it right.  They must have missed the memo.  Lo, I ordered it. 

So here it is.  Nice looking salad, I had three beers so my food was hardly my focus at this point.  They slighted me on the jus as well, so that was incredibly sad.  The sandwich looks a little flat and greasy.  Radishes on the salad always help it seem a bit fresher.

Meek jus.

A second serving of meek jus.  I took poor notes on this sandwich so you'll have to bare with me on my recollection. Overall good not great.  3 or 4, definitely not 5.

Here's the sandwich.  Looks pretty sad, I suppose.  And a bit greasy, and a bit "flat", as I earlier expressed.

Setting the Stage

So I'm living back in the Anacortes area after "just" 20 years away.  My good buddy Schaffer agreed to meet up with me for drinks.  I was excited.  I'd been to Union a time or two before but never for food.  Josh and I had a couple of beers and ordered food; it was dinner time.  I had to go with the dip because it's expected of me in some scenarios.

Review

• French Dip
• Sandwich. 3. Was decent, salty and tasty as a standalone unit. A bit greasy and "flat" like a car may have run over it.
• Jus. 2.  They gave you hardly any jus, which is always disappointing knowing that demand is much greater than supply.  Just bad economics.  I was given a second half-full cup of jus.  I got by but this is worth the complaint.
• Meat. 4.  Fun to have corned beef and of course that's tasty and salty, let's not lie.
• Non-Meat Toppings. 3.  Don't need the rest of the stuff but that was part of their concept: aioli and cheese.  Rich.  Probably too rich and didn't make the jus mean any more to me than it could have.
• Overall. 4.  Giving this a somewhat high score because of the creativity and uniqueness.  Shame for the mayo and cheese combo; that's just overkill....but again, that was part of their concept....
• Salad - Didn't eat it but could have been fine.
• Radishes. 5.  Nice touch.

Conclusions

Was a nice visit to Union and fun to reunite with Josh.  We ran into my friend Shawna while down there and ended up running into her and partying together with her and Jimmy at the Brown Lantern later.  Dean Rowell, Mike Hartley and their ladies showed up later that night.  A large bag of Cheetos and some Bud Light was involved later that evening.  Whew.  Back in A Town!

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.

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."