Random Tater Pic of the Day #245

New packaging, still awesome.

French Fry Diary 696: Lay's Korean Barbecue Potato Chips

So. Lay's Flavor Swap. What the hell, right?

It's one thing to look for new flavors, or to have contests to find new flavors, but why would a company plan to retire a potato chip flavor? That's the gist of this contest, one stays, and one goes.

Of the four pairings going to war - cheddar & sour cream vs. smoked Gouda & chive, flamin' hot vs. fiery roasted habanero, and sea salt & cracked pepper vs. olive oil & herbs - only honey barbecue vs. Korean barbecue concerns me. Now I'm biased but why take a major potato chip flavor like honey barbecue off the table? It's almost like a New Coke trick.

Now the voting is over, but the results have yet to be posted, so who knows what will happen? In a world where I can't find physical proof that BBQ Ruffles exist (they're that hard to find), why eliminate flavors?

The Korean Barbecue flavored potato chips aren't bad, thin, with not much heat, except for a light sting in the aftertaste. Too thin to dip properly, and with sort of a meat chip vibe, not that that's a bad thing, these aren't bad, they're actually quite good - but I wouldn't trade them for Honey Barbecue, ever.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #202

Friend, fellow member of the South Jersey Writers Group, and occasional contributor to French Fry Diary, Mieke Zamora-Mackay sent this edition of Somebody Else's Fries to me from Ponzio's Diner. It's a burger called The Bundy, which comes topped with cheddar cheese, crispy onions and bacon, complemented with their honey BBQ sauce, and of course French fries on the side. Thanks, Mieke!

French Fry Diary 588: Kettle Brand Real Sliced Potatoes

Last time I reviewed a Kettle Brand product (the Sweet & Salty Potato Chips which absolutely rocked) I got into trouble on the Twitter with someone arguing the actual healthiness of the potato chips and/or the oil they were cooked in.

Let me be clear. This is a foodie blog about French fries, potato chips, onion rings, and junk or fast food. We're having fun and not being all that serious. It's not rocket science. If a potato chip has no transfats, no preservatives, no GMO, is gluten free, and made from natural ingredients - that's about as healthy as potato chips get. To be healthier, you would need to NOT eat the chip. Got it? A health food blog this is not, and if you're looking for nutritional advice here, you have much bigger problems.

That said, I was excited by a new Kettle Brand chip I saw at Whole Foods called Real Sliced Potatoes so I decided to try them. For the record, they are gluten free and all that stuff I said above. Add to that low sodium and no cholesterol. And they are not all that new. These are Kettle Brand's baked chips with a cool new rebranding. It does however beg the question of if these are real, are the others fake sliced potatoes, but we'll just let that slide. The rebranding worked, and caught my attention.

Real Sliced Potatoes come in different flavors like Sea Salt, Sea Salt & Vinegar, Hickory Honey Barbeque, the intriguing Cheddar & Roasted Tomato, and the new Olive Oil. Guess which one I tried? If you know me at all you know it was the BBQ flavor.

These chips are awesome, crispy, sweet and spicy, and have a good thickness, great for dipping. They are very similar to Trader Joe's Baked Hickory Barbeque Potato Chips, which I also love, but these are better, sweeter, just awesome - I think I've found a new favorite potato chip. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 474: Honey BBQ Smart Fries

I've had these Smart Fries before, and while an actually fairly healthy snack, they were pretty bland. That was the Classic Sea Salt variety I tried, and I theorized that the Honey BBQ or the Vinegar Splash might be better because they'd actually have flavor.

Now granted, there's not much discernible flavor to the Honey BBQ, but they do have a bit of a kick, and enough taste to make this truly a potato chip-like you-can't-eat-just-one situation. These are great snacks, and recently started being carried by Wawa. They also come in Vintage Cheddar, Honey Mustard & Onion, and Jalapeño Trio.

French Fry Diary 433: P.J. Whelihan's 2012

Yeah, I came back. I came back to the place where I found a hair in my fries - P.J. Whelihan's in Medford Lakes. Only because we were coming out of seeing The Bride in the Pineland Players production of "Bye Bye Birdie," and that's where the cast and crew were going, we went. I was not enthused, but we went. I was outvoted, I wanted the Medport.

So, once there, I determined to give the fries a second chance, and also try the onion rings. I went for a different kind of favorite fried food this time - PJ's Famous Fries - old bay seasoned crinkle cuts, but sans the American cheese. Or at least that's what the menu said, and what I ordered. Last time I was here, I got natural cuts. And sadly, since the last time I was here, they got rid of that wonderful Guiness BBQ sauce. Boo. Hiss.

