French Fry Diary 34: Cookes of Dublin

One question I have been asked time and time again since I started this blog is “What are the best / your favorite French fries?” This is the entry that answers that question – at least so far.

Cooke’s of Dublin at Walt Disney World, or to be more precise, it’s that Disney West Side / Disney Marketplace / Downtown Disney / Pleasure Island (or what’s left of it) multi-mega-plex shopping center. This is the fast food side of the Irish Pub operation called Raglan Road.

You can get fish and chips, chicken skewers and chips, or a ‘lurry-load of chips.’ A truckload I suppose, but I always thought trucks over there were called lorries rather than lurries. It should be noted that the Irish-accented staff had no idea either. Oh those Irish, they can’t even speak the Queen’s English. ;-)

The chips, as fries are called on the emerald isle, were long and thick, without skins, sometimes surprisingly long. They were also cooked to order, no waiting under heat lamps, fresh from the fryer. While they were deep-fried, the chips have a very cool (and I don’t mean temperature) baked French fry texture, not greasy at all. On the inside they have a wonderful baked potato taste, obviously brought on by the thickness of these chips. They were sooo good, we made two trips to Cookes on this visit.

There is also a lot to be said for the authentic Irish atmosphere. The music, the accents, the food and everything else combine to make you forget you’re in the middle of the Disney sphere of influence. Even the condiments add to the atmosphere as vinegar is provided for the chip traditionalists.

Other bonuses include ‘doh-bars’ for dessert... the insidious deep-fried candy bars we in the north have heard so much about. I like my danger foods but even I didn’t dare this one. Maybe next time. And of course, being in the south, you get to sample Mr. Pibbs instead of Dr. Pepper. Viva la difference.

And there you have it, the best French fries in the world (so far, and I’m still searching) are the distinctly Irish chips from Cookes of Dublin. Give ‘em a try when you visit Orlando, Florida or Disney World.

*reviewed from my 2005 trip to Walt Disney World.

French Fry Diary 168: Parrot Cay, Disney Wonder 2010

Our first foray into Parrot Cay on this Disney Cruise trip was on Day Two for breakfast. Now of course, like many of the restaurants on the DCL, I'd been here before, but every dining experience is different with Disney, and especially with the cruise. The breakfast potatoes this time around were red bliss potatoes halved and quartered and simmered in a succulent sauce, tender, hot and just right.

Day two's dinner returned us to Parrot Cay. And just for kicks, I did not order any fries. I bet I caught you off guard with that one. There were fried and potatoey stuff on the agenda however. My appetizer, a delicious island jerk chicken came with tasty dried and deep fried shredded carrots, and my entrée came with a yummy twice baked potato. Good stuff, and a nice change of pace.

Day three's lunch got me back to Parrot Cay, and that burger and fries you'll read about in a future entry. The burger I had been hankering for since the previous morning was my Parrot Cay lunch. While ninety-nine percent of the ship was ashore at Disney's private island Castaway Cay, it's my favorite time on the boat. No crowds, just rest and relaxation, peace and quiet. Maybe I'm just a freak, but that's how I vacation. So I had much of the restaurant to myself as well that lunch time.

The burger was a half-pound slab of succulent Angus meat on a toasted roll. Wow. This was the best burger I had eaten in quite some time. The fries were slightly larger than regular cuts, similar to those that first night at Animator's Palate, but not quite. Still very very good.

If I had to say anything negative at all, it had to be that the fries were a bit dry, but that's my fault, because I'm not a ketchup guy. I did surreptitiously slip a few under the bun and on top of the burger (like I might sometimes do at McDonalds), and that was terrific. What a treat, and a wonderful lunch.

Dinner for day three was also at Parrot Cay, which was also Pirate Night, a great event on board the Disney Cruise. Folks, passengers and cast members alike dress up like pirates, sing, dance, eat, drink and shoot off fireworks - not necessarily in that order. Fun all around, but I wish that carried over to the dinner.

Scrapbookers might be upset at one corner Disney has cut in that the Pirate Night menu is no longer a rolled up take home treasure map dealie. That was a bit of a disappointment but I had ordered a side of fries with dinner so I thought things were all good. Don't count on it.

