#7 - Philippe's Lamb and Blue Cheese French Dip

It was a four alarm GROUPON alert this weekend in Los Angeles.

“Hundgen this one to Philippe’s expires on Monday we have to go this weekend!” But with more Christmas parties than Ebenezer Scrooge could shake bough of holly at, there was no way we were going to squeeze this one in.

“Well, we are just going to have to go Monday night.” John said defiantly. For those of you who missed the last Groupon fiasco, let’s just say letting a Groupon go to waste is just not an option.


[Editor note: I only bought the deal because I knew it was one of your plates.]


[Author note: John is the editor]

Philippe’s is located in Downtown Los Angeles at the epicenter where Chinatown, the Mexican Pueblo and Union Station meet. Established in 1908, Philippe’s is locked in a modern-day Cold War with Cole’s (coming up soon on 99pLAtes) over who actually established the French Dip Sandwich. Funny, I would have thought the French coined that one.

It’s said that the original owner, Philippe Mathieu, accidentally dropped a French roll into a roasting pan that held the juices from the meat. That slip of the hand turned into a now century + 2 year long tradition (and a lot of juicy, soggy bread).

John and I arrived just after 8 on Monday night and the place still had a steady stream of customers. In some ways, Philippe’s looks like a Norman Rockwell painting that’s come to life. Customers stand in lines behind a high glass cased refrigerator unit waiting to order from neatly uniformed ladies bustling trays back and forth from the kitchen. Also, there are wood shavings covering the floor...is there some kind of carpentry happening here that I’m not aware of?

After flirting it up with the Lithuanian cashier (she was into it until he whipped out the coupon) we placed our orders. John went with the chili, cole slaw and a double dipped beef sandwich while I ordered the tomato bisque, a pickled egg (more on that later) and the required pLAte, a Lamb Dipped sandwich with blue cheese.

Let’s start with the positives:

1. The prices at Philippe’s are dirt-cheap. It’s pretty tough to walk out of there spending more that $14 on a full dinner and drink. Best of all – a cup of coffee is a mere 9¢! That’s unheard of, so unheard of in fact it took me 7 minutes just to find the ¢ key on my keyboard.

“My Groupon is $10, what if I ordered 100 cups of 9¢ coffee?” John asked in an effort to further put the kybosh on his newfound relationship with Helga, our Lithuanian friend.

2. Philippe’s has not one but TWO parking lots! For you non-Angelinos, you need to understand this is a gigantic deal. Where are we the Valley?

3. Pickled Eggs are FANTASTIC. I know, roll your eyes now. They might look like an Easter egg gone terribly wrong or something you might shoot in Angry Birds, but the tart to egg ratio is balanced just right.

4. Philippe’s spicy mustard is to die for! Beware, this is no Grey Poupon or French’s, we’re talkin’ it’ll-make-you-as-red-as-the-Kool-Aid-Man spicy. Use sparingly and don’t try to sneak out a bottle in your bag…I tried, epic fail.

The Negatives

1. The soups were (like the look of the restaurant) a little bit middle school cafeteria style quality. The tomato bisque tasted a lot like Ellio’s pizza sauce and the chili was a dead ringer for taco meat.

2. The sandwiches were good-ish. The beef (hey-O) I have with Philippe’s French dip is I want to keep dipping! The operation works in such a way that they dip your sandwich upon ordering, but by the time you dig into your meal, the juicy jous (do those two words mean the same thing?) has turned crusty and hard. Call me picky…or gross…but I want my French Dip soggier and dripping with meat broth.

Also since the meat is hand carved, you never know if you’ll end up with a fatty slice, which in turn results in a picture like this…

Criticisms aside, when you do get the perfect balance of meat, blue cheese, bread and jous it is pure delight to the taste buds.

  

Before we crown a winner in this French Dip Family Feud (paging Richard Dawson) we need to give Cole’s French Dip a fair shot. Coming up in the new year on the 99pLAtes blog, it's a Downtown Sandwich Smackdown. We’ll be drinking our 9¢ coffees till then…only 94 left to go….

Phillippe's

1001 N. Alameda

Los Angeles, CA 90012

www.philippes.com