French Fry Diary 714: Burger 21

Burger 21, a chain with most of their restaurants in the Florida area, is now in New Jersey. They currently occupy the same place as The Doghouse in the Voorhees Town Center, opening there about two years back. Burger 21 offers a gluten free menu featuring burgers, shakes, and fries with a variety of dipping sauces, including sweet stuff for their sweet potato fries. All of their fries are cooked in soybean oil. I had been to the NJ location a few times and the quality of the food and service were wildly inconsistent so I was hesitant to write a review that would be on target.

Upon visiting Lakeland Florida house hunting, The Bride and I went to a Burger 21 there, and found it to be quite a pleasant experience. It was nice to see a familiar place in Florida where many things are much different, a good sign especially in the ninety-degree heat. I got a great thick burger on a grilled buttered roll and it was delicious. But it was the fries that were the stars.

The fries were frozen shoestrings deep fried, and were very good hot, but got cold fairly quickly. Not to worry, they were eaten quickly. As I said, the ones in New Jersey were inconsistent both in size and style, but these were near perfect. The Bride got cheese and ale as a side, and many other sauces were available at their amazing sauce bar, such as ranch, ketchup (both Thai and regular), ragin' Cajun, barbeque, mustard (regular and honey), chipotle mayo, apple cider, and toasted marshmallow.

To top it all off, the waitress who took our order was very friendly, and we found we had "Doctor Who" in common. She made a joke about our house hunting and to look for a home that was bigger on the inside. We took it as a good omen for that day of looking at homes. And we'd definitely come back to Burger 21, in Florida.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #223

Hey, it's the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, as a Mr. Potato Head, complete with fez and sonic screwdriver. Yeah, it's Doctor Who, for those not versed in the mythos, you can find out more here, and follow my reviews of the newest series on Biff Bam Pop! right here. And don't forget to have some fries while you watch and read...

French Fry Diary 575: Raglan Road

Usually every trip to Walt Disney World for me includes a journey to Downtown Disney and Cookes of Dublin, which until recent years has had the best French fries, pardon me, Irish chips I have ever had. Lately though, they haven't been so great. Whether it's because of changes in the cooking process or just general laziness in prep, I don't know, but they ain't what they used to be.

As a change of pace, this trip, we decided to try the big fancy sit-down restaurant attached to Cookes of Dublin called Raglan Road this time. It's the same folks doing both places, but rather than a walk-up counter service, this was a nice sit-down place. We had planned on having a whole group of folks with us, friends and family, but one by one, people dropped out for various reasons. I was beginning to wonder if I should change my deodorant.

At first, as it was just myself, The Bride and her mom, we were thinking of just going to Cookes of Dublin as Raglan Road was so much more expensive, and Cookes was easier. Thinking of the folks who couldn't make it, we bit the bullet, and went to Raglan Road for a full meal and experience - and it was an experience. Absent friends and family don't know what they missed. No regrets.

The restaurant is pretty big, like most places in WDW, it's like a TARDIS, bigger on the inside than it looks outside - a large dining area and bar area, with one big stage and a center stage as well. We had heard there were shows, and bands, but we did not think, being so early (it was five-ish) we would see them. We were wrong.

I got my usual, a plain burger, as well as an order of the chips and an order of the onion rings which I had been told I should definitely try. The burger was very good, and came on a weird roll that had strips of ham? Or onion? Baked and threaded through it, very very tasty. As far as the food goes, it needs to be said. They may be next to each other, and they may be the same operation, same management etcetera - but Raglan Road is not Cookes of Dublin. Raglan Road is vastly superior.

As we were beginning to enjoy our meal, the entertainment began. It was as if Riverdance erupted around us, on the large stage in front of us, and a small center stage spot behind us. Propelled by the music of Creel, the tap group known as Our Darlin' Dancers put on an amazing show. So terrific, and later kids from audience were brought up on stage, shown moves, and danced along. Everyone had a great time especially the two little kids who were dancing next to our table.



Back to our meal, especially the French fries and the onion rings, the stuff you're here to read about. Both the rings and the fries (I mean chips) came in proper paper cones, although other tables had them dumped on to plates, which was also kinda cool. The onion rings were fine in the cone, but the fries were kinda wedged in there pretty tightly. The cheese was like a glue holding them together. Note the shape of the pile once we dumped them onto a plate ourselves.

My friend Dom was dead on about the onion rings. They had the same wonderful batter as the Cookes of Dublin onion rings, with big thick and juicy onions, and a very crunchy exterior. To die for, these were fantastic. However the fries were a bit different from the fare at Cookes. These natural cuts were bigger than usual shoestrings, with good amounts of cheese, garlic, and something that always needs a careful measure - just the right amount of truffle oil. Near perfect fries. Raglan Road more than makes up for Cookes of Dublin's recent decline.

Since it was The Bride's birthday, we also got as a dessert the bread pudding that one of our absent friends had recommended. We didn't order it, it came on its own - that's just how Disney rolls. This was a luscious dessert, and the vanilla and caramel cream over it was sweet heaven. What a wonderful birthday gift. Thank you!

There was a lot of food, so we ended up taking some of it back to our happily microwave equipped hotel. The onion rings were a bit soggy the second time around, but based on my experience, I think these would have been awesome if baked when reheated, rather than nuked. I might say the same about the fries, but for the record, they were an inedible disaster in the nuke. Definitely bake leftovers.