The French fries were regular cuts, and nothing at all what I got just a few hours earlier for lunch. These fries were just bad in comparison with the usual excellent quality on board the cruise line, but just bad, period. We're taking Old Country Buffet under a heat lamp for a week bad. On a good note, the beef ribs that I got as my entrée (and were only just okay) came with a barbeque sauce that was excellent for dipping and made the fries just a bit better.

All in all, despite one off night for dinner, Parrot Cay does remain my favorite of the Disney Cruise Line restaurants, and I do look forward to coming back.

French Fry Diary 67: Animator’s Palate, Disney Magic

The Animator’s Palate on both the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder is a thing of both magic and wonder. It’s a restaurant that gives you the sensation of experiencing a Disney animated feature from start to finish, from sketches to full animation – literally from black and white to color.

In fact when you enter Animator’s Palate the entire restaurant is in black and white and set up with props like giant paint brushes holding up a ceiling of artist’s palattes and walls filled with black and white preliminary sketches of various Disney characters and movie scenes. Even the wait staff are wearing black and white.

As you order your meal and enjoy the company of your companions and eventually eat, some of the wall fixtures come to both color and animated life. Finally in a blaze of color the entire restaurant is transformed, including the wait staff, vibrant colors soak every corner of the room as an animated video and music show transpires around you. When it ends, you can enjoy your dessert in the vibrancy of the new atmosphere. It’s a truly wonderful experience.

The themed menu at Animator’s Palate has some great stuff on it, including some penne pasta, veal and salmon, but as anyone who has traveled on the Disney Cruise Line knows – ask and you shall receive. I asked for fries and I got fries. These were steak fries, general variety, probably frozen from a bag, but they were so tasty. Obviously the chefs here on the Magic know their stuff even when it comes to the easy stuff.

And of course, the best thing about eating on the Disney Cruise is that your wait staff follows you from restaurant to restaurant. They get to know what you like, what you don’t like, and how to specialize a meal to you. This is only the first night of the cruise. I suspect by tomorrow, I’ll be happily getting fries with every meal. Vacation is good.

Steak fries, mmmm. Ask and ye shall receive.

French Fry Diary 260: Cabanas, Disney Dream

This is the first entry of my vacation log for French Fry Diary, enjoy! After a long day of running around, starting at four in the morning, going from passenger van to plane (including a stopover in Raleigh) to bus to finally boat, I was worn out, and Cabanas on the Disney Dream was like an oasis.

Number one, Cabanas is big, really big. Compared to the buffets at the top of the other Disney ships, it's downright huge. It's so big that while it looks like a buffet it works differently, sort of a hit and run instead of a waiting in line deal - yeah, it's big enough to do that, and not make folks mad.

It's so big we were looking for our friends we were cruising with and it seemed like we were walking forever before we found them. Get the idea, it's big and the Disney Dream is even bigger. When we found them, my friend Dom, aware of my unfortunate addiction immediately directed me to the steak fries. Yeah, he's cool like that.

The steak fries were pretty typical for buffet style steak fries, except they were very good. Of course that might have just been that I was so hungry from the day, or just that Disney magic. Anyway, they were very good, grocery freezer steak fries, probably deep-fried (not, as I learned later in the cruise, they don't deep-fry) but they tasted baked.

I also had grilled ribeye (also suggested by Dom, who is also very conscious of me being a catastrophically picky eater, he knew me waaay back when I didn't eat pizza...), wonderful Disney rolls and key lime pie (first time for me, proving I'm not hopelessly picky) for dessert - a very filling lunch. I can't wait to come back for breakfast, or for dinner tonight at the Enchanted Garden.

French Fry Diary 394: Chef Mickey's, Disney's Contemporary Resort

When it comes to the infamous Character Breakfast at Walt Disney World, one place comes immediately to mind, and is the great granddaddy of the event, because they do it the best, and they do it right. I'm talking about Chef Mickey's in Disney's Contemporary Resort. You all know the Contemporary, it's the giant A-frame hotel near the Magic Kingdom with a Monorail station right inside the hotel. The characters that come right to your table there are the big ones - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip and Dale, the A-team. And from what I can remember, the food was pretty good too.

