French Fry Diary 690: The Three Broomsticks

After a rainy frustrating morning getting lost in Universal proper, but for the most part enjoying some of Harry Potter land, or whatever it's called - Wizarding World of harry Potter - is that it? One of the reasons I'm not so thrilled with Universal is their insistence on being the anti-Disney, sometimes to the point of being downright rude.

Case in point, when I was waiting for The Bride and friend Kat to meet up for lunch. I got to The Three Broomsticks first, and had a bit of a wait, which I unfortunately had to take outside in the rain, or in the soggy entrance of the place. You can't sit and wait inside unless you buy something. When I made a joke about my Magic Band, I was sternly asked to leave. So for me, Universal = rude and no sense of humor. They really made me not want to come back, and this was quite some time before we even had lunch.

I actually had high hopes for The Three Broomsticks after Sarah Hawkins-Miduski's mention on her blog here. Those potato wedges look good, right? They weren't, at least for me this time, that is. They were supposedly seasoned, really?? They were also quite dry as if they had been under a heat lamp for some time.

After an exhausting wait outside, there was an exhausting wait inside as well. Close quarters, body odor, and a general wet dog smell due to the rain outside made this line one of the worst. Sadly, the food wasn't much better. As many folks have noted elsewhere, Harry Potter land does not have soda. The butterbeer is like drinking super-sweet liquid vomit as far as I'm concerned, so I was stuck drinking apple cider, which was a nice change of pace, and the best part of the meal.

I was not impressed by Three Broomsticks at all. As with all bad experiences, I am of course willing to give this place another shot, but would rather not as they did their best to make me feel unwelcome and unsatisfied.

French Fry Diary 688: Moon Dog Grill

I have to say it was refreshing to see the new food court at the Moorestown Mall, as opposed to construction area that was here last time I visited. This court has been redone several times, as a matter of fact, I think this may have been the first food court I ever visited, waaay back in 1985 - if I recall correctly, to visit a place that sold only French fries. Ah, youth. The latest remodeling is nice, with high tables including outlets for electronics being a modern improvement, but the real surprise and treat was seeing the MoonDog Grill.

Nestled amongst the other court restaurants like Subway, SaladWorks, Suki Hana, and Philly Steak among others, including the Yard House, is the MoonDog Grill. In case you've been under a rock somewhere and don't know, the MoonDog Grill is brought to us by the same wonderful folks who ran the much loved Cool Dog Café. I have been on a forced hiatus for the last few months, but when the new place opened in the Moorestown Mall on January 2nd, I was inundated with emails.

The word of mouth has been incredible, with so many folks telling me this is the crew from the Cool Dog Café. It's not everyone however as Shawn has moved out on his own, but Bernadette and Ira are still there, so it's the same great customer service, really the best service around, the type that makes you feel like friends, like family.

The menu is a little bit smaller, but still the same great food, and - wait for it - still the same fantastic fresh cut French fries. Always one of the best in South Jersey, these natural cuts are cut fresh and twice fried, so you know they know what they're doing. The paper bag to hold in the heat is an old school touch, and they still have all the special fry sauces from the Cool Dog days.

That's enough of my personal obsession. You're also going to be hard pressed to find a better hot dog or burger for the price. The Sabrett all-beef dogs have a great snap and are deep fried to perfection, and the burgers are 100% Angus beef, hand formed and never frozen. All the food is cooked to order and to your specs. This place is aces.

Most of tables in our area of the food court had MoonDog food on them, so they seemed to be doing a pretty brisk business the Saturday afternoon we visited. I wish the folks at the MoonDog Grill the best in this endeavor and it gets my highest recommendation.

French Fry Diary 684: Steak Fries on the Disney Magic

I have mentioned our waitstaff from our two Disney Cruises this season before. Brendon and Andrene are the best.

At our first dinner at Animator's Palate I ordered French fries of course, and got the terrific steak fries one usually gets on board toward the beginning of the cruise. I mentioned how much I enjoyed them, but my brother-in-law went the extra mile, saying that if I got fries with every meal I'd always be happy.

This triggered what I like to call the Creme Brûlée effect. On a previous cruise, friends Dom and Cindy had raved about the Creme Brûlée dessert and their waitstaff made sure they always had it, even when they came back on a later cruise.

