Toby's, Coupeville, WA

 

Doesn't look too big but it does look good.

The money shot looks pretty good!

Looks pretty good.  Medium rare beef is always nice to see.

Looks like rich jus.  Sandwich cut on bias.  Pickle slices on top, which is unique.  Bamboo skewers.  Mom got mussels.

Or I guess I was feeling frisky and got fries.  Rare move for me but I did it.  Fries are always good, aren't they?

Well, they have a French Dip, what am I going to do?  Order the French dip...and a side salad. :)

Decor.

Our window view.  It's an old dive bar, generally and feels a bit "sticky" inside, I'd say.

Inside of Toby's

Nice little pic from Deception Pass Bridge.  

This is the outside.  We had to wait here for 30 minutes or more.  It was packed just because things seemed so limited on this busy summer day.

Had never been here before.  Old place.

This is like "Memento" of a blog post.  I come to Toby's in Coopeville with my mom in the middle of the summer.  It still felt like Covidtimes.  It was REALLY hot this day.  Mom and I were just looking for something fun to do and went for a drive to Oak Harbor and then farther south.  We tried going to Captian Whidbey but it was closed.  This was the only place in Coupeville that seemed doable and we were hungry.  

Bread 3

Meat 4

Jus 4

Overall 4

La Conner Prime Rib & Seafood French Dip Review

It was a slow Sunday and my mom and I went to "town" to spend time.  Brian an his kids were on their way back to the big city so we were able to meet up in La Conner for lunch.

Kate, Brian and Dan enjoying coloring and beverages on the deck.

I was sitting by my mom who insisted I get the French dip.  The pressure is intense on me.  The description doesn't really "sell" it to me but I was hopeful it would be good.  I was NOT, I repeat WAS NOT, allowed to select the "doneness" of my prime rib.  This lose immediate points.  My mom claimed to really like/love this sandwich but she could have just been hungry.  For me, it was good, not great.

Served with good fries.  Nice pickle spear.  Bamboo skewers which might be the most respectable skewer choice.

There's the sandwich.  Looks buttered and also a bit dry.

Looks beefy and meat-filled.  Nice work.  Smallish bun size but I'll take it.

Perhaps arid meat.

Jus semi fancy and with herb infusion.

My mom has developed an obsession with what this shop across the street could be.  Janice has lots of big ideas for it but I think more than anything is missing her mother who was a retail store and gift shop person.

Setting the Stage

Mom and I were driving to La Conner when I got a call from Brian.  Brian thought we could meet up for lunch which ended out working quite well.  We met on the deck of La Conner Seafood & Prime Rib.  The service was okay.  Their deck is nice.  It was a lovely, sunny, summer day and we got to watch many boats pass as we dined and chatted.  Dan had a near tip-over on his chair but Brian saved the day with cat-dad-like reflexes.  Kate was fun and chatty and colored.

Review

• French Dip
• Bread. 3.  Kinda plain and meh.
• Meat. 4.  Decent prime rib but cannot select the doneness which makes me realize it's meh.
• Non-Meat Toppings. 3.  Wasn't much going on here. Probably buttered, toasted bread, which was nice.
• Overall. 3.5.  It wasn't bad but also not great.
• Service. 3.  Was okay.  Our gal was friendly.  I remember looking out at the 10 tables at one point and realizing that zero had food which was both spooky and unnerving.
• Deck. 5.  Nice location.  Scenery and people watching.

Conclusions

Thanks to Brian for getting us together.  He had a "Bacon Jam" burger that he said was meh.  Mom claims that their cioppino is both good and variable there.  She prefers it without the salmon, I believe.

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 Dips with Broiled and Buttered Ciabatta Bread at Mom's

Setting the Stage

I was over at my parents for dinner.  Mom said she'd be making French Dips.  She had to run to a meeting so I was left putting them together.  She'd done a great job and had the roast beef, nice ciabatta rolls, butter and au jus ready to go.  All I had to do was butter rolls, heat the jus and meat.  Dad was my customer.  

The Result

French Dip

Bread  5.  Was quite good: chewy and crunchy and buttery.

Meat 4.  Was nice pretty thick deli-sliced roast beef that I heated in the jus on the stove.

Jus 4.  Was good.  Johnny's liquid variety.  Ended up being quite good and was piping hot!

Overall 4.5.  These were really good. Simple and classic.  No miss no mess.  The buttered, broiled ciabatta made it nice.  Dad and I each had two.  And we were treated to some nice side salads as well and fresh, cold, crunchy watermelon.

Sides

Broccoli Slaw with Bacon 5.  Love his salad.  Water chestnuts, bacon and red onion make it stand out.

Coleslaw 4.  Good coleslaw.  May have been burnt out on mayo-based salads at this point but was nicely made, had cold, crunch, fresh green cabbage and carrot and was light on the mayo.

Watermelon 5.  Really good "do" on the watermelon.  Hadn't enjoyed pieces of watermelon in awhile.

Thanks for having me over, Mom!

Burger Claim French Dip Review, Bellfair, WA

 

Dregs.

Lots of onions.

Jus too light.

Burger looks good.  Beefy.

Salad looks nice.  I didn't eat it.

Doesn't look great.

Weak looking jus.

Nice bias cut.

I get a bloody mary with bacon vodka.  Tasted horrible.

They serve chips.  They were good.

I get the Ground Beef Dip.

Damn thing is adding photos in reverse order.

Bloody Mary

• Olives
  • 2
  • Bad taste. Not good.
• Flavor
  • 1
  • Probably the worst Bloody Mary of my life.
• Bacon Vodka
  • 1
  • Ick. Too sweet and just awful.
• Spiciness
  • 2
  • Not very spicy.

French Dip

• 3
• Passable but not great.
• Components
  • Bread
    • 3
    • Passable. Buttered. Toasted.
  • Burger
    • 3
    • A bit dry and meh.
  • Toppings
    • Grilled onions
    • Swiss Cheese
  • Jus
    • 3
    • Fine but not notable.

Side Salad

• 3
• Didn't eat it. Wasn't hungry for it.
• Croutons
• Dressing

Buckley's Seattle - Prime Rib Dip

 

Side salad with blue cheese was sloppy and I didn't eat it.  Would get a 2 of 5.

Horseradish cream on side.  Didn't really use it.  Was fine.

Medium to well-done prime rib.  Nothing too special here.  Thinly sliced.

Jus was good but not not enough.  Almost served cold.  I didn't complain to the waiter; just lived with it.

Here's the meal.  Bread was ok.  Should have been cut into two.  Bread was buttered.  Bread fell apart in jus so wasn't that good.  Bread 3.  Meat 3.  Jus 3 really a 2 given how cold it was. Salad a 2.  Sandwich overall 3.  Overall 3.

They could have done a much better job with the execution and finish here.