As it was the nephew's first time at WDW, we just had to do the Character Breakfast at Chef Mickey's, no way around it. The way it works is you sit down and the characters (just the big five now, I guess having Chip and Dale was a little too much like having rats begging for scraps, I guess…) come to you. One at a time, Goofy, Mickey, and the whole gang come and visit you, with or without kids, and cavort. Cavorting includes dancing, pantomiming, posing for pictures, and even signing autographs. The nephew was thrilled, smiling like it was crazy town. He loved it. He even broke into dance himself spontaneously. Now that's some kind of happy.

The food was buffet style. Our waitress was Melinda, who handled drink orders, explained everything, kept the party going, and basically saw to our every need. If you could tear yourself away from the Mickster and friends, there was a generous selection of breakfasts, some Disney exclusive, at the buffet to choose from, and that also included some decadent desserts.

In the favorite fried food category there were more than a few choices, but before I get there, it should be noted that we had real bacon that morning as opposed to the shredded bacon pieces we were served at Sunshine Seasons over at The Land in EPCOT. In the potato department they had those planks of processed potato that look similar to McDonald's Hash Browns but are sooo not. The sign over them called them 'potato crisps,' which was kinda appropriate because they tasted like bland cardboard Pringles. I took one, had a bite, and didn't have any more, that bad.

Luckily there were other types. I also tried the creamy breakfast potatoes which were shredded hash browns baked in a creamy cheesy butter sauce and had a crispy top. Not bad, not my cup of tea, and besides they also had the tradition Disney diced and cubed breakfast potatoes. Lightly seasoned to a golden brown, soft and potato-ey and hot, and mixed in with chopped onions and peppers and fried. Disney breakfast perfection. On the menu a 'cheesy bacon potatoes' was listed but could not be found.

Café Mickey's is still one of the best breakfasts in WDW. All this and a show too, what a deal. And of course, the nephew had a terrific time. That made it all worth it right there.

French Fry Diary 49: Pop Everything, WDW

Everything Pop is the food court for the Pop Century resort at Walt Disney World. Since on our most recent stay we were only going to be there for a long weekend, we went low rent and decided to crash there. Pop Century’s theme and focus, despite the misleading name, is trivia and nostalgia from the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. What happened to the first half of the century I’m not sure of, but it really wasn’t that bad, quite good actually.

Everything Pop is the central meeting place in the main building and contains, among other things, a gift shop, an arcade, and the food court. The food court is divided up into four different stations, each designated to a different style of food – American, Greek, Italian and finally a mix of Asian and Mexican. This is a nice change of pace, especially compared to Disney’s other economy resorts.

Only the American station had French fries, and there were the Disney standard natural regular cuts. The Italian station had no fries, the Mexican one offered nachos and the Greek tasty looking bagel chips – but no other fries.

In the morning though, every Disney food provider turns to breakfast, and as you might have guessed, everyone has home fries, hash browns, or some form of breakfast potatoes. Everything Pop is no exception. I found breakfast potatoes at the Italian station, along with bacon and some milk, cereal and toast. I won’t quibble much on the price or portion size of the hot food due to the Disney Dining Plan (highly recommended for any trip to WDW) but let’s just say if I was paying real cash I’d be more than pissed.

The breakfast potatoes were of the diced type, surprisingly of both red and gold potato varieties. They were only warm (which may be because of the long lines at breakfast, Disney’s really gotta find an easier way to do this), served cafeteria-style, and just begging for some –any kind of- seasoning. Once seasoned, other than there being far too little of them, they were pretty good, especially after I popped them in the microwave there for half a minute.

French Fry Diary 273: Roaring Fork, Wilderness Lodge

From the Disney Dream, we continued our vacation in Walt Disney World, with a stay at the Wilderness Lodge. We had been there twice before to have dinner at the Whispering Canyon Café. I was so blown away by the gigantic lobby of this hotel that I decided, if we could, someday it would be fantastic to stay there, and especially get a room on the lobby. We did it this time. It might cost a bit more, but it was more than worth it, I have a new favorite hotel at Disney.

