Poll Results

Our latest poll here at French Fry Diary asked a very simple and easy question - "How do you eat your French fries?"

The choices were "With my fingers, it's finger food!" which got 92% of the vote. There was also "With a fork." getting 10% and "With a knife and fork, cutting them into bite sized pieces." getting 5%. Finally "Pour them directly into my mouth." got 17%. A good friend of mine also insisted frequently that he eats his fries with his mouth, not a choice given, but what can you do?

Hmmm... there's an obvious winner with most folks using their fingers, but do you all see what I see here? Google, the fine folks that run Blogger and Blogger polls, seems to have a problem - they are very bad at math. There's no way that 92 + 10 + 5 + 17 = 100. Come on, Google, what up with that?

French Fry Diary 134: Loews AMC Cinema, Cherry Hill NJ

I hate the Loews AMC Cinema in Cherry Hill. I hate them. I have talked about this more than once on my Welcome to Hell pop culture blog. But unfortunately, sometimes, it's the only place to go to see a certain film, or a film in IMAX or digital 3-D or both. In those times I relent, grumble and take my place in line at the most hated of all movie theaters.

If it's any consolation, it's a movie theater that serves the favorite fried food, so why not kill two birds with one grumbling stone. I got two orders of fries, one with cheese, one without, a regular Icee and a small Coke. That was a twenty-dollar bill. Not counting the movie tickets, or even candy or even a hot dog - that was twenty right there. Then there was the size of the drinks. The counterperson insisted they were small. My jaw is still on the floor, but for the price that Coke better be damned big.

The fries came in cups with plastic forks (which were useless in the dark). The wait time for these fries was about ten minutes, which was weird because they tasted like they were only under a heat lamp for a while instead of fresh from a fryer. One can't see where they come from so there's no way to know which it is.

These natural cut curly fries are either overdone or underdone, and no in between, and fairly greasy. The cheese had an extra spicy kick that was nice at first but became a nasty aftertaste. And they got cold rather quickly. This was not a good fry experience and it got worse.

It's a good thing these Loews fries are meant to be eaten in the dark. After about twenty minutes into the feature I bit into a crunchy thing that was neither potato nor edible. I quickly spit it inconspicuously into a napkin. Good thing it was dark. I did not want to see what it was. Just glad I didn't eat it. That's it for me and fries at Loews. Not recommended.

French Fry Diary 82: Nathan’s Famous

Nathan’s Famous was founded by Nathan Handwerker in 1916, specialized in his famous secret recipe hot dogs and quickly became a landmark in Coney Island, NY. Eventually they became franchised throughout the country and added many other staples to their menu, including some of the best French fries, in my opinion. Nathan’s Famous fries are available at other places other than Nathan’s, such as the Bruster's ice cream place, Kenny Rogers Roasters, and even in your grocer’s freezer.

Nathan’s Famous has always been one of my favorite fast food French fries, if not the best. Just to make sure of my thoughts before putting them on the page I did a drive-by and picked up an order, a large order of course which is considerable by the way, at a local mall. The man behind the counter had a teardrop tattoo under one of his eyes and inked sleeves. The way he kept calling me ‘boss’ brought to mind far too many Cool Hand Luke jokes than are acceptable. The service however was quick, courteous and enough to make most fast food places blush with shame.

Ten minutes later when I arrived home I opened the bag. I had closed said bag tightly to seal in the hotness of the fries on the ride home. No peeking or picking at for these fries. If I did, there wouldn’t be any when I got home. Yeah, they’re that good.

Mmmm... still toasty warm, and stabbed right into the middle of the overly large fry bag was the famous Nathan’s French fry fork – a wonder of the fast food field, this is a small red plastic two-pronged fork specially made for eating fries. I usually keep mine for a few more feedings cuz they’re just that much darned fun. That fork is worth the price right there.

Nathan’s Famous fries are wonderfully thick crinkle-cuts that have a surprisingly sweet taste. I’ve never gotten a batch that were too greasy or too crispy or too soggy – they are always just right. This bag was just as good as ever.

The beauty of it is that even if they still weren’t warm when I got home, Nathan’s fries nuke quite well for maybe thirty seconds or less and you’re back in action. You can even microwave them a second time – but no more than that and they get messy, either soggy or hard like rocks.

Better than nuking them though is to just bake them. Using the minimum oil already on the fries as cooking oil, just place them on some aluminum foil and pop ‘em in the oven at 400 for about five to ten minutes and not only will they be good as new, but maybe a good kind of crispy. That’s right, baking take out Nathan’s makes them better.

Nathan’s Famous fries remain some of the best out there in the fast food realm. Def recommended.