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| It was later on a Saturday evening and we sat at the bar. |
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| Looks good. $13.50 not cheap but I'll do it. I *need* to do it! |
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| Orange-frilled skewer and melted provolone. |
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| I stupidly forgot to take a picture of it initially. I must have been hungry. He's 1/2 of it. :) |
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| The salad, as a I mention below, was unruly but good. |
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| The money shot indicates that the jus is not very dark. Although the taste of the jus was quite good, I want to personally see its color applied to the bread. Maybe just use blue food die? Could be fun... |
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| Here we can see the onions some. |
Setting the Stage
Jessica and I had gone to a political event and needed dinner afterwards. It was a Saturday night and we went to the "Bella Botega" area in Redmond. We like JJ Mahoney's and I had never formally reviewed their French dip. Jessica claims (can I really trust this woman?!) that I have had it before but I clearly had not formally reviewed it, so it was time.
One time (unrelated story) we went to JJ's with Jessica's parents before a James Bond movie. I had two gin martinis and slept through most of the movie. :) Must have been good gin martinis and sometimes action movies can indeed put me to sleep.
Raw Tasting Notes
- Was not overly impressed initially with the bread: it looks like a 2 to 2.5. Soft bread which is not my favorite type for a French dip.
- Meat: they claim "steak" and it looks more like roast beef, so I was not overly impressed. It was thin-sliced and medium to well.
- Non meat toppings: provolone cheese, grilled onions, cheese looks processed, Jessica liked the cheese. The onions were fine, overall, the non-meat toppings were indeed additive.
- Jus was nice tasting and gets a 3-4. It was light in color and not visible once dipped, which should make it lose points. We want to see the jus in action. No stealth jus!
- Overall this unit was size medium, salty, had good taste and gets a 3-4. It came with orange-frilled toothpick skewers and had some degree of black pepper taste.
- The side salad was good and fresh although the lettuce leaves looked unruly and maybe needed to be trimmed down to size for uniformity and presentation.
- Top recommendation to supplier: get a fancier cheese, harder bread, and try to get that beef into more of a medium-rare state.
Scoring
Bread 3. It was acceptable but shouldn't be so soft. I suppose soft bread makes for a tasty treat but for a French dip I really do prefer it to be more firm bread that softens when combined with the jus.
Meat 3. For claiming steak, this was not overly impressive. I had a roast beef dip yesterday at Lockspot (review to follow) and its meat was about the same.
Non-meat toppings 4. These are good and additive indeed. The onions were good. There was a slight black pepper flavor going on, which was nice. The cheese looked processed to me and made the sandwich seem cheap (the too-soft bread also did not make it seem overly fancy) but did add some flavor and Jessica liked itt.
Jus 4. Was good and I'll give it a 4.
Overall 4. I will give it a 4 because they have a pepper taste, cheese and onions standard and good jus. This thing is not out of the world but if you were incredibly drunk or high you would probably like it.
Conclusion
Jessica and I like going to JJ Mahoney. This part of Redmond still feels fun and new even though it's a couple of decades old now. The food and drinks are consistent and good. Jessica drank a Harp since her parents were in Ireland.