The Roaring Fork is the quick service 'restaurant' at the Wilderness Lodge, as opposed to the main restaurant, the Whispering Canyon Cafe. I've heard it's more of a breakfast place but I hit it for lunch one day of my stay, and I got, what else, French fries.

At first glance they appeared to be the same natural cuts available most everywhere in the Disney properties, but these were a little different. Fries of course sometimes depend more on who's cooking than how they're cooked. This might be the case with these.

These natural cuts are just a bit more golden brown and crispier than the Disney standard, and, for me at least, a little yummier. However the cost if the place without the Disney Dining Plan is pretty extravagant, especially for a counter service. So, worth it for 'free,' but not if you have to pay for them. You're better off at the other two restaurants at Wilderness Lodge - the aforementioned Whispering Canyon Café or Artist Point.

French Fry Diary 627: Animator's Palate - TCM Cruise Day One

We were on the Disney Magic, but it was a chartered cruise, the TCM Classic Cruise, so many of the Disney aspects have been toned down. Such was the case with our first dinner of the cruise at Animator's Palate. We still got a bit of a show, animations on the walls, but nothing so spectacular as the Crush interactive show, or the animation show on the bigger boats, or the regular AP show on the Magic either. I'm not complaining, just saying.

While the Disney Magic has been renovated and overhauled, there are a few things that have stayed the same. One of those is the menu. Several times (click here and here) I have ordered the same dish and each time it has not turned out to be what I wanted or liked. Sometimes I have liked it, and some times… well… However, enough time passes between cruises that I forget that I don't like that. Such is the case with the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup with Bacon Bits and Chives.

It's a trap, to quote Admiral Ackbar. It always looks good, and I always order it. And I usually am not so thrilled with it. This time, it was not good. It's a good thing I ordered a side of fries with dinner. Along with those great baked steak fries the Disney Cruise is famous for, I got the Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin, with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with Bok Choy and a Tamarind-Barbecue Reduction. The entrée was just terrific, with the potatoes having just enough heat.

Dinner was very good, except for the soup. We made new friends with our table mates and had a pleasant time. I just have to remember no soup when we return to the Disney Cruise next year.

French Fry Diary 274: Captain Cook's Snack Company 2011

French Fry Diary has visited Captain Cook's Snack Company at the Polynesian Resort before, waaay back in 2008, and it seems that things have changed a little bit. We came here on this trip to meet Dom and Cindy and family for a quick dinner - and for the promise of the perfect grilled cheese - that got The Bride on board. One lightning stormed boat and Monorail trip later we arrived at the Polynesian Resort, and Captain Cook's Snack Company.

I declined the grilled cheese because computer touch screen could not deliver a plain one, so I went with the Angus bacon cheeseburger, and fries, of course. I also grabbed a bag of BBQ potato chips - Disney brand chips, oh yeah!

The fries were the standard Disney park fries, natural cuts good when hot. The burger was good but the bacon too crispy and it was on a grain bun. Not one of my favorite meals on this trip.

Now the chips were Disney Kettle Cooked BBQ Potato Chips. Add to that a red silhouette of Pluto and the words "barkin flavor" on the and how can you lose? They were regular chips, kettle cooked with a nice crunch. The seasoning is light and sweet with brown sugar. On the good side they're gluten free and have no transfat.

Another nice night with friends at dinner. We talked "Torchwood," the behind the scenes tour that The Bride took, and, believe it or not, how Disney is on the decline. Despite that last bit, we still all love Disney, and we still all had a great time.

Dining on the Disney Fantasy

We've been talking about the meals (and the potato-ey offerings) on board the Disney Fantasy ship of the Disney Cruise Line for a few weeks now. If you haven't had enough already, here's an extra special treat.

If you liked reading about the dining on the Disney Fantasy, you might also like listening to The Bride and myself talking about it. For those of you who aren't aware, we're doing a Disney-focused podcast called The Make Mine Magic Podcast, which you can hear here.

Not just about French fries, but all of the food offerings and dining options on board are up for discussion. Check out the podcast here.

