French Dip Review: Rosewood Cafe in Tacoma, WA

I was driving around burning time on a Sunday and got hungry.  I looked for eateries in Tacoma and found this place, Rosewood Cafe, that was highly rated on Foursquare so I went.  It was a cute, nice, clean neighborhood joint with a good vibe and good food.  The French dip, unfortunately was good mayonnaise-y.  I should no by now to always get the mayo on the side.  Some people can do it right (very rare) and others ruin a good sandwich and turn it into a creampile.

Jus 4 light color, good flavor, hot
Meat 3 fine roast beef
Non meat toppings 4 red onion sautéed, cheese, mayo
Sandwich 4
Bread 4 good, Toasted, but Smallish
Overall 4 for size and too much Mayo

In general, the smallish size hurts it.  It is good but mayo-forward (is that a thing?), onions were  fine, the havarti cheese was not noticeable.  The jus was light colored jus (chicken broth?) but good overall.  Quality food but too much Mayo and not much focus on beef or beef taste.

Goldbergs' in Bellevue, WA

Absorbent bread and it became kind of mushy.  The beef was not very chewy.  It kind of melted in your mouth, which wasn't my goal.

Kevin George got the pastrami sandwich and he was happy with it.

Setting the Stage

Was meeting up on Friday for dinner with a friend. We picked Goldberg's a NY-style Jewish deli with 250 items on the menu.  Not intending to eat the French dip, it was on the menu, so I had to know.  It wound up being only okay.  

Tasting Notes

Sandwich alone 3

I  got to add Havarti but it didn't help much

The waitress, Megan, was pretty fun and quirky
Jus 3
Buttery, too absorbent bread
Very high quality 3
Nothing stood out
Soft bread, absorbent

Homemade French Dip Sandwiches at Eric's 40th Birthday in Preston, WA Awarded 5 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Off the Chain) - May 20th, 2017 - They don't get any better than this

Setting the Stage

This is perhaps the French dip review that I have been waiting to write from the beginning.  I started this blog when Jessica's friend Brianne B. suggested I should be a "French Dip Critic".  I loved the idea and thought it was funny (and crazy) so I pursued it.  It's been a really fun project that has thought me a lot more about the internet, publishing and business.  

The time had come for me to make my own French dip sandwiches after reviewing over 80 myself.  I had done my research and due diligence and the time had come.  It was my 40th birthday party.

Jessica was helping me host the party and had told me that she planned to serve BBQ sandwiches with BBQ meat from the place down the street.  It didn't sit well with me.  The guilt built.  I couldn't go on another day without taking on the project of serving my ~40 guests French dip sandwiches.  I didn't think the project would be too hard: what was required, afterall: bread, meat, jus?  It didn't seem complicated.  But I am a perfectionist.  :)

My mom, who is a prolific cook and host, tried to talk me out of the project as well.  I was having none of it.  I would do it.  So I started to make my list of items I would need: butter, cheeses, onions, garlic, cups and the requisite items.  I was able to shop for most of the stuff at Costco and got a grip of stuff.  It was fun, and expensive.  I found a local restaurant-supply store for the jus cups; they were the hardest thing to find.

Jus cups from Cash & Carry in Bellevue, WA.

Here are the cut onions for caramelizing.  Eyes burning and food processor fully utilized.  Those are very large bowls, by the way.  There would be onions.  If we look at the table, we also see roast beef, turkey, provolone and havarti (people need choices) and a lot of French baguettes.

Another view of the supplies.  We see a large, Costco-size thing of peeled garlic, a ton of roast beef and some havarti, unpackaged.  Cutting the little hard nub off of all that garlic took at least 30 minutes.  It was a hell of a project and there were a lot of other things to do that day in preparation for our guests.  I was kind of stressing but loving it.  I also managed to mow the lawn and weed eat (we live on five acres so this is not a small feat) that day.

