French Fry Diary 688: Oscar's Alehouse

On a recent trip to Maryland to chill with the in-laws and see my nephew blow everyone else off the stage in "Mary Poppins," the bro-in-law took us to a very cool place called Oscar's Alehouse in Eldersburg.

According to the bro-in-law, this nice restaurant/low key sports bar is the best place in the area for craft beer, which was not exactly in my wheelhouse, but when he recommended the burgers and onion rings, I was on board. Our server and the staff were very friendly, and not just because the bro is a regular, because I watched as everyone is the restaurant got the same treatment. If I was a resident to the area, I think I might be a regular too, just based on that.

I ordered the Naked Burger (code for plain with nothing on it, my usual preference), with the recommended onion rings, while The Bride got fries with her meal so my bases were covered. I should add that despite my ordering my usual pub fare, Oscar's actually has a pretty varied selection on their menu, including specialty pizzas, salads, and entrees, most highly recommended. This is not your average pub, their menu takes it up a notch.

The burger was perfect and juicy, possibly the best I've had in quite a while. The French fries were golden brown natural cuts, soft and hot on the inside with just the right amount of crunch on the outside - very good, but the onion rings were the kicker. First, they used purple onions, tossed in a batter of just flour, salt, and pepper, and deep-fried. Simple, but great, I loved them. The smooth spicy batter was crunchy and awesome. Best onion rings I've had in some time.

Thanks to the brother-in-law for an excellent recommendation, and I can't wait to visit again so I can return to Oscar's. This was a terrific meal and a great time, two thumbs up.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #210

Pizza Fries from the @FoodPorn Twitter…

Grindhouse Killer Burgers

Back in September, one of my favorite bloggers and writers, Liz Henry, a recent transplant from Philly to Atlanta, visited Grindhouse Killer Burgers and got these crinkle cut fries.

Liz says: "They have just a hint of Old Bay and, by far, the best fries we've had since we got here. Unlike Philly, not everywhere offers fries. Pizza places are, generally, pizza only and maybe salads. It's kinda killing me. Heh. The burger is the 'Yankee.'"

Wow. Who's up for an Atlanta roadtrip?

Random Tater Pic of the Day #115

This is Shelley Szajner's Sweet Potato Soup, along with one of her own creations, French pizza, brown rice tortilla, brie, tomatoes and chives, toasted till the cheese melts. Mmmm…

French Fry Diary 486: New York J & P Pizza

We had this for pick up and go dinner one night with the in-laws in Maryland. New York J & P Pizza is just a standard pizza place down by the brother-in-law's, but they're pretty good.

I'm not big for pizza so I ordered the chicken tenders with French fries. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but I just didn't feel like a burger either that night.

The French fries were great regular cuts, standard frozen and deep-fried, but quite tasty and not too greasy at all. The chicken tenders were good and they came with a terrific barbeque sauce that was excellent for dipping the fries as well.

Oh yeah, and I hear the pizza is pretty good too. ;-)

French Fry Diary 462: Toto Fresco, Medford NJ

I had to run down to Medford to the DMV, which was a mercilessly brief task, and leaving I saw a sign for a mini-cheesesteak for only $3.49. It was lunchtime, and I've been on a cheesesteak kick lately, so I went into Toto Fresco.

The place seemed pretty typical for a pizza place, but very warm and friendly. Sadly, I haven't seen that in a while. I watched as they made my order, quickly and seemingly efficiently. My order was up, and I headed home. The food stayed warm and smelled terrific the whole ride home.

When I got home however and opened the bag, it wasn't all happiness unfortunately. The mini-cheesesteak, actually of a pretty fair size, with American cheese on an awesome sesame seed kaiser roll, wasn't bad at all. I would get it again in a heartbeat. Nice sandwich, nice price.

The French fries on the other hand, were not so good. The deep fried Invisicoat regular cuts were so greasy they had soaked through the wax paper bag they were in. Once the bag was torn off, I was left with a clump of fries. Yeah, they were stuck together in the shape of the bag. Also for Invisicoat fries they were epic fails as they had no crunch, just an all big soft greasy sog.