The Famous Fries were fairly standard crinkle cuts but slightly flatter on one side than on the other, kinda like an oddly shaped Nathan's fry. They were also quite long, only lightly seasoned with Old Bay, and very addictive. I passed on the American cheese but it would've gone well with them. They were great while hot, but unfortunately got cold rather quickly.

The onion rings were thick cut and lightly crunchy. Almost perfectly done. I liked these best on this trip. They came with a creole mayo sauce that my good friend, the Dark Crystal, really disliked, more vinegar than mayo. I got the Hot-n-Honey signature wing sauce for my fries, and that was more buffalo than honey, still hot, but not the kind of hot I was looking for in a honey BBQ sauce.

All in all, this time it was a good visit, and pleasant visit. And best of all, no hair...

French Fry Diary 389: The Mystery Box from Herr's

The Bride got the mail the other day and brought with her a huge cardboard box for me. It took me a few moments to figure out what it was, but once I saw the return address was Herr's in Nottingham PA - I knew exactly what it was.

I take online surveys all the time, but the ones I enjoy most are surveys about my favorite things, among them would be potato chips. I've done Herr's surveys before, always fun, and as an incentive to do the survey, you could win a case of snacks. Guess who won this time?

I'm surprised that I still won. When they asked me what I wanted a case of, I suppose I may have been a pain in the ass. I first asked for the 1853 chips and then the barbecue variety neither of which I have been able to find since 2010. I also mentioned the Lattice chips, the Honey BBQ, and two or three others. I thought maybe I'd get a variety.

This was good though, surprising, and large eight ounce bags, twelve of them - the mythical, and thought lost to the crumbs of time - All Natural 1853 Kettle Cooked Barbecue Potato Chips. Truly a lifetime supply. Thank you, Herr's!

French Fry Diary 357: Gourmet Basics Smart Fries

I am always intrigued by potato snacks that try to be healthy. I've been seeing Smart Fries from Gourmet Basics on shelves for a while and I finally picked up a bag, the flavor I picked was 'classic sea salt.'

There are lots of healthy bonuses with these so-called Smart Fries. They are cholesterol free, sugar free and transfat free. The problem is they are also kinda flavor free as well. They claim they have potato in them but I didn't taste it, heck, I certainly didn't taste any salt either, sea or otherwise. It's not that they're tasteless, but they are very bland. Perhaps I should try some of the other kinds like honey BBQ or vinegar splash.

They are kinda a skinny round tube in the shape of shoestring French fries, and are good for dipping. They are air popped and very low in calories. Not my first pick, but a good healthy snack, thumbs up.

French Fry Diary 310: Boardwalk Grill & Pizzeria, Cherry Hill NJ

Boardwalk Grill & Pizzeria is a place that opened earlier this summer locally in Cherry Hill. A recent lazy Sunday evening led The Bride and I to look for a nearby place that delivered, we chose Boardwalk, mostly because their menu made a pretty big deal of the favorite fried food.

First off, any place that calls itself 'Boardwalk' and has French fries, had better have good ones. It's just the facts, ya know? The menu calls them "Fryz" just to be different, I guess. They claim that "all Boardwalk Fryz are Hand Cut from Russett Potatoes Daily," madcap capitalization theirs. They offer malt vinegar for dipping, but for a charge. They come in regular, Old Bay, Cheese, Pizza, and Loaded.

Deciding on a pizza roll and some BBQ honey boneless chicken wings, along with fries, sorry, Fryz, both Boardwalk and Loaded, we called in our order. Surprisingly for a new place the delivery was rather quick. Score one for customer service. The chicken was pretty good, and the BBQ honey sauce more barbeque than honey, but excellent on the fries and for dipping.

The Loaded Fryz came in quite a generous portion, and was too much for my wife. Besides being very filling, these natural cuts were under an avalanche of Cheez Wiz, mozzarella, bacon and scallions. This came in a big tin foil pie plate, I mention this because it was a huge portion. These guys give you a lotta fries for your buck.

The large order of the regular Boardwalk Fryz were the same natural cut Boardwalk style fries you can find at Pat's or the more traditional Boardwalk Fries and Seaside Spuds. Again, bonuses for portion size, because the large fry-decorated cup they came in had about the same amount as The Bride's serving.

