French Fry Diary 721: Foodies, Parx Casino 2016

I had kinda promised I'd never come back to Foodies again, but trapped at Parx Casino in Bensalem PA, with Chickie's & Pete's closed due to a sporting event, and the promise of Foodies being completely redone, I gave it a second chance.

Now there's an Earl of Sandwich and Bambu Noodle House there, and of course, Foodies. Looking at the menus for the other two places and then the average selection at Foodies - I had to wonder why it was called that. Foodies is apparently not for foodies.

The fries were heat lamped natural cuts, but at least they didn't have any foreign debris as they did last time. They tasted like they had been under a heat lamp for quite some time, even though all food made to order as promised on a sign by the ordering station. I really wish I had gotten chips.

The more these fries cooled off, the less appetizing they became. I ended up tossing more than half of them out. This was not much better than my last foray into Foodies. Maybe I should have tried the onion rings, but then again, I thought that might have been pushing my luck… Not recommended.

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 592: Merry-Go-Round Fashion Cafe

This may have fallen so far down through the cracks of the internet so that barely anything proves its existence, but it's true. The Merry-Go-Round Fashion Cafe was a thing.

Merry-Go-Round was a hip and cool place for girls and guys, well, mostly girls, to do their trendy clothes mall shopping in the 1970s and 1980s. It was what Chess King was for guys, and much cooler than The Gap. MGR followed trends, if you saw it in the movies or on MTV, they had it in the store. And the clerks were almost always hot chicks who looked like they walked out of a John Hughes movie.

Well, in the early 1990s before MGR went bankrupt they came up with an intriguing outlandish idea. They would open up restaurants inside their mall clothing stores, and call it the Fashion Cafe. Crazy or not, they did it, and I thought it was pretty cool, and have fond memories.

In The Bride's and my engagement days we used to go to the Deptford Mall often, and usually we would eat at the Fashion Cafe as it was a favorite. I have to confess we rarely shopped there, but we ate there. Occasionally we'd hit the music store across the hall or the food court upstairs for dessert, but hardly ever MGR. Sorry, it's the truth.

I know I had a usual favorite, probably a burger and fries. I remember the shakes were big and good, and the fries were straight cuts, usually quite long. And yeah, I would dip them in the shake. I know the service was pretty good as I recall tipping fairly high. The concept was a bit odd, but I remember we always had a good experience there.

The Fashion Cafe is a much missed piece of early 1990s nostalgia. Do you remember it?

Random Tater Pic of the Day #133

This one completely perplexed me. Nathan's was the only counter in the entire food court that had a tip cup. Yes, a tip cup. I couldn't figure out for the life of me what they were doing at Nathan's that was different from anyone else in the food court, let alone any other counter service restaurant of this type. And they certainly weren't very friendly or helpful either - so why tip them?

French Fry Diary 470: Mike's Steaks, Comcast Center

Recently The Bride forgot her phone when she went to work, so being the thoughtful and loving husband I am, I took the trek into the city to give it to her. I couldn't let her go for a whole day without Words with Friends, Draw Something or Pharoah Slots, could I? The Bride works near the Comcast Center, the building that looks like a giant flashdrive in the middle of Philadelphia, so as thanks, she took me to lunch at its food court below the lobby.

I have been on a cheesesteak kick recently so I knew what I wanted, and made a beeline for Mike's Steaks. Despite being smack dab in the middle of a food court, this is a real authentic Philly cheesesteak place. The tons of red neon I could have done without but they had a friendly staff, quick service, good system of ordering and pick-up - and of course great cheesesteaks.

I'm an idiot however. After years and years of ordering my hot sandwiches plain, I got flummoxed ordering. I asked for a plain steak, with onions, and Cheez Whiz. The guy just stared at me, waited a moment, leaned in, and smiled, "That's a cheesesteak, champ." Love it. Every station - order, pay, rolls, steaks, fries - all worked like an efficient machine.

The cheesesteak, as I said, was great. But hey, you know I got fries too, right? The French fries at Mike's were deep-fried crinkle cuts, crisp tasty, and not at all greasy. What a treat, and terrific with the sandwich. I had a great lunch experience, and also got to spend some time with The Bride during the day. If you're ever at Comcast Center in Philly, check out Mike's Steaks.