4 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Great) Awarded to Wilde Rover for their Turkey Dip Sandwich in Kirkland, WA on this 2nd day of October, 2012 - Turkey Dipper

I was meeting my friend Rob for lunch at the Wilde Rover today.  I decided to enjoy a beer while I was waiting for him to show him.  I had a Newcastle Brown Ale which is good, but it's no Mac & Jack's African Amber, which Rob had when he showed up.  Oh well, a beer's a beer.

They have a lunch menu.  That's nice.

I had thought about Fish and Chips but then I saw the "Weekday Lunch Trio" option, which was pretty nice.  And one of the options was the Turkey Dipper.  I have to have the dipper.  So I asked the waiter what was on or with the dipper and he said that it had cheese and mushrooms on it and a poultry broth that you dipped it into and that it was popular so I was interested in getting it.  I got that and a cup of the Northwest Seafood Chowder.

Here's my Newcastle Brown Ale in a Guinness mug.  I don't really like Guinness (too thick) but I did have it once with Blackcurrant syrup at Fado in Seattle and it was quite good.  (FYI)

This picture might not do it justice but overall I was pretty impressed when this was served.  It was on a shiny, clean, nice plate.  It came with soda bread and my soup looked pretty good.  The sandwich looks kind of small from this angle but it was actually pretty good-sized for being a half size.  The jus impressed me as well.  This may be the first non-beef jus I've even had!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The meat looked fine and the mushrooms were good, too (mushrooms not overly fancy but good, especially for a mushroom lover like me).

The bread they served it on was very nice; it seemed home made.  It was perfectly absorbent.  The meat was not overly dry like turkey can be, nor was it overly salty or deli-like.  The bread was finished with a dusting of flour, which made it seem fancy and substantial.

The color and flavor of the semi-thick jus was quite good.  It was very fun to be dipping and dunking my sandwich into a non-standard juice.  

The cup of Northwest Seafood Chowder was also quite good.  The cute little baby potatoes in it were excellent and the flavor was very good as well.  It may have been just slightly too salty but I was very pleased with it overall.

You can see that the bread soaked up the jus well and has a nice texture.  The mushrooms were pretty good but could possibly have been made to look better.  The turkey was fine and mild, a good break from beef, beef, beef.

Summary

4 of 5.  This was very good.  It wasn't a 5 because it was just not quite gourmet enough but it was a very excellent, fine sandwich.

Points for: mushrooms, great bread, a healthy serving size for a half, good turkey, non-beef jus, that they went out on a limb with a non-standard dip option that people apparently like, nice lunch options, serving it alongside good soda bread and soft butter.

Negative points for: the mushrooms could have been prettier, thicker, meatier; the turkey could have been more thick or robust; the jus should have been a little hotter but I could have just been talking for too long before I dove into it; the cheese if it was there wasn't really noticeable but it was fine.

5 of 5 DeliciScore™ (From Heaven) Awarded to Gilbert's Main Street Bagel Deli for their French Dip Sandwich in Bellevue, WA on this 15th day of April, 2012 - Really great and I hear they have varieties, too.

Here's Gilbert's.  It's a nice, expensive little place in old Bellevue on Main.  My aunt and uncle (hey, we're got to get together soon!) live close by.  They serve bagels and sandwiches and have live jazz on the weekends.

It was a very nice, sunny, early Spring day.  I ordered from the line inside but then sat in the great outdoors with  my shades on.  It was glorious.

My seat outside.  Very nice.  Sunny.  Water with orange slices = bonus!!  I took the menu outside to study it and took lots of pictures of it but I won't bore you with it.  Overall, you should go to Gilbert's if you can stomach (no pun) the high prices.

Alright!  Here's my meal served.  You can see the the jus is actually French Onion soup.  And I got a side salad with spinach, a fine cheddar, pears, and almonds!  The bread looks very good and fresh-baked.

Close-up of my salad, which was really great and fresh.  And a bird's-eye view of the jus.

Here's the toasted bread and another close-up of the jus.  It's really good looking.  I added Swiss cheese to my sandwich for free.  It doesn't come by default but I do like Swiss on it: especially if it's free!!!  The jus is delicious and presently making my mouth water!

There's the sandwich (fancy toothpick) and pickle.  I only got a half of a sandwich and it was more than enough with the salad.  It was $14.99, so pricey!!!

The sandwich has caramelized onions on it (which was a surprise) but they were good.  The final bite is taken by loading up a bunch of really great-tasting French onion soup onions on their really good bread!

The good pickle is ridiculously big.  (Note size in comparison to fork.)

Other notes:

The price was high but worth it.  It's quality food!
I only got a half and that was enough.
They have a lot of really good looking soups on their menu:

It was a slow, sunny Friday for lunch.  And it wasn't very crowded but the service was pretty slow.  The food was really good.

Orange slices in water gets bonus points!

They have a very broad, fresh-looking menu

Their sandwiches (I saw several others delivered while I was waiting for mine) are really great looking!

The French dip sandwich, sans jus, was very juicy and delicious with medium rare roast beef and perfect bread.

The sandwich is an easy 5 of 0 to 5.

The jus was thickish and almost even gravy-like but tangy and great.

The spinach side salad was a 4: fresh, simple.  Good cheese almonds, pears.