And a lot of butter.  The bread was halved lengthwise, then quartered into sandwich-sized pieces.  You can also see jarred pickled jalepenos in this picture.  That was a benefit some would later enjoy.  Another "feature", as it were (again, people need options).

The cooking and serving process

People started to show up and I was stressing a little bit.  My parents and brother showed up early and helped some.  The Ashbachs arrived, as did many other guests and I knew I had to initiate the cooking process.  We only had a single grill which was to be used for toasting the buttered baguettes.  Brian brought over a butane torch which I requested so we could melt the cheese.  The meat was simply heated in a pan.  The onions were caramelized by Heather in a large pot on a propane stove.  Chris Auty took on the project of roasting the garlic on the bbq and that worked out fine.  Heather also lead the production of the au jus, which, once started received caramelized onions and roasted garlic for additional flavor.  I and everyone else loved the jus (we used Johnny's packets as the base) but Heather thought it should have been stronger.  

Once we had all of the basic supplies in order, we started serving the other guests.  They would pick their buttered bread, which they would toast themselves on the grill.  Then Brian would add the cheese of their choice (again, Provolone or Havarti) and hit it with the butane torch to make it nice and melted.  They would add the amount of meat that they wanted (roast beef or turkey, which was simply from Costco and heated on a pot on the BBQ) and would then receive their jus cup and jus from one of the Ashbachs or my parents.  We had a big label and it was nice and chunky.  Oh, and they would get caramelized onions on it if they wanted it.  And they could choose other toppings and sides (and a lot of other food people brought).  The sides included pickle chips and pickled jalepenos.  

I think this is Garth's sandwich.  Looks good, right?

My mom put pickles on hers which was not the intention but okay.

Doesn't look like it's bursting with beef but it still looks good...and buttery! :)

We can see the caramelized onions and some chunks in the dark jus, which also has that nice oil sheen we like.  Thanks, Heather, for your leadership on the cooking line!

Another view of one of the 40 sandwiches with pickles on the side.  We didn't have a grip of beef, and having a burger option would have been a nice touch.

The money shot.  Oh, God, they were great!!!!!!! :)

That's what the remnants of a delicious French dip sandwich should look like.

Kind of a picture of the party I think.

And we had a bonfire later that was really hard to get started.

Scoring

Jus was a 5.  Heather did a great job.  I loved it.  Chunks of caramelized onions and roasted garlic.  Good grief, it doesn't get better than this but she thought it should have been saltier/richer.
Bread 5.  Great baguettes from costco, buttered, then grilled on a BBQ for a little smoky flavor.
Meat 3.  I'm going to score this low.  The meat was fine and didn't ruin anything but I'll have to figure out a more impressive approach next time.  Meat is expensive!!!!!
Non Meat Toppings 5.  The two cheese types, melted with the torch were awesome.  And we also had plentiful delicious caramelized onions and roasted garlic as well as pickled jalepenos.

Wrapping Up

I'd do it again.  It was so fun and satisfying.  I will always remember that and I think my guests will as well.

4 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Great) Awarded to Ram Restaurant & Brewery for their French Dip Sandwich in Issaquah, WA on this 21st day of May, 2016 - Piled high with tasty beef.

It was Saturday night and Jessica had worked all day while I worked on preparations for her special-needs horse to arrive at our new rental farm location in Preston, WA.  I was ready to get away from the house so we agreed to meet out.  First we thought Thai food, then we agreed that The Ram sounded like more fun.  So I drove out to meet her and when I got there (after taking a long time to park and parking far, far away) she was sitting at the bar.  Looking quite good, I might say.  Anyways, I sat down and we chatted.  I was feeling a bit under the weather (perhaps a cold brewing, uh oh?) so only drank water although many people seemed to rave about the Amber.  Jessica ordered a sampler of it and I tried it and it was quite good.  But I stuck to water.  We were on our way to a movie (goal was to see the new Russell Crowe movie The Nice Guys) so we didn't have a ton of time.  I'd never had the French dip and had noticed that Brian Ashbach had been getting it recently so I figured I'd get in on that action and give it a whirl.