French Fry Diary 52: Whispering Canyon Café, Wilderness Lodge, WDW

Atmosphere atmosphere atmosphere, with a touch of Disney magic thrown in for good measure – that’s what the Whispering Canyon Café is all about. Nestled in the majestic Wilderness Lodge resort in Walt Disney World, this restaurant is a wonderful western frontier themed experience for the whole family.

Our waitress was Goldie, alias Allison from Naperville IL, and our entertainment for the evening. A six-year Disney veteran, she was a delight in character and out. From throwing straws and napkins at us to explaining the menu to keeping the endless supply of milkshakes in various flavors coming, she was great and made the evening nothing but fun.

All that said, the food was great. The steak was the best I’ve had in quite some time. There was sweet corn on the cob and sweet corn bread as well. What’s that? Did I forget about the favorite fried food? Nope, not a chance. The natural regular cut French fries were hot and delicious. Nothing special really, but made extra special by the magical atmosphere.

Helping in the fries department was the bbq sauce that came with the ribs. It was reminiscent of the fantastic bbq sauce you used to be able to find at the now defunct Rib-It restaurant chain. It was the best I’ve had in a while and excellent for fry dipping. Now any regular readers of this blog know I’m not a ketchup guy, but – whether you want it or not, you must ask for ketchup here. Trust me.

This evening at the Whispering Canyon Café was great, the kind of dining experience Disney is known for. Fun fun fun. This place is definitely on the agenda for our next visit to Walt Disney World. Highly recommended.

French Fry Diary 165: The Crystal Palace, Magic Kingdom

I've mentioned before how good breakfast is at Walt Disney World, and one of the pinnacles of that breakfast is the character breakfast phenomenon. While you're munching on pancakes, Mickey waffles, bacon and the favorite fried breakfast food - Disney characters (folks in costume, usually of the big furry variety) come and visit with you, sign autograph books and pose for photographs. It's fun for kids of all ages.

On our honeymoon The Bride and I pretty much hit all of the Character Breakfasts at WDW, except for one, the one at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. It's special, and features only the Disney characters of Winnie the Pooh and other residents of the Hundred Acre Wood. Unfortunately we couldn't get reservations this time for breakfast, and ended up there for dinner.

Dinner at the Crystal Palace is much like the breakfast, same characters wandering around, and the food is served buffet style. It's not bad, maybe Old Country Buffet quality, but as always with Disney, you are paying for the experience. And this was quite an experience.

When Winnie the Pooh came to our table, that was the exact moment I had a piece of turkey go down the wrong way, and I began to choke. Seriously choking, not playing around here, I was not breathing and doing the whole holding my throat and mouthing 'can't breathe' here. Pooh just stood there, and actually started to pose for pictures and do schtick. That evil bear was just going to let me die.

I managed to get the turkey down, and drink about half a Coke to clear my airway, but Pooh was still standing there as if I had interrupted him. Just wait, Winnie, you'll get yours. Guess who's not lifting a paw next time you choke on some honey, you evil silly little bear.

The fries at the Crystal Palace aren't out in the buffet area by the way, not like the garlic mashed potatoes, which for the record, aren't bad either. If you ask for fries, they will bring you quite a large portion, probably from Casey's Corner which is right next store as they look just like theirs, Disney standards. Not a bad dinner out, but watch out for that bear. Hey, at least Tigger would have Heimliched me.

French Fry Diary 726: Palo

One of my favorite treats when on board the Disney Cruise Line is going to one of the fancy restaurants. The first time I was stone cold against it because of the dress code, and I am not one to dress up. I hate it. But I did it for The Bride, because I love her so much. Once I had gone to Palo, the fancy Italian restaurant at the top of all four Disney ships, I was sold. The food is luscious and wonderful, a foodie's dream, even one with a catastrophically picky palate. The staff will adapt for you, and make you what you want. The Bride put that to the test on the most recent visit to Palo on the Disney Fantasy during the latest TCM Classic Cruise. But first, the normal stuff.

