Another of our recent road trips was to the NH Seacoast area, primarily to go to the most excellent NH Hosta Nursery. Afterward, we explored the area, primarily by ducking over into Newbury, discovering two very nice craft breweries (Riverwalk Brewing and the NBPT Brewing Co). After enjoying both of these destinations, we were hungry for a bit of dinner, and decided to head up the road to Seabrook, NH for Jasmine’s Famous Roast Beef and Seafood.
As I have mentioned in several other reviews of New England Roast Beef joints, the Roast Beef sandwich is a bit of an art form here: Once you get to the coastal region, all sorts of places are available that sell two things: roast beef sandwiches, and all variety of fried seafood. Not sure where the combination came from, but it’s a common one. But the thing that ties so many of these places together is the focus on a basic sandwich: roast beef. Piled high on an onion roll. With a small selection of toppings (BBQ sauce and horseradish mayo being the most common). And Jasmine’s is no exception: their menu is basically “roast beef and seafood”. Looking over the menu, we opted for a large sandwich each, and a side of fries to share.
A few minutes later, our sandwiches and fries arrived, and like your typical North Shore roast beef establishment, Jasmine’s is no-frills: we got two sandwiches wrapped in paper, and a pile of fries on the plate. But everything that it was lacking in presentation, it made up for in quality. The fries were good, crisp fried potatoes, lightly salted, and not a hint of oil funk (a pet peeve of mine is when places use the same oil for the clams and the fries, giving the latter a subtle seafood flavor). And the roast beef sandwiches? Quite frankly: awesome. A good, generous pile of warm, still slightly rare and moist roast beef on a lightly toasted onion roll, rich in nice beefy flavor with just a dab of horseradish sauce, and this was a thoroughly pleasing sandwich.
You know, for this general area, I’ve still got to give a bit of an edge to Kelly’s Roast Beef (which seems to excel at doing rare roast beef well, and offers grated horseradish along with horseradish sauce), but Jasmine’s was no slouch. A friendly staff, some great roast beef sandwiches, fresh fries, and reasonable prices make for a great little restaurant.