The next time I'm down that way, I would definitely go again. I liked Toto Fresco. Maybe I'll get the mini, or try a full sandwich, and get those steak cut onion rings I saw on the menu. But stay away from the fries.

French Fry Diary 458: Freaky Eaters II

Yeah, I know, after last time, I should just avoid this TLC show like the plague. This is the show that finds folks who are addicted to one particular food, and then they display them like freaks and try to force Health Nazi therapy on them.

I've hated this program every time I've watched, but they drew me in again with another episode about French fries. In this case it's Eric, and as the highly original episode title states, he's "Addicted to French Fries," and Doctors Dow and Virgin are back to browbeat the poor young man into changing his ways.

Amber, the young woman in the first episode had a genetic condition, and like the Clockwork Orange mad scientists they are, Dow and Virgin tried to change her. What was odd was that Amber's daughter, who did not have the condition, they didn't give a crap about. Her daughter was why Amber was on the show.

540 pounds of fries... 

Here, Eric was already being harangued by a nagging wife and mother. I was sure Dow and Virgin would just add to it. Now here's the kicker, Eric is Eric Willmann, of The Daily Fry, which is linked here on the sidebar to the left. Yeah, it's true, Eric is my brother from another mother, a fellow French fry blogger. I was shocked that Dow and Virgin were after one of us. We are an endangered species after all.

The two Doctors' first plan of attack is to show Eric what's going in his body, first a vat of transfat (not pretty), and then 540 pounds of French fries. I had to wonder what happens after this vulgar display. Do they throw the fries out? What about the people who don't have enough to eat, and these two are throwing out 540 pounds of fries! They called it a 'box of death,' so I guess the homeless starve tonight...

Dow and Virgin

Next they gave poor Eric blood tests, with results indicating high cholesterol and potential heart disease. Not funny, and very serious. That's how determined they were to break this active skateboarder who liked writing about French fries. In the end, they did break him. He ate pizza and they skateboarded, I'm sure for the producers, that was a great end to the show.

Eric Willmann of The Daily Fry

However, anyone that clicks the link for The Daily Fry knows what the real loss is. They killed a fellow blogger. Nothing since August of 2011. Eric is doing well. He's not as picky an eater as he used to be. I would assume he's healthier, but he's not writing about the favorite fried food any more.

At least not yet, but here's Eric himself answering my question about it in the comments section of his blog. I asked: "…why did you stop updating your blog here? Was it because you aren’t eating fries that often any more?"

And here's Eric's reply a few days later: "I have only been eating fries once a week. But I should start updating again here soon. keep posted".

There you go. Time will tell…

French Fries Are Good for You!

According to this great article from La Stampa, French fries are good for you!

Great News From Mediterranean Diet Experts: French Fries Are Good For You!

NAPLES - Great news for all connoisseurs of French fries - that is, practically everyone: if it’s done correctly, frying is not bad for your health.

Researchers at the Federico II University of Naples and from the nearby "Dolce & Salato" professional cooking school, have conducted a study that shows that frying isn’t bad, if certain measures are followed.

“Frying is bad for us? Absolutely not!” declares Professor Vincenzo Fogliano, who oversaw the study with Italian chef Giuseppe Daddio, who runs the cooking school. “If it’s fried in the correct way, a potato chip or a montanara (Neapolitan fried pizza) can be an excellent nutritional product.”

The study was conducted in two phases: During the first, the capacity of absorption of the oil by different foods was measured during the frying, where it was found that zucchini and eggplant absorbed 30% of the oil, whereas potatoes or pizzas only absorbed 5% -- the same amount as found in a bowl of spaghetti with oil and garlic.

“A fundamental rule,” explains Fogliano, “is that starch plays an important part in sealing the food being fried, and reducing the oil absorption. The starch in potatoes with large grains and rich in amylopectin is particularly effective. Attention must be paid to frozen, pre-fried products or to becoming accustomed to finishing off foods by frying them, when they have already been pre-fried. In these cases, the quantity of oil absorbed increases significantly.”

In the second phase, the experiments carried out in the kitchen proved the theory: to avoid the absorption of the frying oil in foods, products should not be pre-fried, frozen or re-fried. By avoiding these procedures, in fact, fries and pizzas would only absorb small amounts of oil.

