French Fry Diary 695: Landscape of Flavors, Dinner

After being beaten into near immobility after a half-day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I was done for the day. Many hours later I emerged from my self-imposed exile and crawled to Landscape of Flavors for dinner, hoping it would be better than breakfast there.

I went traditional, mostly because burgers I had seen earlier looked really good. The burger was fresh, hot, and juicy, and I was surprised by getting more bacon as a topping than I had as a side the previous morning. Hallelujah, the bacon shortage must be over!

Most surprising however was the whole wheat bun that I usually don't care for, it was fresh, soft, and delicious.

Accompanying the burger were deep-fried natural cut shoestrings, hot and crunchy outside, hot and soft inside. For what they were, these darn good fries. They were even good when they cooled off.

Having stayed at Art of Animation twice, I have not been a fan of Landscape of Flavors, but this meal may have changed my mind.

French Fry Diary 690: The Three Broomsticks

After a rainy frustrating morning getting lost in Universal proper, but for the most part enjoying some of Harry Potter land, or whatever it's called - Wizarding World of harry Potter - is that it? One of the reasons I'm not so thrilled with Universal is their insistence on being the anti-Disney, sometimes to the point of being downright rude.

Case in point, when I was waiting for The Bride and friend Kat to meet up for lunch. I got to The Three Broomsticks first, and had a bit of a wait, which I unfortunately had to take outside in the rain, or in the soggy entrance of the place. You can't sit and wait inside unless you buy something. When I made a joke about my Magic Band, I was sternly asked to leave. So for me, Universal = rude and no sense of humor. They really made me not want to come back, and this was quite some time before we even had lunch.

I actually had high hopes for The Three Broomsticks after Sarah Hawkins-Miduski's mention on her blog here. Those potato wedges look good, right? They weren't, at least for me this time, that is. They were supposedly seasoned, really?? They were also quite dry as if they had been under a heat lamp for some time.

After an exhausting wait outside, there was an exhausting wait inside as well. Close quarters, body odor, and a general wet dog smell due to the rain outside made this line one of the worst. Sadly, the food wasn't much better. As many folks have noted elsewhere, Harry Potter land does not have soda. The butterbeer is like drinking super-sweet liquid vomit as far as I'm concerned, so I was stuck drinking apple cider, which was a nice change of pace, and the best part of the meal.

I was not impressed by Three Broomsticks at all. As with all bad experiences, I am of course willing to give this place another shot, but would rather not as they did their best to make me feel unwelcome and unsatisfied.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #230

From the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, the groundbreaking "Steamboat Willie" by Walt Disney himself, Mickey peels a lot of potatoes...

French Fry Diary 683: The Tot Cart

While I'm very close to the city of Philadelphia, I don't get into the city all that much, so there's a whole world of food - specifically the favorite fried food - that I don't get to talk about all that often. I'm talking about food trucks and carts. Unfortunately for the most part they are a city thing, but every once in a while, one will amble over t this side of the bridge.

National Night Out is one of those times. As part of the event, the powers-that-be tried to get everyone to go to what's left of the Echelon Mall, or as they like to call it, Voorhees Town Center. Face-painting, an outside viewing of Cars, and a variety of food carts and trucks were part of the bait. The food cart in question was The Tot Cart. Their motto is "Gourmet Tots, Straight to You" Come on, how could I resist?

In what is already a flustercluck in parking at the best of times, the powers-that-be made parking into a nightmare by blocking off most of what is usually an empty lot. Is it any wonder the Echelon Mall no longer exists? Malls aren't passé, but inept mall management is. Enough about what used to be a viable mall, we're here for the favorite fried food, in this case, tater tots.

I was joined by friend, fellow South Jersey Writer, and sometimes FFD contributor, Sarah Hawkins-Miduski. She had visited The Tot Cart before at another location, and had been impressed. Sadly that was not the case this night.

