Tag: Cheesesteak

The Great Cheese Steak Search: Philly Boys

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Philly Boys was a food truck located on 4th Ave in Sodo in the parking lot of an auto repair shop. Philly Boys is now a physical location just past the said auto repair shop on 4th Ave. in Sodo. This is a much preferable location just because you won’t be standing out in the rain to get your cheese steak fix. I had the pleasure of venturing down there on a nice, sunny weekday to sample their wares.

I just ordered a steak, with onions and whiz, I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry and my was stuck behind a massive order that the staff was trying to get finished, so I ended up waiting about 20 minutes for my food. I can’t believe I am saying this, but it was definitely worth the wait. The steak came out perfectly cooked and seasoned, a hint of salt and pepper and slightly greasy which mixes in perfectly with the cheese whiz creating a cheesy/meaty sauce that lubricates the sandwich. The amount of whiz was just about perfect, it probably could have stood just a touch more to properly lubricate the sandwich, but there was enough that I did not end up with bites that were all meat. The roll was a great combination of soft and chewy, durable enough to maintain its integrity while the sandwich sat, but retained enough of its original form to give the sandwich more than just one texture with each bite. The onions really made the sandwich though. They were perfectly cooked and seasoned and lent a slight sweetness and toothiness to the sub, heck, I probably wouldn’t mind ordering just a grilled onion sandwich. The steak cost $8.50 and was worth every penny.

The menu is pretty much limited to a couple of cheesesteak variations, fries, and drinks, but you really don’t need anything more from the place.

Two words of caution – they are cash only, so you need to bring some greenbacks with you if you want to enjoy your steak, and because of the location, the place is LOUD. There is a ton of truck traffic on 4th, so if they have their doors open, you really won’t be able to have a conversation sitting in their small dining area. That being said, you should still make the trip down to visit them. They don’t have a website, but they have a Facebook page.
With only Hey Piason left to try, Philly Boy’s takes the lead for the best “authentic” Philly steak in Seattle with 4 Betsy Ross’s out of 5.

The Great Cheese Steak Search – Dot’s Deli

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I have previous reviewed Dot’s Deli here, so I won’t do that again. Dot’s has become a regular in the Iron Chef lunch rotation, mostly due to their intriguing specials like the tongue sandwich or the cheesesteak. Because of the lack of a good cheesesteak in Seattle, I decided to give Dot’s version a try.

I can tell you that this is not your father’s cheesesteak. The sandwich at Dot’s is not huge, but it makes up for its smaller than your average cheesesteak size with its incredibly high quality ingredients and bold flavor. For $9, you get a 6 inch mini baguette with a slathering of their provolone cheese sauce minced peppers and what tasted like thinly sliced round steak. In terms of the messiness factor, this is only a 2 napkin sandwich, which is not a bad thing. You don’t have grease and cheese sauce slopping all over the place.

The cheese sauce was really a standout – a creative take on cheese whiz, it was slightly sharp and tangy and I came really close to asking for a side of it to dump over my order of fries. The sauce is what cheese whiz wants to become when it grows up. The beef, while sliced thin, is significantly thicker than your average cheesesteak’s meat, so there is significantly more toothiness and chew with Dot’s version of the classic. This is not a bad thing. Since Dot’s is using a high quality beef, the flavor of the meat really stands out in the sandwich, rather than being a supporting player like in the classic, and when melded with the cheese sauce and the punch from the peppers, brings you to a place where you feel like you are no longer eating a sandwich at a deli, but eating a steak at a sit down restaurant. This steak really reminded me of the tongue and round cheesesteak I did at my Odd Bits Dinner (recipe to be posted eventually) and that was definitely a good thing.

Overall, Dot’s cheesesteak garners 4 “hey, what you lookin’ at’s” out of 5, with the only thing keeping it from getting a perfect score is that it is only infrequently on the menu. If you are looking for the classic Philly cheesesteak, this is not it. If you are looking for a delicious take on a Philly cheesesteak, head over to Dot’s when they have it, you won’t be disappointed. It is not much more expensive than any other cheesesteak in the city, and despite its smaller size, go for the quality over quantity and you won’t be disappointed.

Check Dot’s Facebook page for their daily specials and run over to Fremont when the cheesesteak is on the menu.