0 of 5 DeliciScore™ (Terrible) Awarded to Red Robin Gourmet Burgers for their Prime Rib Dip Sandwich in Redmond, WA on this 5th day of October, 2011 - A terrible and expensive prime rib dip.

Setting the scene

The faithful Red Robin sign

I found myself at Red Robin: I was going to meet a friend there for beers but he missed his bus and couldn’t make it so I was left sitting solo.  It was dinner time and since I have this very big responsibility to review French dips for you (man it is stressful!! ; )), and Red Robin has one on their menu (Prime Rib, Provolone, Grilled Onions, on French baguette), I figured I’d have and review it.
I thought to myself as I ordered that I might have sworn off the Red Robin Dip before for it not being good but I figured I needed to have it again and get the knowledge of this French dip out to my peeps.  So here it goes: the Red Robin Prime Rib Dip!

Menu and Ordering

I like Red Robin’s menu and burgers.  Their steak fries are good and I really like to dip my fries into “Buzz Sauce”, which is the stuff they brine/cook their hot wings in: zesty and delicious, garlicky.

Looks like a pretty tasty unit!

Plate

It has very small bread, very little au jus, and the meat is gray!

No, really, it is GRAY!!!

The dip came with coleslaw that tasted okay and I ordered a salad (Bleu Cheese) instead of the steak fries (figured I’d save on some calories).  The salad was pretty good overall: good croutons, larger than normal (in a good way) cabbage bits, and reasonable hearty carrot shards.  My first impression of the plate, though, was that ‘the meat and jus are GRAY!’

Skewer method

Fancy toothpick with yellow frills.

Bread

The bread was soft, not crunchy, and very small.  It was a French baguette but very soft and even greasy from the onions. 

Meat

There was plenty of medium-done, gray prime rib on it, and a limited amount of visible fat.  It had a good beefy flavor and was semi--probably overly--salty.  The portion of meat was rather large compared to bun size.

Non-meat toppings

This sandwich had greasy grilled onions on it that were pretty flavorful and also provolone cheese that I didn’t really notice except that it seemed unnecessary to me: even more unnecessary fat/grease.

Au jus

The amount of gray au jus that arrived was very small but I was kind of happy in the end that there wasn’t more because it had no flavor.  It could have been ‘authentic’ (pan drippings) but overall it was flavorless and watery.

Portion

The bread portion of the sandwich was about the (quite small) size of the Arby’s bread and this disappointed me for a $14 sandwich.  The meat and other toppings were plentiful although flowing out of the small bun, which created a sloppy mess.

Overall dip

The sandwich portion was greasy and okay.  The beef had good—yet salty—flavor.  The non-meat toppings were greasy, which leached into the small bun.  The au jus ruined the sandwich.  It was bad—and like the meat—gray.

Other (fun?) stuff while there

This is fun

And nice that they have these options

I sat next to a guy named Paul who tested Nintendo games professionally and liked dipping his burger into his milk shake.

Summary

This expensive and fancy-sounding dip is greasy and has a grayish-colored, very light-in-flavor au jus for dipping.  The bun is the size of the $3.99 Arby’s dip but for $10 more.   

	Score (0-5)	Comments
Bread	2	Soft, not enough, got greasy.
Meat	1	Gray, medium, lots, beefy, salty.
Au Jus	0	Gray, very little provided, flavorless.
Overall	0	Greasy, Arby's-sized bread, flavorless au jus.

Reason to go back: Fun-ish ambiance, very good steak fries, and dip the fries into the Buzz Sauce if you like spicy!

French Dip Review: Canyons, Redmond, WA. Prime rib and provolone are yummy!, 5 of 5

Setting the Scene

Jessica's dad was in town and we weren't feeling like bar food, so we went to Canyons, a reasonably decent restaurant in downtown Redmond.  I wasn't planning on reviewing a French dip, but the conversation about my new hobby came up and I figured I may as well.  I used Jessica's phone, the Motorola ATRIX 4G, which has a flash, to take the pictures and I think they turned out pretty well.  I hope you enjoy this, my third French dip review (it's starting to become routine!)

Menu and Ordering

This isn’t just a dip, it’s a Prime Rib Dip, which is special.  The price was $13.99.  They had bottomless fries or potato chips, but I opted to sub for the salad for a 99 cents with Bleu Cheese dressing, which is my staple.

Plate

The salad it was served with was pretty good except it was iceberg lettuce, not a favorite of mine.  Besides that it had good, chunky bleu cheese, good tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions (which I love on salads), good croutons, and some small shavings of cabbage and carrot.  Good-sized salad, rather large for a starter salad.



The dip looked excellent when it was served.  The meat looked very meaty and the bread was beautiful.  You can see from the photo that it has a sheen to it.  I was very impressed.  And the melted provolone looked really good.  I was excited!  The overall portion looked quite good as well.  The bread was rather wide.  You’ll note that the Au Jus looks a little empty and I later ran into problems with this.

Skewer method

No skewer in this bad boy.

Bread

This bread was really lovely and tasted good.  Firm and crunchy.  The sheen is what really made it for me.

Meat

This was the first prime rib dip that I’d reviewed.  It was worth it.  Tender, medium rare.  Not fatty at all, which was good.  Lean.

Non-meat toppings

For the first time in any of my reviews, the cheese actually added something!  The provolone was mild but it’s hearty texture gave the sandwich a little something extra.

Au jus

The au jus was fair.  Overall it was pretty good but nothing to really write home about.  The portion was too small.  As I neared the end of the jus, I asked the waitress for more, which took quite a while to get more.  I had to wait with a portion of my dip for the refill to arrive, which is a strike against.  Some visible fat in the au jus, which I think is a sign of a good one.  Mild flavor, not overly salty and not too dark.

Portion

The portion was perfect.  A bit on the bigger side, which I don’t mind.  The bread, as I mentioned before was wide.

Overall dip

Overall, this was a very good sandwich.  Wonderful and pretty bread, really good medium-rare prime rib, delicious and hearty provolone, and pretty good au jus.  The only complaint would be the au jus, which was good but not great, wasn’t enough, and the refill didn’t come in time.

Other (fun?) stuff while there

The ambiance in here’s not bad.  It was reasonably crowded and looked like other folks were having a good time.  They serve an interesting blend on the menu from a Thai Peanut Chicken Wrap to Ribs, Steaks, Burritos, and Pastas.

Summary

Overall, this was a good dining experience.  Everyone I was with enjoyed their meal and I got to review another (very good) French dip.

	Score (0-5)	Comments
Bread	5	Very good looking, good tasting, big.
Meat	5	Really nice looking and tasting medium-rare prime rib!
Au Jus	4	Good, mild, not too dark, not top shelf.
Overall	5	Great dip, great bread, provolone, and meat.

Reason to go back: a really great dip, other fun food.