The signboard in front of the truck offered such goodies as Boardwalk Tots, Drunk Tots, New Bay Tots, Half-Loaded Tots, and Cowgirl Tots, all under the banner of Gourmet Tater Tots. Lots of promise here, most including The Tot Cart's famous Drunk Cheese. I ordered the Just Tots with the Drunk Cheese on the side, while Sarah got an order of the Half-Loaded Tots. We were prepared for the best, but should have done the opposite.

I had asked if the tater tots were made from scratch, and although the woman in the cart seemed pretty well versed in the making of tots from scratch, she admitted that these were frozen Ore-Ida Tater Tots. I was shocked, and sadly, they tasted like the worst deep-fried frozen tater tots you could imagine. Add in that I suspected they had been cooked quite some time before our arrival, these were pretty bad tots, a solid disappointment.

I did like the Drunk Cheese however, a secret beer cheese, or so they say. The cheese had a thick deep flavor, very tasty and would have gone well with fresh tots, had they been available. This added frustration made me less happy. Sarah was not as unhappy but admitted her previous experience was much better, and she wished she'd had those tots. She also thought the bacon, which was a bit too salty, didn't add much to her tots. It wasn't all bad, we talked about upcoming Disney trips as Sarah is a regular listener of The Make Mine Magic Podcast

I was very excited about this outing, and wished the tots had been better. I hope to sample them again at another time, when circumstances might be different, but as for now, I really can't recommend The Tot Cart, sorry.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #205

If you've seen the new Disney/Pixar release Inside Out, you know what lurks just inside the gates of Imagination Land… a forest of French fries!

For more of my thoughts on Inside Out, my review is here at my pop culture blog Welcome to Hell, and The Bride and I discuss the film in depth on the latest episode of The Make Mine Magic Podcast. Check it out.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #192

Kinda looks like French fries at first glance, doesn't it?

Look carefully, this giant fixture by the pool at the Finding Nemo suites of the Art of Animation resort at Walt Disney World is not what it seems... oh well...

Toy Story Toons: Small Fry

Meet the Small Potatoes

All That and a Bag of Chips

Dom and Cindy are dear friends and loyal readers of this blog. You might know them as they accompanied The Bride and me on one of our Disney trips and cruises, and are both regular contributors here as well. This Christmas they gave me a very thoughtful and French Fry Diary centric gift.

Last Christmas The Bride got me a bag of rare chips from Anchor Food Finds. Dom and Cindy kinda did the same thing, but they did it in their own, seeking out the rare chips themselves from all over their local Maryland area. Dom took great delight in finding some real oddities.

So over the next few weeks and months, I will be featuring reviews from this terrific gift package that included some odd and arcane potato chip flavors and styles, as well as some potato chip candy bars. Thank you for the generous and thoughtful gift, Dom and Cindy!

French Fry Diary 547: Time to Eat Diner, Bridgewater NJ

This fairly famous diner was chosen as the last day breakfast site for the NJ DIS Weekend Meet. Time to Eat is a landmark in the North Jersey area, and it's a very Greek diner as everyone working there I encountered had thick accents. It was packed as per usual for a Sunday morning as most such diners are. I don't think either the DIS folks or the diner folks had any idea how many of us there would be. We arrived late, so the seating was dicey.

I got my diner usuals for breakfast, home fries and bacon. The home fries were shredded potatoes that seriously needed to be cooked a little bit more. I should have done what the bro-in-law sometimes does and ask them to just deep-fry them for extra-crispness. There were random onions, peppers, and maybe scallions mixed in, but far too few to be on purpose, maybe they just slipped in through sloppy cooking. These home fries also got cold very quickly, or maybe they were just cold to begin with.

This was a big order by the way. Again, there is something to be said about portion size at most diners. A side order is only a small order if it's actually a side to a meal, but a side order without an entrée will be huge. They will not skimp on the potatoes, and you will get a full-sized plateful of them. Don't try to test this with bacon however, you will be sorely disappointed.

