Random Tater Pic of the Day #141

Natural cut shoestrings from my last trip to the Zinc Café in Medford NJ, still one of my favorite restaurants.

French Fry Diary 426: Rustic Grille

I keep hearing good things about the Rustic Grille in Medford, not necessarily about the fries, but had never been there. I was out with friends looking for dinner in Medford, after being frustrated by the Zinc Café being closed again (this was the second time I wanted to show it off and it was unexpectedly closed). We saw the Rustic Grille and decided, what the heck.

We seated ourselves, and after getting our drinks, placing our orders, and talking for a while - we sat ourselves again, as the air vent over our heads in the ceiling was dripping on us. Not a good start to dinner.

When the food came I was pleasantly surprised. I got chicken tenders and fries. Very tender chicken tenders - very good, although I was a bit disappointed that the barbecue sauce that came with it were packaged, from Unipro Foodservice. Not cool. What is this, McDonald's?

The fries were steak fries, probably deep-fried, but with a texture that tasted baked. These are proof that simple and cheap can actually be really really good. I liked these a lot. Definitely thumbs up on these great steak fries.

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 296: Zinc Café

This is where we went for The Bride's birthday this year. She had a late night at work and then a Pineland Players meeting so we had to schedule dinner in a tight schedule and also do it somewhere in Medford so we would have time. I got online with Urbanspoon with my iPhone and found the Zinc Café, a place with perfect timing and location that we all agreed on.

The Zinc Café is kinda tucked away on Stokes Road, so if you don't know where it is, you might miss it, but you'll also be missing out on one of the best local restaurants around too. This was a rare find indeed. It's a little small, but you can also eat outside. It's cozy, and a little dim, but it's great atmosphere. Small town meets fancy coffee shop, friendly and cool, I liked it a lot.

The menu has an amazing selection, both healthy and bad for you, both simple and exotic. No Coca-Cola products but they had Boylan instead. My cane cola was a welcome change of pace. They also had appetizers of thin crispy breadsticks that tasted like matzo, very addictive. I could have been happy just with the soda and the sticks.

The Bride and her mom got salads with some amazing add-ins, and we were all surprised by the crisp, fresh and colorful vegetables. The Bride got a grilled cheese sandwich (it's what she wanted for her birthday) with a few cheeses I couldn't pronounce. I got a burger (surprise), which was just terrific, and of course, with the burger were fries.

The French fries were natural cut shoestrings, another sign of high class, at least by this fry guy's estimation. They were very crispy, and had a certain kick we couldn't quite identify, but it was a good kick. All in all, it was a wonderful experience. I really think I have found a new favorite restaurant.