Sadly, I don't think they were cooked to order. While the hot ones were very good, I had a lot of stubs and ends - no big long fries at all, and some were very crunchy as if they'd been cooked more than once and not in a good way. Maybe it was the end of a batch. They did however reheat well when baked in the oven.

I would be more than willing to give them a second chance, as these could be really good fries, maybe just not this time. I would love to try them at the actual restaurant next time rather than their excellent delivery service.

French Fry Diary 302: Herr's Honey BBQ Potato Chips

I always kinda dug the bag for Herr's Honey BBQ Flavored Potato Chips. The brick background conjures a backyard barbeque with a very gangsta-looking honeybee who looks as if he just sprayed the wall with graffiti that reads "Honey BBQ." Yeah, I'm easily amused.

These chips have everything that the regular Herr's Barbecue Potato Chips in the gold foil have with two important differences. The Honey BBQ chips have honey, and actually it seems to be the only addition in ingredients - and they have ripples, just like the, duh, Herr's Ripples Potato Chips in the pink foil.

The honey is thick but not sticky. If the Wise Honey BBQ Potato Chips have just the flavoring of honey, the Herr's variety taste like the honey was just poured on - and that's a good thing. Very sweet and very good, although, like the regular gold foils, they can be seasoned inconsistently. Just a little is just enough.

The ripples are wide, and like the regular pink foils, these are thick chips, which make them just perfect for dips. Anyone know why Herr's other chips have become so thin in recent years? Longtime readers of French Fry Diary will know I like dipping into ice cream and these are among the best for that.

These are darn good chips, and highly recommended. Mmmm... Chips...

French Fry Diary 300: Wise BBQ Potato Chips

There are few that come close. Herr's are everyday good, and rule with the different with their honey barbeque and baby back ribs flavors. Michael Season's honey barbeque are healthy good and darned hard to get except by mail - do they have them in any local stores? But truth be told, Wise is the king of the barbeque potato chip.

Now I'm not a big fan of the Wise regular chips as I find them too thin, and are often spotty and greasy. This, happily, is not a problem that their BBQ variety has. Now this might sound stupid, but I like these chips so much that I remember when I first had them. I was… very young, and my enabling big sister had gotten a bag at one of the local neighborhood stores, Valenti's. The bag was white cellophane, about the size of a $3.99 bag today with the old trademark Wise owl on it and a price tag of thirty-nine cents. I was smitten. Wise BBQ Flavored Potato Chips are among my absolute favorites.

Some folks say that pretzels are what you dip in ice cream, that it is a natural match, so much so that they make cones out of pretzels. Now I'm not going to say they should start making potato chip ice cream cones, but darn it, chips are much better for dipping in ice cream in my opinion. And the best are the Wise BBQ chips, the hot and cold, sweet and salty contrast is terrific.

Even my old cat Badger thought so. He loved ice cream and Wise BBQ chips. Many times I would have a bowl of ice cream on the table, open a bag of chips, then get up to get something - didn't matter what - and Badger would hop up on the table and start lapping up ice cream, and then invariably stick his head in the bag of chips. When I would come back, he'd know he'd been caught and run - unfortunately the bag would be stuck on his head. He'd leave a trail of chips around the house before getting out of the bag. Man, I loved that cat, my buddy for seventeen years, but wow, he took a lot of ice cream and especially Wise BBQ chips from me.

And I know that Bobby Flay is famous for this now with his Crunchburger at his Burger Palace franchise, but I was doing this decades ago. For an extra crunch, and flavor, I put Wise BBQ potato chips on top of and under my burgers. I also use crushed Wise BBQ potato chips as a fried chicken coating much the way Planet Hollywood used to use Cap'n Crunch for their World Famous Chicken Crunch - and again, I think I was doing it before them. I also sometimes use Frosted Flakes, but that's a completely different story - and favorite fried food.

The Honey BBQ Flavored Potato Chips from Wise came out just a few years ago and quickly became a favorite of mine. They are sweet, and have just the right amount of honey. Sometimes I like a bit more, and when I do, I go for the Herr's Honey Barbeque, but far more often it's Wise. Even if you just lick the seasoning off these, it's good. Although these aren't as good on hamburgers as the regular BBQ, these are equally good for dipping, especially in ice cream. Whereas sometimes the regular BBQ get hot and you need liquid refreshment just to go on, these go down smooth and sweet.