Because of the bro, we had steak fries every night of the cruise and when we returned two weeks later for the TCM Classic Cruise. Yeah, they are that good, and I was in French fry heaven, whether I liked it or not. Who am I kidding? I loved it.

Farewell Cool Dog Cafe

I woke up this morning, some 1200 miles from home, but still with the connection to Facebook, to some very sad news.

The Cool Dog Café in Cherry Hill NJ has closed their doors.

Here was the message on their Facebook page:

"COOL DOG IS CLOSED

"We are sad to inform all of you that today, Oct. 31, was the last day for Cool dog Café. As with many things, time can change people’s outlooks and desires. So it is with Cool Dog. Partners Shawn and Ira will be moving on to pursue their individual dreams. Shawn is now working with the Stephen Starr restaurants in Philly and enjoying his new culinary experience very much. Ira is working on a new venture in the area and will let you know when something is definite.

"We want to thank you for your loyalty, friendship and support over the past 5 years. A restaurant couldn’t ask for a better group of people as their customers and we’ll miss you. But we’ll be in touch. Meanwhile, have a wonderful holiday season and again, from all of us at Cool Dog Café… THANK YOU."

This came as a shock to me as it did to many folks. Not only was Cool Dog an awesome place for hot dogs, French fries, burgers, and fun - it was a place for family. And truth is that Ira and his wife in the front, Shawn in the back, and the entire staff - they were friends, and family too. Coming to Cool Dog was like coming home, like being welcomed by family.

They certainly treated us like family, through good times and bad, this was a restaurant that made everyone welcome. Every time we had friends from out of town, they always wanted to go to the Cool Dog Cafe. And I know many folks upset they won't be able to have one last dog at their favorite place.

That said, best of luck to Ira and Shawn in the future, looking forward to the next big thing from each of you. We will miss you, Cool Dog!

French Fry Diary 606: Farewell to Little Shanty

There's nothing more heartbreaking for a foodie like me than when a favorite restaurant closes. It's even worse when it's someplace that you can't get to on a regular basis to support them if they're not doing well, because hell, you would be in there every day if you could. Such is the case with Little Shanty in Warren NJ.

I love this place. I've only been there three times, and I love this place. You want the best onion rings and some awesome fries? Here they are. Great burgers, shakes, desserts, and terrific service? It's all here. And sadly they will be closing this weekend.

We played hide and seek missing each other the first two times I had been to Little Shanty, but the third time was a charm and I finally met the owner, Jonathan Lidz. He's a great friendly guy, full of enthusiasm and has his heart in the right place - and knows his fries (a big plus as far as this blog is concerned), but he just couldn't make it work at that location. Jonathan has hopes to re-open at a new location. Let's hope it's closer than an hour and a half away.

If you want to stop by in the next few days and experience great food and service, please do while you can. Little Shanty cannot be beat. Please check out the website, the Facebook page, and the Twitter for re-opening news, and look back on my reviews of Little Shanty here, here and here. Thank you, Jonathan, and hoping for the best for you.

French Fry Diary 270: Animator's Palate, Pirate Night

Dinner on day four was Pirate Night on the Disney Dream, and we were once again at Animator's Palate. Pirate Night is also fireworks night on the top deck, as well as dress-up night. By dress-up, I don't mean those annoying formal nights that most cruises have, I mean dress-up like a pirate. Yeah, Disney, as always, means fun. Even our two servers, Goncalo and Charlie, got into the act.

The special effects of the restaurant were different tonight in that instead of interactive Crush the turtle it was simpler, subtler and in my opinion, better. We were treated to pirate images from Disney movies, rides, animation designs, and history. Visuals from films like Peter Pan, Treasure Island, Treasure Planet and of course the Johnny Depp Pirates of the Caribbean movies flashed across the multiple screens of the walls. I liked it a lot.

For starters at dinner, I had my favorite appetizer, a coconut banana treat, and my favorite rolls were also on the table, so we were off to a great beginning for the meal. Again, like I said, if you mention you like something, the waitstaff, who are with you the entire stay, make sure you are taken care of. The rolls rocked.

For dinner, I ordered some very spicy citrus chicken with the usual steak fries. The chicken was tender and succulent, and the fries, with the lemony sauce were terrific. This was truly one of the best meals on board so far, in flavor, company and entertainment.