“I have to say that the evidence, in fact, demonstrates the theories. Molecular gastronomy is a fascinating world that allows us to not only know more about the primary materials, but to deepen our knowlegde of cooking methods and chemical reactions, in the pot, on the plate and in our bodies," adds Daddio.

Got a craving for fries now? Well, you have the green light along with the recipe to eat without guilt.

Special thanks go to my very cool Twitter friend Alesia Matson for hipping me to this, and you can read the original article here.

French Fry Pizza Salad!

The Dark Crystal turned me on to Epic Meal Time on my last birthday. Watch at your own risk, especially if you're counting calories...

Random Tater Pic of the Day #60

French Fry Diary 313: Riviera Pizza, Medford NJ

The Bride travels to Medford quite a bit, not for work, but for rehearsals with the Pineland Players. Recently she found a new place to eat, right across from the Zinc Café. Now while I have to question the logic of going anywhere else when you're so close to the Zinc Cafe, when she brought dinner home from Riviera Pizza recently, I was game.

The Bride was first hooked on their buffalo chicken pizza, and on this trip she tried the buffalo chicken cheesesteak. For me, she picked up a plain steak sandwich and, of course, French fries. She even got Whiz on the side so we could share the fries.

While I have never actually been there, Riviera Pizza has quite a selection on their menu, including a wide variety of pasta, seafood and soups. Online reviews seem to echo The Bride's feelings on the buffalo chicken pizza as a favorite, but let's get to the nitty gritty, it's the fries you want to know about.

The food stayed relatively hot after the twenty to thirty minute trip from Medford to Marlton which is pretty good considering that things like Burger King's new fries don't stay hot in the less than three minute trip from Marlton to Marlton. It's also pretty good considering the steaks were in styrofoam and the fries in just cardboard paper.

Now while my steak sandwich was delicious when I got it, and even later reheated - the fries not so much. They were heavily batter fried regular cuts, pretty okay while hot, but nearly inedible cold or reheated. So like many places that have pizza and steak sandwiches, that's a no on the fries at Riviera Pizza.

Can anyone out there recommend a pizza and steak place that does fries well?

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 254: Booger the Fry Loving Dog

My friend Terry Willitts has guest-blogged for me here before at French Fry Diary, and at Welcome to Hell as well, a few times. Here is another entry from him, one that started with a conversation on Twitter. I'll let Terry take it from here...
---------------------

"Booger, the shelter mascot who loved fries"

I've been an employee of the West Volusia Humane Society since 2004. The WVHS is a non-profit animal shelter that has been around since 1955, and since 1999, has been a no-kill shelter. It's run solely on donations, and its tagline is The Little Shelter With The Big Heart.

In 2004, one of the "office dogs" (mascots, if you will) was an English Mastiff (or just Mastiff, as they were the original Mastiff breed - the other Mastiff breeds were created by breeding Mastiff with another breed) by the name of Bridget, though everyone usually called her Booger (or "Boogs" for short.) She was a big dog, weighing about 140 pounds in her prime, and by the time I started working there, was easily 9-10 years old. (Like the majority of the animals that end up there, she was found stray, so there was no way to know exactly how old she was.)

Booger was well loved by just about everyone and had quite the personality - unless you were another dog. She only tolerated one other dog, and that was her best friend, Annie, who is still the mascot at the shelter to this day. Any other dogs, Booger thought did not belong in her office or on her property, and if she saw them, she'd usually act all tough.

There's a story told from a few years before I worked there. One of the employees was leaving the state, moving away, and on their last day of work, pizzas were ordered in for a little pizza party. Shortly after the pizzas arrived, everyone went outside for a group photo. When they went back inside for the pizza, they found one of the boxes, open and upside down, on the floor. When the box was picked up, there was no pizza in sight. There was, however, a very sated looking English Mastiff.

By now, you're wondering why there's a person guest-blogging about a dog at an animal shelter who likes pizza. Well, as much as she liked pizza (and she LOVED pizza, obviously), her favourite food in the world was French fries. She spent much of her day sleeping in her office (she and Annie had their own office, it's true), but nothing would snap her out of slumber and bring her into the front office like the smell of French fries. Any time any of our helpers or volunteers would run to the burger joint for food, I'd always make sure that they got a small order of fries for Booger (and Annie, of course) to have.

