French Fry Diary 554: Donkey's Onion Rings

Folks who read my first review of Donkey's Place knows I loved it. On my second visit, I got their huge unique cheesesteak with Whiz, plus an order of their onion rings so I could write about them here.

Wow. Like the sandwiches and the order of fries we got last time, they were huge. Big deep fried thick beer battered onion rings in an equally gigantic cup. The cup was roughly the size of a Super Big Gulp at 7-Eleven. Wow.

The sandwich was just as fantastic as the first time, and better with the Whiz, and the rings were among the best beer batter I've had in quite a while. Another terrific meal, I can't wait to go back!

French Fry Diary 545: 7-Eleven Hot Dog Potato Chips

Since I have known about them, I have been searching for Herr's Hot Dog Potato Chips, but after two summers I'm not sure I will ever find them (however if anyone has seen them in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area and wants to let me know where, I'm all ears).

That said, The Bride found these 7-Select Big Bite Hot Dog Flavored Potato Chips at the 7-Eleven near her office and picked them up for me. Big Bite, now there's a phrase that brings back memories. Having lived in a Wawa-centric area for the last couple decades, I had forgotten how important 7-Eleven was in my youth.

The Big Bite is the special name for the 7-Eleven hot dog, a late night snack on many a night back in the day. Big Bites could be good and fresh, or sometimes it could be a guessing game exactly how long said hot dog had been rolling under those heat lamps. That flavor however in a potato chip however is a whole 'nother thing.

I had to laugh at the picture on the bag, showing the chips next to a hot dog, declaring it a 'serving suggestion.' Nothing like a double shot of hot dogs, eh? Once the bag was opened, the aroma is interesting. Not surprisingly hot dog-like, but there is also a barbecue vibe going on here. No surprise there either as the ingredients show onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika.

The chips are thicker than usual ripple cuts. The Bride tried them first, saying they tasted just like a hot dog with mustard. That turned me off a bit as I'm not a mustard guy, but I tried them anyway. Yeah, she was right, she pretty much nailed it on taste, and in her assertion that I would not like them.

On the plus side, they are cholesterol free and have zero transfats. I can see the appeal of these, but honestly, they're just not my bag of chips. Heh, see what I did there?

French Fry Diary 503: Ruffles Crispy Fries

I had only just heard about Ruffles entering the fry-shaped snack market when The Bride snagged me a sample at a 7-Eleven near her office. Usually these things are made from corn rather than potato and unless you get them flavored, they are relatively flavorless. I was hoping for more from Ruffles.

Other than being ridiculously hard to open, the first thing I noticed is that they are made from potatoes, not corn, just potatoes, salt, and vegetable oil. That's it. Notably, I got the Original, but they also have Cheese. They look like natural cut French fries, and according to the packaging, are sliced from real potatoes.

They feel like old burnt French fries, and as I said, they look like natural cuts, but they smell and taste like giant potato sticks. And for a special treat, do like they say on the bag and heat them up in the microwave (just not in the bag). Warm, they are terrific, a great fry or chip substitute for a sandwich lunch or snack.

I like them, they're good, and quite honestly, more than a little addictive. I'm glad The Bride only got a sample bag. If you can find them, pick them up, because I'm not sure how long they'll be around. These are really good, thumbs up.

Cow Appreciation Day 2013

Chick-fil-A has had some bad times in the last couple years. As I have said before, just because the owner is a twisted misguided man, doesn't mean that everyone in the company agrees with his opinions. There are some very cool Chick-fil-A franchises locally that fully support gay marriage and are in fact owned by gay families with gay employees. So, don't believe the hype.

Anyway, tomorrow, July 12, 2013 is the annual Cow Appreciation Day. Go into your local Chick-fil-A dressed as a cow and you get free food. And whatever you do, don't forget those great Waffle Potato Fries!

And as long as we're talking free, don't forget that today is Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven…

French Fry Diary 491: T.G.I. Fridays Onion Rings Snacks

I am always leery of onion flavored snacks. They are usually pretty bad and unflavorful. The good ones, like the ones from 7-Eleven, are few and far beyond.