There it is: French Dip.  Roast beef (sure was) on French baguette with au jus.  (no real frills here) but the do have toppings. $1 Cheese $1 Grilled Onions $2 Roasted Mushrooms.  Although it is my custom to only order "as it is listed by the chef" I went out on a limb here and added Cheese and Mushrooms.  For cheese I was given choices by the waitress (bartender): cheddar, Swiss, etc. but I chose Havarti since it seemed to be the most "far out" and abnormal.  Although I later realized I could have things other than fries, I wasn't asked and was fine that I was expecting fries. 

When the sandwich came out I noticed that it was a bit shy on jus so I immediately asked for more, knowing I would be in jeopardy later on.  The lady was super nice and even asked if I wanted it now or to time it when I was further through the first one and and I said now.  I need to be surrounded by jus.  

So there it is, the sandwich.  You can tell that there is a lot of roast beef on this thing.  And I'm happy it's "classic" thin that way.  And they really piled it high, which was a nice feature.  Yes, it did look a bit gray in color but it was fine / good, perhaps even juicy.  

Very nice, these mushrooms they added.  They were good.  Not great, ravingly awesome mushrooms but really good, delicate and nicely prepared.

So I ate on the sandwich for a while without the jus to know what was going on as a standalone unit.  It was pretty good.  I thought maybe the bread was a bit stale but the sandwich was quite hearty (one half considerably larger than the other) but both were quite big.  The sandwich alone was pretty good.  Lots of meat.  The meat was salty but not bad; what you'd expect in sliced, deli roast beef like that.

And of course at some point you have to go all the way with this thing and take the plunge.  I always get butterflies in my stomach before I do because it could either add or subtract and it can be sooooo risky!  "Will it be hot enough?"  "Will it be good enough?"  "How will it taste differently?"  So many thoughts simply race through ones mind as they stare into the abyss of that jus-y potential.  So I did.  And......it was really good.  Hot.  Salty as it should be and just plain good.  So I ate and ate and ate and dipped and dipped and dipped and enjoyed.  Then I got to the fries and they were good, too.  Jessica helped me with the fries. 

Raw notes: (inside the mind of a French dip genius as he types notes into his phone while consuming a French dip)

• Salty
• Crunchy 
• Possibly stale bread 
• Lots of deli meat thin sliced 
• Mushrooms good 
• Jus good and hot, helps 
• Havarti not really noticeable 
• Generous, big size 
• Overall 4 
• Meat 3 in quality 5 in qty 
• Bread 4-5 because of crunchy toasty 
• Jus 4-5 
• Cheese choices nice 
• Crunchy fries 
• Nice the lady asked when to bring out jus too

Conclusions

4 of 5 Overall -  (pretty good!  Possibly stale/overly crunchy bread and the meat is good but not as thrilling as it could have been.  The $15 price tag is a bit high too, but not far fetched in King County)

3 of 5 Meat - Just lots of deli roast beef

5 of 5 Non-meat toppings - Good options here.  Lots of cheese options.  I didn't feel like onions.  The mushrooms were a really nice, gourmet touch. The Havarti was also fine from a lubricating perspective (the bread was also buttered I could see)

4 of 5 Jus - Really good jus that was hot and plentiful upon request.  It definitely added to the sandwich.

4 of 5 Bread - Good bread that may have been stale but thinking back on it, stale bread may be a good secret for a good French dip to make the jus create a larger benefit when dipped and providing some remaining chewiness post-soak.  

The Ram is a fun place.  It was very lively in there, busy.  Food was pretty good.  It's a fancy, trendy, vibrant, family-friendly sports bar.

http://www.theram.com/locations/wa-issaquah/

HOURS
Sunday – Thursday, 11am – 12am
Friday & Saturday, 11am – 2am

965 N.E. Park Drive
Issaquah, Washington 98029
Tel: (425) 313 – 0415