Even if they didn't get some for Booger, she'd come out and beg for them - and if they didn't want to give her any, she was tall enough she could take them right out of the lap or hands of anyone seated.

Sadly, she developed cancer and on Saint Patrick's Day a few years ago, the hard decision was made to have her put to sleep, as the treatments for the cancer were not helping and she was feeling more pain than we felt was fair to her. However, that day, we made sure we had burgers and, more importantly, fries, for lunch, so she could have her favourite meal one more time.
----------------

The West Volusia Humane Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in DeLand, FL. As the economy has worsened over the past few years, donations (which are the sole funding for the shelter) have not been coming in as much. If this story touched you in any way, please visit the WVHS website and make a donation (either via PayPal or mailing in a check - it's a tax-deductible donation!)

Terry Willitts is an employee (formerly full-time, but cuts had to be made, and after thirteen months of unemployment, they were able to hire him back part-time) and blogs over at This is really the best blog ever. and tweets as cr8dv8 and would love for you to follow him on either.

French Fry Diary 180: The Funplex Café

The trip to The Funplex in East Hanover, New Jersey, was a road trip to help celebrate the birthday of my dear friend, the Dark Crystal. The Funplex is a gigantic arcade, that among other things, has laser tag, amusement rides, giant ball pits, a total immersion theater, MagiQuest (The Bride's favorite that she discovered at similar places in Myrtle Beach and Great Wolf Lodge) and, believe it or not, a café.

After an exhilarating game of MagiQuest, we hit the café, and guess what I got? That's right, the favorite fried food. These were barely warm Invisicoated regular cuts, and pretty tasteless save that of the oil they were deep fried in. They were however good in a pinch. Let me be clear. These are not good fries. But if you are tired from MagiQuest or laser tag or just plain arcading… you might just eat all of them without realizing it. Great but evil marketing plan.

The best part, discovered while waiting for our pizza (a dozen times better than the fries), is that the Funplex apparently has its own brand of oregano and garlic powder. Intriguing. And I guess it keeps you from taking it home maybe? Either way, neither made the fries taste any better. Go for the games, not the fries.

French Fry Diary 148: Luigi's Pizza Fresca

It's been a long time since I've been to Luigi's Pizza Fresca, as a matter of fact, I don't think it even was called that the last time I was there, almost a decade ago. The main reason I haven't been there is the Wawa that ruled the strip mall closed, leaving it anchorless. No Wawa, no reason to go to Pizza Fresca. It's sad, but true when you're in a strip mall that's difficult to get to.

The World Cup, Spain vs. Portugal, was on when I was there (yes, that long ago, takes a while to get these entries online, the backlog is so long…) and there seemed to be more than a few folks just for that. Good crowd for a hot summer afternoon, and always nice to see Americans worked up over a sport that isn't football or baseball. But while a good crowd, they were certainly more "Jersey Shore," than say, soccer fans.

When I had been here in the past, the steak sandwiches were notably spicy, but in a good way. Unfortunately, coupled with the closing of the Wawa, and our preference for Pat's and Sal's, we had not been here since. Steak sandwiches didn't matter now however, we were here for the favorite fried food today. And some soccer and vuvuzelas.

Like I said, I just got fries. Other folks who had ordered pizza, subs, salads and steak sandwiches and even entire meals (including fries) were served ahead of me. I think I had been forgotten. Finally they came, and the waitress almost gave them to someone else on their way to me. I was forgotten. Or maybe the cooks and waitstaff were too involved in the World Cup.

The fries were standard regular cuts, deep fried, with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Hot, not very greasy, but nothing spectacular other than being hot. Bland and unsensational covers it, I think. For the record, there are also Luigi's Pizza Frescas in Burlington and Philadelphia, but I've never visited. Kinda doubt I will now, except to people watch, and watch the World Cup again.