These T.G.I. Fridays Onion Rings Snacks are pretty average, and had a few things going against them from the start. I found them at Dollar Tree. No offense to Dollar Tree, but let's face it, food from dollar stores is, by reputation, shady and suspect. Yes, I checked the expiration date. They were very hard to open, as if they were from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's - maybe that's why they were at Dollar Tree, faulty packaging.

The snacks themselves thick half-dollar sized crunchy facsimiles of onion rings. If you squint your eyes you can imagine they're little donuts. They don't taste like them though. They are pretty good with just a hint of onion flavoring. Compared to most onion snacks, these actually do have onion in them.

And surprisingly, as a Fridays product, these actually aren't too bad for you. The serving size to calories ratio is pretty good, and there's no sugar, cholesterol, or transfats. I liked these, not bad for a dollar store find.

French Fry Diary 457: Herr's Onion Rings

Every once in a while I need a break from French fries, potato chips, and even onion rings, so I try something different - onion ring flavored snacks. I've done a few of these, finding the 7-Eleven Select brand the best of the bunch. Recently I picked up a package of the Herr's variety at my local Wawa - Herr's Onion Rings.

Like most onion flavored snacks, these aren't really onion rings at all but corn meal covered in onion powder. Some have a bit more kick, but the Herr's rings are -just- that, some salt, and a whole lotta multisyllable chemicals.

The onion flavored corn meal rings aren't bad, but they aren't that great either. They are a little grainy, and could not only use more of a kick, they could use more flavor as well. As a rule, I am usually pretty pleased with Herr's products, but this is an exception.

Herr's Onion Rings are all right in a pinch, or an impulse buy, but if I want an onion flavored snack, I'm going to 7-Eleven.

French Fry Diary 397: The Mashed Potato Vending Machine

My buddy Terry hipped me to this one. Believe it or not, this machine, at 7-Elevens in Singapore, dispenses mashed potatoes, and yes, gravy, into a cup.

Apparently for one dollar (two if you pair it with a Big Gulp), you can get a cup of mashed potatoes, followed by gravy on top. The machine is made by Maggi, an international branch of the Nestle family of companies. The gravy, or it might be 'special seasoning sauce,' is also made by Maggi. Sources say you can also get Barbecue mashed potatoes as well. What, no butter?

No word if these amazing vending machines will be coming to the United States any time soon.

French Fry Diary 374: Funyuns Onion Flavored Rings

I don't really like Funyuns, but I thought I did. When it comes to onion flavored snacks, Funyuns is the granddaddy of the onion flavored snacks. It would seem that it would also be the best, but I say no. What's funny is I've reviewed other onion flavored snacks, like those from Burger King and 7-Eleven, expecting them not to be as good as Funyuns, but it's not true.

First things first, it should noted that the only reason I'm writing this review is product placement and possible subliminal advertising. I had been watching "Breaking Bad," and prodded by the character Jesse Pinkman's predilection for Funyuns, I decided I needed to get some too. See, it does work.

It is also worth mentioning that Funyuns Onion Flavored Rings are just a lot of corn meal, vegetable oil, lots of chemicals, and just a touch of onion extract. Not much of an onion ring at all, is it? And they are very crunchy, which is the problem I have with them - I think they're too crunchy. But maybe that's just me, I do seem to be in the minority on this, so what do I know? I don't like these things, remember?

French Fry Diary 364: Select 7 Panko Breaded Onion Petals

I had a long day, I was hungry, and it was late so my options were few. So when I approached the 7-Eleven, like an oasis in the desert, I knew I would be stopping for a snack. I got a hot dog. It's easier to ignore how long they've been there and what they might be made of at that hour. And Cool Dog, the first stop for dogs, wasn't open.

I was still hungry and was aisle by aisle shopping the 7-Eleven, and I found these - the Select 7 Panko Breaded Onion Petals. 7-Eleven or not, I snatched them up. I have recently been on a Panko drive so I had to have them.

