French Fry Diary 747: Borgata Breakfast Potatoes

Here's the first thing you need to know about the Borgata and room service. There are two hotels here in Atlantic City that most folks think are all the Borgata, and they are not the same. The Borgata is not the Water Club, and the Water Club is not the Borgata. Water Club has great breakfast potatoes, and the Borgata has crap. C-R-A-P. Crap.

This review is about the breakfast potatoes we got via room service at the Borgata, and the only reason we ordered them was because how fantastic they were at Water Club, but again, not the same place. We ordered bacon and potatoes, and what we got was two pieces of rawhide, crunchy dog chew toys, that they called 'bacon,' and this square thing they called potatoes.

This brownie-sized monstrosity was a big old square of shredded potatoes, nothing at all like what we got at Water Club. It was well done on the bottom, and on the top, but tasted rather processed and wet in between. Buttery, noodley, more like kugel than breakfast potatoes, and sadly disappointing. What a terrible breakfast. We went to McDonald's later if that tells you anything.

French Fry Diary 713: The Sunroom at Borgata

Usually when going to the Borgata in Atlantic City, it's mandatory to visit Fatburger in The Cafeteria (now the vastly inferior by all indications Marketplace Eatery, but since the Borgata has seen fit to remove Fatburger, there might not be any reason to visit any more. There is still the Sunroom however, the last restaurant standing when it comes to good fries at the Borgata.

The Bride and I have visited the Sunroom three times in the past and have always enjoyed ourselves. This restaurant, whose menu was designed by Food Network favorite Geoffrey Zakarian, is unique in the hotel casino, a oasis mirage in a desert of glitzy decadence. There is a giant water wall, trees with lights, skylights, and the constant sound of running water (though not enough to make one have to use the restroom). If you look up, it's like you're in a jungle, A+ for atmosphere, though it can be a bit dark, but apparently all the good restaurants are.

Looking at the menu, the truffled fries with Parmesan were $10 and the classic fries were only $8. Wow, these better be good fries. There were also tiny little ketchup bottles, as if regular sized ketchup bottles had a baby, and the Coke was served in small aluminum bottles for $4 each, the aluminum supposedly keeping the cold in. The Bride got the Water Club Sirloin Burger, which she liked, and I got the dry aged steak skewers with tamarind, which were awesome - but you're here for the fries, the main event.

The Bride got the classic while I went for the truffle fries. They came in a brown paper cone, very elegant display. These fries were fresh cut regular cuts and were not really greasy, but soggy and limp. I think they might have been much better with one more shock fry as they needed a serious crisp to them. There was a heavy but even dusting with large granules of Parmesan, not too much but a lot, giving a good cheesy taste. Each fry was dusted, even as I dug deeper into the cone. There might also be a bit too much truffle oil - it has be used sparingly.

These fries would be amazing and close to perfect if I took them home and reheated them in an oven for three to five minutes - just enough to crisp them. And despite the positive reaction I got from many folks after I Tweeted a then-live image of these fries as we were dining at the Sunroom, these were far from perfect. Yeah, they look good, but they need a little work.

They were very good while hot, even if over-cheesed and over-truffled, and the portion-size was huge. I would definitely get them again, and definitely come back to the Sunroom, especially now that Fatburger is gone. Damn you, Borgata.

French Fry Diary 700: Fatburger

According to their advertising, Fatburger is the last great hamburger stand. And they are. This stuff is addictive, and, important to note, all cooked to order. Started in the 1940s by Lovie Yancy. The original restaurant was in her garage, and it's been franchised since the 1980s. They have become well known for their progressively bigger and bigger burgers, but their French fries are just as famous.

Fatburger has steak fries (Fat Fries) and shoestrings (Skinny Fries), perfectly deep fried 'til crispy on the outside and soft and hot on the inside. And as I said, cooked to order - no heat lamp fries - they don't drop 'em until your burger's done and ready to go with 'em. The same goes with the Homemade Onion Rings. These thin crispy beauties are probably the best of the fast food onion rings, big and thin and crispy - yum!

The Skinny Fries are similar in look to McDonald's French fries, but that's where the similarity ends. These are significantly crispier, excellent dipping into one of Fatburger's awesome thick shakes. The Fat Fries however are the best, vastly superior to many of the standard steak fries out there, very recommended.

The burgers are good, made to order with a variety of ways and patties and toppings, including fried eggs. Always hand formed and cooked medium well at their open grill as you watch. Great burgers with only one complaint from this camp - a bit too much pepper, but you can always ask them to go light on it.

Either of the two kinds of fries, or the onion rings, are good for planking on the burger. And as I said, all of the above are good for dipping in the wonderfully thick shakes that Fatburger makes - also to order. A bonus order when I was there last was a fries and rings combo for half the price of a large order of either. And rumor has it they also have hash browns for morning breakfasts and brunches.

This all goes to show why Fatburger is so big and loved in some parts of the country. Despite there only being a few in this area (the one I frequent is in the Borgata Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, and is always the highlight of any trip to the place), it is still widely unknown around here. It's a secret well worth keeping, after we don't want everyone to know where the good stuff is, right?

The customer service is top notch at the Borgata Fatburger. Tenacity and friendliness of the counterstaff is a great shield against what one might suspect in a late night casino food court filled with possibly loud drunks. And then there's also those pesky rewards cards and discounts that casinos have. They handle it well, and with a smile.

Thumbs up all around for Fatburger, highly recommended.

French Fry Diary 669: Tony Luke's Onion Rings

On a trip to the Borgata in Atlantic City some time ago, we visited The Cafeteria, basically a big food court in the bottom of the casino. While I was munching down on Fatburger (yum, I will post a proper review someday), The Bride went to Tony Luke's.

She got the prerequisite cheesesteak, and as part of the meal deal, she got a drink and fries. The Bride said that the battered natural cut fries didn't look so great, so she got onion rings instead. As you can see from the picture, they didn't look all that great either.

After a couple bites of these greasy looking beer battered babies, they didn't taste that great either. Nobody really wanted them and we ended up throwing them out. For the record though, the cheesesteak was great, but stay away from those rings.

Now this isn't anything against Tony Luke's. We've been there before, and love the cheesesteaks, but the onion rings are iffy at best - perhaps they should concentrate on what they're good at.