French Fry Diary 146: Catastrophically Picky Eaters

Imagine me standing up in front of a roomful of strangers, and saying, "Hi, my name is Glenn Walker, and I am a catastrophically picky eater." Sometimes at mealtimes out with a group of people, or before I was married on dates, I have felt like I should be a part of some Picky Eaters Anonymous group like that. Even here on French Fry Diary I have invented the term, catastrophically picky eater for myself, at first as a joke, and sometimes as a defense mechanism.

Yeah, I like, no, scratch that, I love French fries. And there are a few foods that I also really enjoy, but there are far more that I really don't, and won't even try. I'm pretty strictly meat and potatoes. Over the course of my relationship and later marriage to The Bride I have branched out a bit. Pizza and Chinese food, for example, are things that I never would have touched in my teen years. And I have endeavored to try at least one new thing every time we go on vacation. So I'm not completely insane.

But. I just saw a show on the Food Network that made me not only think I'm completely normal, but made me rethink if I'm even in the running for that Catastrophically Picky Eater title. The show was called "My Life in Food" and the episode "I'm an Adult Picky Eater." Wow.

The episode followed three adults - a woman who pretty much only ate breadsticks, a man grilled cheese, and yes, a woman who ate the favorite fried food. It also talked about a website specifically for adult picky eaters, Picky Eating Adults Support, and a convention (a little one) for folks with this problem. And it is a problem, these folks are definitely suffering. I guess I'm not a catastrophically picky eater after all.

In closing, it is worth noting, that at their get-together, most of them ordered French fries. Come on, who doesn't like French fries? …well, maybe, one or two of these folks, but that's okay.

French Fry Diary 125: Ciconte's Italia Pizzeria, Marlton NJ

Usually when it comes to ordering pizza or steak sandwiches locally we do Sal's Pizzaworks, but this time we took the suggestion of a houseguest and tried Ciconte's Italia Pizzeria, also here in Marlton.

The steak sandwiches were great, although a little help seemed to be required to get orders correct, but for the most part, the food was very, very good. The calzones especially got an enthusiastic thumbs up.

The fries were regular cuts, deep fried, not greasy, and a bit cold. That last bit may have been due to them having been delivered, but that's the way the French fry crumbles.

All in all, this was a standard Italian pizzeria experience, better than usual, and a good alternative to Sal's.

French Fry Diary 112: Sal’s Pizzaworks

Sal’s Pizzaworks is a local pizza place we order from a lot in Marlton NJ. Great steak sandwiches and Panzarottis. We always get fries with them, well, you have to, how can you not, really? They just go together. Any order we make, we always get fries.

Sal’s has consistently good regular cuts, like the kind you can buy at the supermarket, and deep-fried. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, because they are always good. They know how to make fries. Simple doesn’t count against you, especially if they’re good.

As we always order in or pick-up, the fries always come in those tin pie plate diner thingies. They’re ideal to pop in the oven to reheat (take off the plastic cover first!), which these fries do quite well. The servings are substantial so there is always enough for a snack later.

Sal’s also has onion rings, sadly also from the grocers’ freezer but without the care given the fries. They’re not horrible, but they’re not great either. They are better than Burger King’s, which is saying something. And the onion rings are terrific if added to a Sal’s burger or steak sandwich.

Sal’s Pizzaworks – simple but substantial – recommended.

French Fry Diary 70: Pluto’s Dog House, Disney Magic

On the Disney Cruise ship the Magic, Pluto’s Dog House is a counter service fast fast food place up on the top deck where the pools and lounge chairs are. It’s designed for quick and easy, and for our purposes here, for French fries.

These fries are typical of Disney, specifically the parks – natural regular cuts, and suitably tasty hot and crispy and not soggy or greasy.

The only thing that bothered me is that the counterperson pulled them out of nowhere. It was like poof and here was a plate of fries, and then he added the hot dog that I saw where that was cooked. Not that the mystery origin of the fries affected their taste or goodness, it was just a bit curious.

Just for the record, these are also the same fries one would get at Pinocchio’s Pizzeria that is situated on the other side of the pool. I get why Pluto would have a dog house, but I am still pondering the whys and wherefores that Pinocchio would have a pizzeria. Hmmm… I guess it’s like any number of appliances on “The Flintstones” would say, ”It’s a living.” I guess I thought that being a real boy/former puppet might pay better...