French Fry Diary 264: Royal Palace, Disney Dream

Day two dinner of our cruise brought us to the Royal Palace. The ritziest of the three free restaurants on board the Disney Dream, the Royal Palace is Disney princess themed, mostly Cinderella but they are all included. It's also a French restaurant, as beaten into me by my friend Dom (who spent much of dinner doing French quotes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail), so I ordered - of course - French fries.

The catastrophically picky eater in me also got daring at this meal. I ordered an avocado citrus salad and wild boar tenderloins. Yeah, I went waaay out of my comfort zone. And the coolest part of the meal so far - our traveling companions Dom and Cindy's little girl got a kids meal with French fries, and a Mickey Mouse made of ketchup. Awesome.

The wild boar was very tender and delicious, much to my surprise. The favorite fried food was the same as last night - the baked steak fries. Wonderful. Again, as always, good company and good food, was topped off tonight by creme brûlée, Dom's favorite dessert.

Now I've mentioned how much I love the waitstaff on the Disney boat, and how they take care of you so well. Dom had mentioned loving the crème brulee on the last trip, and they remembered. He got it every night this time, and when I said I liked it as well, guess who got it every night thereafter on this trip? Yep, now that's cool.

Cow Appreciation Day Is July 10th

From the Chick-fil-A pressroom:

Cow-Clad Customers Get Free Chick-fil-A Meals on Cow Appreciation Day

Chain Continues Healthy Sales Momentum in 2009

ATLANTA – In the ‘moo’d for a free meal? As part of the chain’s fifth annual Cow Appreciation Day celebration, Chick-fil-A® restaurants are offering a free meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) to any customer who visits one of the 1,450-plus participating restaurants fully dressed as a cow on Friday, July 10.

Customers dressed head to hoof as a cow will be rewarded with a free Chick-fil-A Meal, which includes an entrée of choice, a side item and a Dr Pepper® (or other beverage choice). For those who are too timid to wear full cow costumes, Chick-fil-A will award a complimentary entrée to customers partially dressed in cow attire, such as a cow-spotted scarf, purse, hat or other accessory.

Chick-fil-A has launched a special website dedicated to the occasion, www.cowappreciationday.com. In addition to providing further details about the event, the site offers cow costume tips as well as downloadable cow spots, masks and other bovine-themed accessories for customers to use to create their costumes. The site also will host two online photo contests, one contest for adults 18 and older and another for children 10 and under. Both contests will award free Chick-fil-A products for a year to the best cow-dressed customers, and children will also have the opportunity to win a $1,000 U.S. Series EE Savings Bond and a digital camera through the kid’s photo contest.

Now in its fifth year, Chick-fil-A’s Cow Appreciation Day continues to build momentum. Last year’s event – and the resulting turnout – confirmed that Chick fil-A has a strong following of customers willing to go to great lengths to show their appreciation for cows. Thousands of cow-clad customers visited Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country, including a herd of more than 2,000 from area summer camps, daycares and preschools in Columbus, Ga. Costumes ranged from simple cow-spotted t-shirts to full cow suits complete with furry ears, cow bells and homemade sandwich boards with personalized renditions of the “Eat Mor Chikin®” Cows’ quirky messages.

“Cow Appreciation Day continues to be one of our best indicators of the great passion our customers have for the brand,” said Steve Robinson, Chick-fil-A’s senior vice president of marketing. “It takes a loyal fan to dress like a cow for a free meal. Based on the stories we hear from our restaurant Operators around the country, we have quite a large – and growing – base of Chick-fil-A fans. Cow Appreciation Day is our way of thanking them for their loyalty, not to mention a truly fun day!”

Now that’s the company line and the national pitch. Locally, in Cherry Hill NJ at least, there’s even more going on. At the Cherry Hill Chick-fil-A, it’s customer appreciation week.

July 6th – Free Chicken Strips
July 7th – Free Peach Shake
July 8th – Spend $5 Play a Free Game
July 9th – Free Breakfast

Check out the details here!

They have a good time at Chick-fil-A Cherry Hill, great crew, great place, great food. And whenever you visit Chick-fil-A, don’t forget the fries! Mmmm... fries...


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