Once home I found they could be cooked three ways - microwave, baked, or deep fry. Deep frying is a lot of work, and anyone who's had supposedly crunchy food microwaved knows it rarely works, so that was out too. Baking it was. For the record, I gave them a few more minutes in the oven than they suggested. And the Aussie Sauce will be saved for The Bride and her salads. It is just salad dressing, is it not? I myself prefer barbecue sauce for my fried onion treats.

Baked they are quite crunchy and tasty, with more of a hint of Panko than the ShopRite Panko Onion Rings promised. And the portion provided by the small box is enormous. Despite the 7-Eleven store brand, these are very good. I like them a lot. I look forward to trying them deep fried, and maybe even microwaved.

French Fry Diary 360: 7-Eleven Bacon & Cheese Potato Stix

The last time I was at a 7-Eleven getting a Coke Slurpee I noticed a sign on the door advertising something called Bacon & Cheese Potato Stix, and for only a dollar. I thought, hey, I like bacon, and cheese, and I love potato products - so I decided I'd try one of them the next time I hit 7-Eleven. This was a very very very bad decision.

I now know the origin of all the horror stories about convenience store food. First, considering all of the other deep fried breaded tube items on those rollers, including various hot dog like tubes, I really hoped what I took home was actually a Bacon & Cheese Potato Stix thing.

The thing was hot when I left the 7-Eleven but five minutes later at home, it was vaguely warm and hard as a rock. I had to saw with a knife to break it in half as you see in the pics. I admit I only took a couple bites but that was enough to make me sick. I saw no bacon, and tasted neither bacon nor cheese. The potato was like old cold McDonald's hash brown bits... and I don't know what the green bits were. It was terrible.

Let's file this under I did it so you won't have to, and I did it to save your lives. 7-Eleven Bacon & Cheese Potato Stix - highly NOT recommended.

French Fry Diary 311: Trader Joe's Baked Onion Rings

I have tried onion ring snacks before, usually with disastrous results. About the only ones I have ever really liked were from 7-Eleven, and those were so good they were almost addictive. When I saw these in Trader Joe's, it was the ones from 7-Eleven I thought of, because on the bag it says, "sweet onion flavor." I snapped them right up and brought Trader Joe's Baked Onion Rings home.

When I got around to opening the bag - surprisingly easy to open for a snack from Trader Joe's I might add - I was less than enthused. These typically corn snacks were smaller than I imagined from the packaging and they smelled like onions. I know, I shouldn't complain that an onion snack smells like onions - but they didn't smell like an onion snack, you know? Especially not a 'sweet' onion snack.

These rings are kinda bland in taste actually. I think my disappointment comes from expecting the sugary sweetness of those 7-Eleven rings. These aren't bad, but they also aren't great either. They are great to snack on mindlessly in front of the tube if you have nothing else.

French Fry Diary 229: Return to the Molly Pitcher Travel Plaza

So here I am, on Memorial Day weekend, back at the Molly Pitcher rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. The last time I was here, neither Arthur Treacher's nor Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill nor even Nathan's were open.

Surprisingly, tonight, Sunday of one of the busiest traffic weekends of the year at 10:45 PM - they were in the process of closing again. So it was Roy Rogers by default again. No complaints there, I love Roy Rogers, but I did want to try the others.

It should be noted that the real Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill is in Banson, Missouri, and that I could find no record of this one on the internet. Also, this Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips is one of those affiliated with Nathan's, and not one of the 'real' ones from Ohio that has the 'real' Arthur Treacher's chips. All I would have gotten here is Nathan's fries anyway. Again, no complaints, but I want the real chips, you know?

Now I have to figure out if these closings are something deliberate against me or do these restaurants have weirder hours than those at Harrahs. You know, the casino, another place that is open twenty-four hours a day. I just find it funny. I mean, do 7-Eleven or 24/7 convenience stores close up parts of their store at inopportune times?