While the food was not great, diners are about getting together with friends, not food for the most part. Or maybe that's just me waxing philosophical and making an excuse for the really crappy food. It is always nice to meet new folks, and make new friends. The company and the conversation were pretty good, most of it about, you guessed it, Disney.

Mickey Mouse in Potatoland

Oh boy! I wanna go to Potato-Land too!

Animation and Potatoes

I was not feeling well at all this night, but wanted to come to dinner at Animator's Palate to see the show. You draw a little guy and then it is animated into the show on the screens throughout the restaurant. Here's what it looks like:



As I was not doing well that night, I ate light, a baked potato. Our servers insisted on bringing two baked potatoes. Never argue with people who handle your food. I enjoyed what I could of one of them. I wish I could have enjoyed more.

French Fry Diary 526: Trattoria Cafe, Holiday Inn

This was the first time we had stayed off property on a trip to Walt Disney World, and in truth, it was only the first stop on a lengthy but sweet vacation. While The Bride did her charity thing with Give Kids the World, we stayed at the Holiday Inn, Main Gate East, in the midst of an amusement complex.

We were across the street from not only a Red Lobster, but also a huge rainbow lighted tower that we could see from quite some ways away before we arrived. That would be the world's tallest SkyCoaster at Fun Spot, for those wondering.

The first morning, after a hellacious night of delays and driving aimlessly while the GPS was trying to find its way, I went to breakfast. In the Trattoria Cafe/Food Court there was a choice between Continental Breakfast and the Complete Breakfast. Anyone who travels often knows that Continental is code for cereal and do it yourself toast. I went for the Complete with hot food, 'cause you know, I wanted breakfast potatoes.

In this case, the breakfast potatoes were large diced natural cut potatoes. They were nicely golden brown though not crispy or crunchy as they might appear, but soft and succulent, with a slightly hot seasoning.

The problem was, while they were fried, and probably delicious while hot, these were only just warm, and that from the buffet style heat lamps that were on them. The good news is that they were buffet style, and seconds were hotter.

The bacon was good (but then again when is bacon not good?), and the waffle station provided a hot breakfast treat. All in all, not a bad breakfast. On a morning where I was not feeling my best after some rough travel, it was enjoyable.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #116

What an awesome dinner. My friend Terry sent this one to me - spicy chicken patties on English muffins and Nathan's fries.

Squint your eyes and you can almost see a hidden Mickey…

French Fry Diary 518: Bullock's Beef House

The brother-in-law and sister-in-law have been asking us to come down and visit for months, but scheduling conflicts made it impossible. Finally, Labor Day weekend, right after my birthday, opened up, so The Bride and I headed to Maryland.

The plan originally was to go to Texas Roadhouse for my birthday dinner, hopefully to get another terrific piece of barbecued chicken and maybe find the nephew something he likes there. We also invited friends Dom and Cindy and their family who cruised with us on the Disney Dream recently.

The problem came when after we arrived at Texas Roadhouse. They told us they would have to seat our party of nine separately. They wanted to seat our birthday party in two different booths. Great. High points to Texas Roadhouse for customer service. Not. After a quick discussion, we decided to eat elsewhere.

We decided to try a place none of us had tried before that we passed in our way to the unaccommodating Texas Roadhouse - Bullock's Beef House. This combination butcher shop/farmers market/deli/bakery/family restaurant was infinitely more friendly than Texas Roadhouse. And you gotta love the black bull on top of the roof.

The place is kinda part Pub and part cafeteria. You get in the cafeteria line, place your order, take your seat, and wait for your number to be called. I got the chopped sirloin and, what else, fries. The in-laws and our friends had met a few times but never really talked, and they hit it off terrifically, talking Disney. Dom and Cindy having just returned, and the in-laws planning a near future trip, found easy common ground.

The steak wasn't all that special but it was chargrilled well, had the proper grill lines, and tasted it. I really enjoyed it. The fries on the other hand were just standard natural cuts. That's okay though, the company more than made up for it, great birthday dinner. Your loss, Texas Roadhouse.