Speaking of sweet, the Sweet Heat BBQ Flavored Potato Chips from Wise just came out, as you can see from the pic, they are brand spanking new. These chips seem innocent at first, with just more visible seasoning than the two types above. They're tasty and sweet, and just as addictive - you will have eaten at least a half-dozen before your mouth catches fire. Yeah, these are hot, but it's a good hot, similar to Lay's Tangy Carolina BBQ potato chips. And that's a good thing. These chips would be very good for dipping into ice cream, because the cold might put out the fire.

Now it should be noted that I can't really have most of Wise's various BBQ chips all that often because of the salt content and especially the MSG. Hey, Wise, isn’t it about time you start trying to make these without MSG? Please? I'll be your best friend...

French Fry Diary 288: Lay's Honey Barbecue Potato Chips

Some time ago I reviewed Lay's Tangy Carolina BBQ Potato Chips and while they were hot and sweet, one might find them a bit too hot. If that's the situation, then Lay's Honey Barbecue Potato Chips are for you.

The heat is subdued and the sweet is perfect on these regular chips, probably due to the brown sugar in the seasoning. Like the Tangy Carolinas, these are kinda hard to find in my area at least, which is a shame as these are probably my fave Lay's chips. But like most Lay's chips, they are a bit too thin, you can still dip them if you're careful.

I like these a lot, and just wish they were easier to find. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 255: Utz Honey BBQ Potato Chips

When I worked at a 9-5 office job we had an Utz delivery guy come in once a week with free chips and sometimes new test flavors. Nice guy and good memories, and good times. I like Utz a lot, they have great products.

On a recent trip to see family in Maryland I saw some Utz stuff I had never seen before, at an ice cream parlor of all places. They had crab chips (we were in Maryland after all), Carolina BBQ chips, and my favorite flavor - Honey BBQ. Guess which one I brought home.

Utz BBQ chips come in two styles - regular and with ridges, you never know what you're going to get. When I opened this bag of Utz Honey BBQ Flavored Potato Chips I got regulars not ridges, which was fine. I like the mystery.

The bad news is that they weren't that great. They had the lingering aftertaste and touch of heartburn that some barbeque chips have, and also a weird grainy quality sort of like Jack and Jill chips. They weren't horrible, I would have them again, they just weren't preferable.

French Fry Diary 244: Trader Joe's Beer Battered Vidalia Sweet Onion Rings

I picked these up at the same time I got the Handsome Cut Potato Fries, also a new product, I was intrigued by the combination. I'm not a fan of beer battered onion rings, but I love rings made with sweet Vidalia onions, so I had to give it a try.

On the bag for the Trader Joe's Beer Battered Vidalia Sweet Onion Rings, a lot is made about how it's all about the sweetness of the Vidalia onions, and the beer batter. Of the latter, the batter (loving the rhyme) is described as light and airy with just the right amount of crispness. Let's just say Trader Joe's is really proud of these babies.

They looked like standard beer batter rings to me when I was preparing them, so I covered my bets and hit them with some Billy Bee Honey BBQ Seasoning - great for onion rings or Nathan's frozen grocery fries or just any fries at all. I hoped they wouldn't need it. And they're very big rings of onion, as is the way of the Vidalia.

I cooked 'em up in the oven and made them a little bit crispy crunchy because that's how I like my onion rings. The sweet Vidalia comes out but I'm glad I used the seasoning as it covers up the beer batter. Not good, I would rather have panko bread crumbs instead.

I enjoyed them but unlike the Trader Joe's Handsome Cut Potato Fries I doubt I'll get these again. However if you like beer batter rings, maybe these are for you.

French Fry Diary 139: Wendy's

With all the hubbub of Wendy's changing their French fries due to low standings in the Zagat survey, I figured I had better review the old ones before they replace them with natural cuts.

Wendy's French fries (for now) are regular cuts, a little more golden brown in appearance than may be desirable - while some of them may look burnt - they're not. They are best when hot, but as with most fast food places - that's the luck of the draw. In fact, they get cold rather quickly and do not reheat well.

These fries are excellent for putting on your burger. Being a purist, I prefer a plain burger to get the full effect and taste of the fries. But the best way to enjoy Wendy's fries is in your Frosty. I've talked about this before here. Others do this too, so I'm not the only weird one here.

Frostys have just the right thickness (so do the shakes at Sonic) and consistency for this. If you really want to live dangerously, dip the fry-covered burger in your Frosty. Kids, don't try this at home, and everyone else, do so at your own risk.