Another tradition I have when on board the Disney Cruises is I always try something new. Sometimes I like it, and sometimes I do not. For instance, arugula, ick, no really, serious ick. This time, at Palo, I tried something suitable for discussion on this blog, something I'm ashamed to admit I have never ever tried before - gnocchi.

This was potato gnocchi (that might seem like a no-brainer, but they do make gnocchi from other stuff), in tomato sauce, with cherry tomatoes grown on the side of a volcano. Even if I didn't like it, it still sounds cool. It was delicious, and I can't wait to try it again, although I suspect it might not live up to that of Palo.

When it came to the main course, I got the beef tenderloin, but asked that they leave off the spinach. Spinach is even higher on my hate list than new contender arugula. The waitress asked if I would like anything else in place of the spinach. The Bride spoke up jokingly, "French fries." After the waitress made a face, trying hard not to break her friendly smile in this fancy-schmancy restaurant, The Bride added, "It's his usual go-to," which was not untrue. Still I was embarrassed, but hoped there would be no spinach.

When my entrée arrived, also placed on the table was a big plate of beautiful, and out of place, natural cut French fries. I was shocked, as was The Bride, and the waitress only said that it was her job to make us happy. The beef was wonderful, and the fries were even better because they were special. And it was hilarious to watch several members of the wait staff come by just to see what kind of idiot had ordered French fries at Palo.

Dinner was fantastic, as always. They even brought us a plate with dessert to help us celebrate our move to Florida. I can't talk about Palo without mentioning the soufflé to die for. If you go, you must not miss it. And of course, this proves an old axiom about Disney customer service - if you want something, just ask, they will do their best to accommodate, no matter what it is. Just ask.

French Fry Diary 261: Enchanted Garden, Disney Dream

Day one of our vacation on the Disney Dream brought us to the Enchanted Garden for dinner. The Enchanted Garden is one of the new restaurants on the Disney Cruise, on both the Dream, and the new Fantasy. Its theme is that of a garden that changes from sundown to nighttime - the decor changes color and mood, and like the old Animator's Palate, it's a slow subtle visual treat. Most visually exciting is the sun going down at the rear of the room.

We also got to meet our waitstaff - Fitz (who we had had before and gave us wonderful service and care), Goncalo from Portugal, and Charlie from Liverpool. Excellent service is always one of the amazing features on any Disney Cruise, and they were no exception. The best part is that they will be there for us for every dining experience on board.

Charlie absolutely rocks just because he was trying so hard to be American and say 'fries' instead of 'chips,' but that was cool with me. And we also bonded as he's a big comic book fan too.

The potato selections at dinner were very good. The Bride had a twice-baked potato, which looked very good and she said it was okay. I had both the wonderful hot baked potato that came with my excellent steak, and the French fries (chips to Charlie) I special ordered.

Great baked potato, and steak fries - hotter than at Cabanas earlier in the day, and baked. Aces for the fries, as was the bananas foster for dessert. The bananas foster was another stepping stone first for this catastrophically picky eater, loved it.

French Fry Diary 264: Royal Palace, Disney Dream

Day two dinner of our cruise brought us to the Royal Palace. The ritziest of the three free restaurants on board the Disney Dream, the Royal Palace is Disney princess themed, mostly Cinderella but they are all included. It's also a French restaurant, as beaten into me by my friend Dom (who spent much of dinner doing French quotes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail), so I ordered - of course - French fries.

The catastrophically picky eater in me also got daring at this meal. I ordered an avocado citrus salad and wild boar tenderloins. Yeah, I went waaay out of my comfort zone. And the coolest part of the meal so far - our traveling companions Dom and Cindy's little girl got a kids meal with French fries, and a Mickey Mouse made of ketchup. Awesome.

The wild boar was very tender and delicious, much to my surprise. The favorite fried food was the same as last night - the baked steak fries. Wonderful. Again, as always, good company and good food, was topped off tonight by creme brûlée, Dom's favorite dessert.

Now I've mentioned how much I love the waitstaff on the Disney boat, and how they take care of you so well. Dom had mentioned loving the crème brulee on the last trip, and they remembered. He got it every night this time, and when I said I liked it as well, guess who got it every night thereafter on this trip? Yep, now that's cool.