French Fry Diary 550: Little Shanty 2014

No more Smashburger for New Year's Day, not since discovering Little Shanty in Warren NJ. Now we have a new tradition. I love this place. We arrived just after they opened at noon, and I was surprised and pleased to find them quite busy.

Our mission this time out was to try the homemade chips. I'm glad I brought my appetite because we ordered big - burgers, fries, a shake, sea salt and vinegar chips for The Bride and BBQ chips for me. We were both pretty psyched for the chips.

You know that sound a vinyl record used to make when you pulled the needle off of it suddenly? Yeah, that screeching brake sound. Just a moment after I typed that last part into my iPhone, we were informed by our server that they 'didn't have any chips made right now.' As substitute we got the fabulous onion rings and a side salad. I can't say I wasn't disappointed, but hey, what could I do?

The burgers were awesome, as were Grandma's Fries, natural cut shoestrings with deep fried onions. That combination is something else. These are formidable fries, among the best. And the onion rings, specifically Angus & Patty's Almost Famous Onion Rings, are also among the best.

Jonathan the owner came out, it was nice to put a face to the name. He was busy doing prep when we came in. He apologized about the chips, having had a couple employees call out. It was New Year's Day after all. Very nice man, we talked a bit about Pomme Frites in NYC and the demise of Olga's Diner down near me.

He even gave us dessert on the house, including the luscious and decadent deep fried Twinkie (they also have Oreos and Milky Way candy bars), that alone is worth the trip. The batter they use is perfect for this kind of dessert, rivaling similar treats at Cookes of Dublin and the British Chip Shop. Good stuff.

We didn't finish our lunch and had to take some home with us. A pleasure to walk out with Little Shanty bags of food for later (the burger and rings were still pretty awesome reheated at home). We will have to come here more often. Jonathan, good to finally meet you and thank you so much for taking care of us. Everyone else, you have to check this place out. Excellent food, excellent service, highly recommended.

You can find Little Shanty at their website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

French Fry Diary 382: European Republic

One of the problems with doing this blog is finding folks to go try new restaurants and fries with. Most of my friends who live around here are always like, "Fries again, really?" So it's always fun when a friend visits from out of town. We get to go on new fry excursions. My friend Ken is always good for that, even though I think his lovely wife doesn't appreciate his waistline when he returns home. But that's not all my fault. The boy does have a weakness for Tastykake as well, and stocks up while here in the land of the Tastykake.

After picking friend Ken up at the airport we had firm plans to go to Paul's for lunch. You remember Paul's Fresh Cut Idaho Fries on South Street, they tempted me a few months back with their flutter fries, also known down the shore as tornado fries, just without the stick.

So there we were on South Street, walking on our way to Paul's when we saw a sign over our heads with a picture of fries, frites even, in a paper cone. We had to stop, just had to. Well, I had to. I was mesmerized. Fries. Paper cone. I was inside before Ken knew I was gone. The place was called European Republic. They specialize in wraps, but notably they also have European style fresh cut frites with over twenty different toppings.

Three guesses why we stopped, and the first two don't count. Paul's flutter fries could wait. We decided lunch was going to be here. Also since Paul's was only fries and funnel cakes, not a great balanced lunch, we decided to do lunch at European Republic. Inside, it was a cozy narrow place like most on South Street. The music playing overhead could have easily been Eurovision, completing the atmosphere. I ordered the small frites, and got the BBQ sauce. I know, I played it safe, but still I couldn't wait to try those frites. Ken got the peanut sauce for his frites and a wrap as well.

The frites were real frites. Fresh cut, thick cut, deep fried and golden brown, they were wonderfully hot and crispy on the outside and hot, soft, and potato-ey on the inside. These fantastic frites were served in paper cones and were, as I said, very crispy. I was in heaven with these nearly perfect Belgian frites. Ken said the wrap was pretty good too. I can't wait to go back! Highest recommendation.

It should be noted that their website only lists a Chestnut Street location, but there still is the restaurant on Sixth and South. Definitely get there, either place, and try these terrific frites.

French Fry Diary 228: Cool Dog Café

This place had been taunting me for weeks since their sign outside went up, long before the Cool Dog Cafe even opened up. It teased me with two words - "Belgian Frites." Oh yeah, so I had to get here sooner or later. It has since become one of my favorite local restaurants.

Their take home menu says that their Belgian Frites are "Simply the best fries you've ever had... crispy on the outside, moist & tender on the inside. You'll never return to France." On a later visit, one of the owners, so proud and passionate about his fries, told me that my fries actually started cooking the day before - a par-fry after cutting, soaking and drying, and then a shock-fry when ordered. Yeah, that's the way to do it.