French Fry Diary 191: 7-Select Onion Rings

This is a review of 7-Eleven's Onion Rings, honest, it's just going to take a long time to get there. Due to traffic. Bear with me.

Okay, it was Free Slurpee Day 2010, or 7-Eleven's birthday, your choice, and I want to get my free Slurpee, specifically the Coke Slurpee, the granddaddy of Slurpees in my opinion. As opposed to recent years where Free Slurpee Day was all day, the folks at 7-Eleven restricted the celebration to certain hours so my friends and I were on a timetable to get there.

Yes, there's a 7-Eleven right in town, but it's not as easy to get there as one might think. You see, I live in Marlton, and the state of new Jersey has decided that circles, a traffic phenomenon, which has been simplicity for NJ drivers for almost a century, are now too hard to navigate. Why we have to bow to the idiot minds of out of state drivers too dumb to drive in a circle is beyond me, but now, no more circles. So they are eradicating the Marlton Circle for an overpass.

This construction has been going on for years, and quite honestly I see no end in sight. It has effectively divided my town into two towns. I am now, thanks to the construction, which seems busiest and loudest at three in the morning by the way when folks are trying to sleep, cut off from the Main Street of my town - where the 7-Eleven is.

I could walk there, if I wanted to jump multiple barriers and brave crazed and enraged traffic patterns, but that's just nuts. Walking has become a preferred travel option of late with the construction. For instance, it takes me two minutes to walk to the local Shop-Rite, however, if I wanted to go by car, it would take almost twenty-two minutes. Please, tell me how this is easier. The circle was terrific, and easy. And it got me to 7-Eleven quickly. Thank you, state of New Jersey, for ruining yet another good thing.

So after a couple hours, we finally got to 7-Eleven. Lo and behold we were greeted by a sign on the door that said "out of cups, no more free Slurpees." Actually the grammar and spelling were much worse, but that's beside the point. We highly suspected that the clerk was tired of giving out free Slurpees honestly.

Determined to get my Coke Slurpee fix, I bought one, because, really, with the construction, who knew when I would be able to get to 7-Eleven again? Something else caught my eye though, the 7-Select Onion Rings, regular flavor. See? I told you this was a relatively on-topic review.

At first I thought, at seventy-nine cents, that these were simply a cheap store brand of Funyuns. I mean, come on, how can you beat seventy-nine cents, right? These are onion-flavored rings of course, no real onion involved, but that's okay because the portion size is excellent (especially for the price, and there is 0 transfat.

The flavor comes from onion powder but really gives them their kick, and their addictive charm, is the sugar, and the brown sugar. The brown sugar just jumps right out at you in every bite. These are really good, I love 'em. I just wish there was a 7-Eleven closer than the other side of the construction so I could get them more often. Word is they also come in Louisiana Hot flavor as well.

Next time, more favorite fried food, and less bitching about traffic and construction. I promise.

French Fry Diary 20: Wawa

For those of you outside of the local Delaware Valley area, Wawa is sort of like 7-Eleven, a convenience store that is literally everywhere here, approximately one every mile or so in every direction, open 24-7 and has just about everything one could possibly need at three in the morning or just before a big snowstorm. Yeah, that’s right, it’s French toast central – milk, eggs and bread.

They also specialize in quick on-the-run food, including coffee that some say beats Starbucks by a mile, a wide variety of deli items, hot dogs, hot pretzels, and yes, even pancakes. And speaking of breakfast foods, they even have hash browns.

The Wawa Hash Brown is similar to the McDonald’s Hash Brown in that it is (supposedly) diced potatoes fried in a patty form. As you can see it’s much smaller and squarer than the Mickey D version, although these too are kept under heat lamps to keep them hot. Who knows how long they’ve been under these lamps however. The one I had was kind of tasteless at first, which was weird because I was tasting that tastelessness for quite some time afterward. I don’t know what’s in these things (I’m not sure it’s a potato product even) but I won’t be having another.


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