Wendy's also has some pretty cool alternate dipping possibilities in the sauces for their boneless wings. These include the honey bbq, sweet and spicy Asian and spicy chipotle. I've also talked about this before, at the risk of repeating myself. My vote goes to the honey bbq.

As far as the fries go, there's nothing wrong with these fries really, and unless the new natural cuts are really really good, I think this will be a step down. Don't do it, and if you do, be careful. Hopefully we'll still have the old fries in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area for a while.

French Fry Diary 135: Lay's Tangy Carolina BBQ Potato Chips

I'm a big fan of honey barbeque sauce, and barbeque sauce in general. It's just fantastic on French fries. Recently I had the chance to sample some honey barbeque potato chips from Lay's but haven't been able to find them. While looking however, I found these - Lay's Tangy Carolina BBQ potato chips.

Now usually when it comes to the word 'tangy' it's used as an advertisement or a promise rather than an actual adjective for taste. These babies however are tangy, just like the bag says. The seasoning is very hot and very sweet, and will open up your sinuses.

The taste reminds me very much of the late lamented Rib-It restaurant chain. Their barbeque sauce was perfect for their steak fries. They are much missed, but here is a wonderful reminder, these chips will make you miss Rib-It even more, but at least you'll be able to taste a hint of their old bbq sauce. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 106: Ninety-Nine 99

A few weeks back we were headed to Deptford anyway for a movie date night, so we figured we’d try something new, the Ninety-Nine 99 restaurant.

This place is right where the old Ground Round in Deptford used to be, and it was kinda weird as I was seeing ghosts of the Ground Round frequently on this visit. It didn’t look like there had been much remodeling done, save for the signs throughout with reasons 1-99 about (I guess) why 99 is so great. Interesting idea, but why sell the restaurant to people who are already inside?

The ghosts continued as we were brought popcorn as an appetizer, just like GR used to do. The place has a huuuge menu, Gordon Ramsey would hate them, and served Pepsi rather than Coke. The Bride and I also learned that discount movie tickets came with the meal and that made our date night even better.

I got the sirloin tips and chicken tenders, which not only came with fries, it also came with a thick honey bbq sauce. It was tangy with just a hint of citrus, and hot enough to stay with you, so have that Pepsi handy. The fries were unspectacular natural cuts. They were supposed to have Old Bay seasoning, but I never tasted it.

The serving sizes were just as huge as the menu, and we had to take it home. Yeah, Gordon really would have hated this place. I didn’t think it was too bad, I kinda liked it. All around great dinner and experience – discount movie tickets were a bonus – and the fries were just okay.

We may be making a return trip however based on recent ads about 99’s "Real Size Entrees," one of which features different-looking fries served in a metal cup along side a steak. Those fries look interesting...

French Fry Diary 105: KFC

KFC is of course shorthand for Kentucky Fried Chicken. The name change was for brevity, and to remove the word 'fried' to appease the Health Nazis, and not as urban legend says, because they no longer serve chicken. Sheesh. They’ve been around for decades, since Colonel Harland Sanders founded the chain in 1952. Known primarily for their trademark fried chicken with eleven herbs and spices. While their focus is chicken, they have always had potato side dishes – which is what we’ll be concerned with, especially the French fries.

In the 1980s and 90s KFC used to have shoestrings that were very good and crispy but those are long gone. Now they have natural cut potato wedges. I don’t go to KFC often but I was prompted by recent TV commercials. The primary objective for this visit to KFC was to try the new "Get a Grip" Boneless Filet.

At first glance, it’s fairly reminiscent of the boneless chicken breast filets Chick-fil-A used to sell back in the day, you know the same ones they now only serve in sandwiches. Bonus on the KFC version is that they come in an almost-fry-like cardboard pocket. As far as the filet itself goes, the grilled is better than the original recipe, and Chick-fil-A still does it better. Period.

As I said, currently KFC’s fries are of the potato wedges variety with a spice black peppery seasoning and possibly batter-fried. Being wedges you don’t get as many with an order unless you order the large, which is really large, a box the size of a whole meal. These wedges are pretty good, not great but not crappy either. Excellent when hot, crispy and always soft and fluffy in the middle. Bonus – they can be baked or nuked in the microwave later for leftovers.

Of the rest of the KFC menu, my favorites to order are the Honey BBQ Sandwich and the Honey BBQ Boneless Wings. This is notable as the KFC Honey BBQ sauce is excellent for dipping, for any fries. While I wish KFC would go back to the shoestrings they used to have, the potato wedges are still pretty good.