French Fry Diary 27: Starburst Café, King of Prussia Plaza

I should have taken pictures. Not only are there no graphics or photos on the net of this place, based on the service I suspect it may be gone by the time I post this review. Regardless, to the left is a photo of one of the food courts in the gigantic King of Prussia shopping megacomplex near Philadelphia. The Starburst Café is that speck of blue neon mid-center left in the accompanying photo.

Though upscale mall in design and architecture, it was basically just like any of the sandwich shops or delis we have over in South Jersey. But there were problems. And I’m not just talking about the fact that the gigantic pictures over the mounted menu looked nothing like what any of us received as our meals.

The lady at the counter and the cook both spoke broken English. This is neither unique nor a bad thing, but when I am asked if I want onions on my cheesesteak and I say no – when I pick it up I shouldn’t get dirty looks from both of them when I mention it has onions on it. It was one of those times when I knew, I just knew, if I didn’t say to forget about it – the second cheesesteak would have a little something extra in it for me if you know what I mean. I just don’t think there was much communication going on between employees or with customers.

The cheesesteak was terrible by the way. The onions were cold, as were the two slices of slimy whitish-yellow cheese. Maybe I’ve been spoiled living so close to Philly but I was expecting Cheez Whiz or some similar substance, not the plastic slabs I got. I ate around the cheese and onions. Just that morning The Bride had admonished me, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all,” so when she asked how my meal was I told her the roll was really good and the Orange Crush was ice cold.

As for the favorite fried food, they were natural regular cuts, obviously frozen, then deep-fried, maybe more than once and then had been sitting without benefit of a heat lamp for some time. Not good, not good at all. My advice – unless you’re thirsty and can’t find anywhere close that has Orange Crush – avoid the Starburst Café like the Black Plague.


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