Raglan Road is awesome, one of my favorite restaurants in WDW, and it gets my highest marks. Very highly recommended, and I would definitely come back. As a matter of fact, I look forward to it. Raglan Road rocks.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #90

Here's another addition of Somebody Else's Fries with my buddy Terry. This was his homemade birthday dinner. No fries, but holy crap, look at the size of that baked potato. And there's bacon in there too! It must have been a special birthday. Happy Belated, man!

Random Tater Pic of the Day #84

 

Today's Somebody Else's Fries belong to my man Terry. A recent dinner was comprised of fish and steak fries with a generous portion of ketchup. Looks good, man!

French Fry Diary 452: Ponzio's Diner, Cherry Hill NJ

Ponzio's Diner-Bakery-Bar has been a landmark in Cherry Hill, in one form or another, for decades, located at the Ellisburg Circle, and now the convoluted intersection that used to be the Ellisburg Circle. A family business since 1964 when the owners of Ponzio's Brooklawn purchased this location, and it went from being the Ellisburg Diner to Ponzio's Cherry Hill. There have been numerous renovations since then, most notably the latest in 2005.

The Bride recently visited here and I talked about the fries she brought home. Now here's the in-restaurant review, as we had chosen the new Ponzio's as our meeting place for our annual holiday get-together with friends.

Back in the 1980s when I was in college I had been here a few times. What I remember most is that it was very dark, and the bar was small and dark as well. It might have just been that decade that was dark. On this day, it was very bright. There was a diner section that looked very diner-y, a bar where I remembered it, but bigger and brighter.

The rest of Ponzio's was quarantined off into different rooms named after local Cherry Hill neighborhoods. It reminded me a lot of Mastoris actually in that way. After a bit of a wait, even though we called ahead for a large group of eight, we ended up in the Barclay Room. Continuing the comparison to Mastoris was the selection of cheese breads we were served before the meal. They were not as good however.

As far as my dinner goes, I went traditional. Regular readers know what I ordered - a plain burger and fries. This of course seemed to confuse our waitress. I wanted the Johnny & Feef's Famous Bay Fries that The Bride had brought home a few months back. They only come in a giant-sized portion separate from the meal. Hoping not to confuse her any more I just ordered onion rings as my side, and got the Bay Fries too.

The burger was hot and okay, but had a bit of an aftertaste that didn't make me feel so good. The onion rings were heavily battered, very crispy, and big and thick. They were very tasty, only Panko could have possibly made them better. From the offerings on others' plates, I could see that Ponzio's regular fries were regular cuts. No complaints about them from our table.

There were also Eggplant Fries and Green Bean Fries on the menu, but I wasn't feeling that adventurous that night. I did not see the rumored Asparagus Fries that I had been told about here on the menu however. Maybe they are a myth, or on a secret menu, a la In-N-Out Burger.

The Bay Fries were quite a disappointment in restaurant sadly. They were hot (in places) and spicy, but a bit limp. My friend and fellow Disney Cruiser Dom sat across from me and sampled these fries. His response was to ask if they were supposed to be cold. I didn't get what he meant until I myself popped a cold fry into my mouth. This was not good. The ramekin of cheese near Dom had cheese so stiff and cold he couldn't even push a fry into it. As a whole, the fries got worse as they got even colder.

All in all, it was a great dinner with much missed friends. Conversation was fun, if a bit overloaded with Doctor Who and the question of whether an éclair is a donut or not (I still say it's not), but great company. We really should see each other more often than once a year.

As far as the food and service at Ponzio's goes however, we probably won't be going back. I think we've decided on the tried and true Medport for next year's holiday gathering. I already can't wait.

French Fry Diary 420: The Supersizers Go... Victorian

I caught this one on The Cooking Channel. "The Supersizers Go..." is a BBC show unfortunately inspired by Morgan Spurlock's Supersize Me. The hosts, food critic Giles Coren and radio personality Sue Perkins, pretend to visit a specific time period each episode and basically bitch about the grossness and nutritional non-value of that era.

I discovered the Victorian episode while flipping through the channels and discovered them talking fish and chips. I was hooked, pun unintended. I set the DVR for record when it was repeated later in the evening so I could write about it for you fine folks.

I liked Sue right away as she was also a fussy eater, maybe not a catastrophically picky one, but still a non-adventurous pain in the butt after my own heart. The first mention of the favorite fried food was regarding breakfast. The Victorians ate fried potatoes for breakfast, among other fattening items, fun stuff like mutton cutlets and smoked mackerel with anchovies, all of which they noted the calorie counts.

Among the oddities and goodies I learned in the show include that despite her horrible diet, Queen Victoria lived to the grand old age of eighty-one. I guess fried potatoes every day are a bad idea. I also learned, and this one's for the "Doctor Who" fans, that jelly babies, at least according to this show, date back to Victoria's era. Maybe The Doctor introduced them early.

Something else I've gotten from the episode is that in Victorian England, despite the fried potatoes and jelly babies, they ate a lot of disgusting crap. I'm talking cow's brains, heads, and ears, and that's just for starters. Luckily though, after dinner, Giles and Sue went out to a chippie for fish and chips, a street dish that originated at this time.

Fish and chips, again, according to the show, comes from Jewish immigration to the UK from Poland and Russia. Jewish families could not light a flame after sundown on Fridays so they battered and fried their fresh fish to make them last longer for the weekend. Again, Sue steals my heart by saying fish and chips is one of the greatest inventions of all ages, even over and above the electric lightbulb.

Probably one of the few dishes they actually enjoy throughout the episode, they sit and happily eat their fish and chips, from newspaper cones, with their hands. Yeah, baby. Potato croquettes pop up later, as do many courses of garbage dinners, a trip to a pub, and a Christmas meal. Trust me, the fish and chips were the highlight of this fairly educational romp.