I made it in to the Cool Dog Cafe for the first time a few days after they had opened. I got a hot dog, a nice extra long dog on a regular bun which came on a plate but my large order of Belgian Frites came in a big brown bag.... Hmmm... What's up with that? The large paper bag was full of fries, and this was indeed a large order. Hot and tasty, I found them to be natural cuts, and very very good. And just for the record, the dog was good too.

I could complain about the bag o' fries, as the grease slowly soaked through the bag, and they weren't especially Belgian nor frites. But I won't. While they might not be exactly what fry freaks like me think of when we think of Beligian frites - these are damned good fries.

Aside from the unorthodox way they were served these were essentially the same natural cuts that could be had at Pat's or Five Guys. They have a bit more crunch and there is much to be said about the portion size - they aren't Belgian frites, but really, who cares? These fries are contenders, and better (yeah, I said it) than either Pat's or Five Guys.

I was the only one there for lunch when I was there for the first time, with Sirius radio blasting as was the heat, and news and women's basketball were on the two big screen TVs. It did start to fill up as I was getting ready to go so that's good. I have been back, many times (I told you I liked this place), and now it is usually hopping.

Malt vinegar is on the table, along with ketchup and mustard, so their heart is in the right place when it comes to fries. And they also had Coca-Cola products, and free refills at the fountain, always a plus in my book. Also on the condiment bright side is the killer Jack Daniels glaze that is available for burgers or dogs, but is perfect for the fries as well. They also have the first sweet potato fries that this catastrophically picky eater has wanted to eat more than one of. In fact, I like them almost as much as the regular fries.

Check them out at their website, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Check for their specials. I recommend the sliders, the dogs, the toppings, and especially the fries. They are probably not what I would have expected when I first saw that "Belgian Frites" sign, but man, are they good - highly recommended.

French Fry Diary 110: Monk’s Café, Philadelphia

If there are any "Seinfeld" fans reading this, I bet you thought the same thing I thought – that this was the coffee shop from the show. Sorry, no chance, but trust me, this is better. This Monk’s Café is the Belgian Beer Emporium and Restaurant in Philadelphia.

When friends and family invited us out to this place for Easter this year I was excited as I had heard of Monk’s before and had even gotten recommendations from a couple readers about their Pommes Frites. Yeah, that’s right, baby, real Belgian fries. Unfortunately, while this was a Belgian restaurant, these were not Belgian fries – but that doesn’t mean they weren’t terrific.

More bar and beer-centric in a German way than Belgian, Monk’s was still a very cozy place. It’s so beer-centric that there’s even a "Beer Bible" on the table, thicker than the menu. After I had ordered the chicken fingers, I saw the burgers and knew I had made a mistake. Not that the chicken wasn’t fantastic, but the burgers looked amazing. Regardless, it’s the favorite fried food we’re here to discuss.

As I said these weren’t really pomme frites, even though that’s what the menu indicated. These were extra thin shoestrings, natural cut, and cooked in olive oil – Spanish fries, similar to the ones at Nodding Head. They were soggy, but in a good way, just crispy enough and very hot in temperature. They had that extra kick that Spanish fries have, I wished I could have had more even though the helping was plentiful.

The beer-battered chicken fingers were quite good as well, but next time I’m getting a burger – and of course more fries. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 13: Hesburger

In the summer of 2007 I visited Helsinki, Finland. For someone like me who is not only a catastrophically fussy eater but also a fast food fanatic, new experiences and foreign lands can be a bit of a problem sometimes. So when I found Hesburger in the mall near our hotel in Helsinki, I knew I had to try it.

In appearance, it looks very much like a Burger King (especially in the logo and font) or Hardees, but it’s not. Hesburger is indeed its own entity. It was set up like your typical Burger King restaurant, only without outside walls and dropped right in the middle of the mall, with foot traffic on all sides. Its location was so logical I had to wonder why we didn’t have fast food places done like this here in America.

Now, surprisingly (to me at least), most folks in Finland speak English. And this is opposed to London (our stop before Helsinki) where many of the people I met mysteriously did not speak English. But this lack of a language barrier made life in Helsinki pretty easy in the communication department – until I got to Hesburger that is. The folks behind the counter were among the only non-English-speaking Finns I encountered.

Now I knew that "pomme frites" was French fries. That was easy – a trick I picked up from the Malcolm McDowell movie "Time After Time" where a time-displaced H.G. Wells ordered French fries for his first time at a McDonald’s. The hard part was ordering a hamburger plain, with nothing on it. After a lot of primitive sign language and hand signals and much repeating of “just bun and meat” together we pulled it off.

The food itself, burger and fries-wise, were more applicable to Hardees than Burger King. The burger was fried not chargrilled, but not untasty, and the fries were slightly greasy shoestrings, but a definite oasis for this fast food junkie. If you ever go to Scandinavia, definitely drop by Hesburger to feed your junk food monkey.


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