French Fry Diary 671: Ott's 2013

Two summers past the Pineland Players performed "Into the Woods" and of course I went to see The Bride in it along with a couple of our friends. As the Medford P.J. Whelihan's was uncooperative with their reservations, we went to the Medford Ott's instead. I have been there before, not under the best of conditions, and the customer service was lacking, but I'm always willing to give places a second chance.

I ordered the Old Bay fries, which were store bought frozen crinkle cuts deep-fried and tossed in Old Bay seasoning. The fries were very good, better than they had a right to be honestly. They came with a white cheese sauce that tried very hard to be the stuff from Chickie & Pete's, but failed in my book. The fries had just enough seasoning to be good, like baby bear's bed, not too much and not too little. The Bride liked them so much, she finished them.

I had also asked for a side of the honey teriyaki sauce I liked last time, but it did not come. The wings that that sauce usually comes with did however. Customer service had not improved on this occasion. But in our waitress' defense, she had other things to worry about on this particular Saturday night, like patrons falling off barstools onto the floor near us. Quite a party night.

There was a band that night as well, called B.S. and The Truth. At first I hated them because they did a double shot of Van Morrison followed by Lynyrd Skynyrd - I thought I was in Hell. Really though, as the set went on, they were really good, doing some excellent and surprising covers not usually in the repertoire of a band like that. I was impressed. By the band, but not necessarily by Ott's.

Update: It should be noted that this review was written back in 2013, and I've since been to Ott's numerous times since when the food and the customer service were superior. This is a major reason why I do give some restaurants second chances. Some places like Ott's have bad nights, and now, it's one of my favorite places. Every other time I've gotten the Old Bay fries since, they have been awesome. They also have great potato skins, and I'm not a potato skins guy, so there you go.

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 585: Pineapple

I have been hearing about this place for quite a while from friends and family, and from Foursquare, so we finally decided to try it. If I'm being honest, all the Chinese restaurants we have fairly local are... just adequate. You know, they're not bad, but they're not great either. So we have been tentatively on the lookout for a new good Chinese restaurant, and Pineapple was supposed to be great.

Pineapple is a small place, not unlike our normal Chinese food place (which does not have French fries, it should be noted), and it's tucked into a just as small shopping center I'm actually familiar with. Along side the Berlin's Gaetano's, Stormwatch Comics, and Los Amigos, if you look close, you can find Pineapple. It's not easy to find if you don't know where to look.

On our first trip, we ordered online (a handy thing, and a definite plus) and picked it up to eat at home. I got the teriyaki chicken on skewers (which can be ordered with all white meat if desired, which I did), with broccoli and rice. The chicken was really good, better than I usually get at Chinese restaurants. The terrific teriyaki sauce also comes on the side. I saved some of it for later to use on other stuff, including the French fries Pineapple also has.

The fries in question were regular cut deep-fried frozen fries delivered in a classic diner styrofoam container, and they were awesome. They were especially awesome when dipped in the teriyaki sauce. I think we have definitely found a new Chinese restaurant locally. Pineapple lives up to their rep, and we'll be back.

French Fry Diary 551: Fried Rice Potatoes

I was in Shop-Rite picking up a few items for dinner and snacks while we were buried in one of the big snow storms a few days back, when something in the fresh and hot Chinese buffet section (Asian Chef by Mikado, according to the receipt attached) of the store caught my eye. Fried Rice Potatoes.

There, amongst a couple different varieties of chicken, was a serving pan of thick potato chunks cut crinkle cut style, looking similar to Nathan's fries, with pepper chips, sitting under a heat lamp and a sign that read 'Fried Rice Potatoes.' There was no rice involved, and neither the server nor Google were much help so I don't know where the name was derived from, or even if it was a typo.

So I scooped up some honey chicken, some teriyaki chicken, and a healthy portion of the fried rice potatoes and headed home, anxiously waiting to reheat and enjoy this treat for later.

When I got home I reheated two ways, microwave and baked in the oven. As might be expected, the baked food was better. The potatoes had a solid baked potato vibe plus a kick from whatever they were marinating in, very tasty. The chicken wasn't bad either. I will definitely be getting this again.

French Fry Diary 530: Animator's Palate, Disney Fantasy 2013

We've talked about what happens in this Disney Cruise restaurant before, from the changing colors to the interactive characters. They lowlighted it a bit for our first meal there on this week long cruise. There was no big color changing dealie, but Crush the Turtle still made fun of me for being bald (the bastard). I have heard rumors that our return visit will feature some sort of new show. We'll just have to wait and see.

For tonight's meal, I had three different kinds of potato treats. As an appetizer, I got the bacon cheddar potato soup, which was thick and hot. It was good, but I didn't really taste all that much cheddar in it, and the bacon was just some crumble on top. Hot soup is always good however, and for me, not a soup person, that's really saying a lot.

It should be noted that these are all things I tried on my last cruise. With my ginger teriyaki dusted Angus sirloin, I got wasabi mashed potatoes and a side order of fries. The wasabi mashed potatoes were very hot, burn my mouth hot, make my eyes water hot. This was not the wasabi I love from Oh Yoko!.

The fries, while good, were not the ones I was expecting or wanted. The last few times at Animator's Palate I got the most delicious and hot steak fries with my meal. What I got tonight was the same old natural cut fries available from the snack counters upstairs and throughout the parks. The same old same old. Where were my steak fries from last time?

Food wise, this cruise was not turning out to be as wonderful as previous ones. I really hope that this is not a trend. Either way, we are still having a fabulous time. 

French Fry Diary 414: Ott's Restaurant & Bar, Medford

I had heard quite a lot about Ott's Restaurant & Bar in Medford, and had received numerous recommendations for the place. After The Bride had been there several times for aftershows with her stage group The Pineland Players, we finally went to Ott's as part of a large party, coincidentally with the PP.

We were put in a large party room with a pool table and an oldies band outside blasting throughout the night. We had a table that was never wiped or cleaned the whole night despite a water pitcher condensating (or just plain leaking?) constantly. There was only one possibly inattentive, possibly frazzled waitress to handle well over twenty of us. We saw her occasionally throughout the night. And it also took quite some time to get utensils. This night did not represent the pinnacle of customer service. Of course this might have been because we were at a second not full table, and we were late, but still.

The Bride got waffle fries with her Reuben. They were golden brown and deep fried from frozen I bet. Still they were very tasty, but being as they were waffle fries, they could have used a bit of seasoning. I got the chicken tender platter that came with crinkle cut fries, also deep fried but they also had a baked quality. They could have been cooked as well as the waffle fries, but weren't. I got the honey teriyaki sauce (usually for the wings) for dipping. It was a bit overpowering, more teriyaki than honey, but still pretty good. Both the waffle fries and the crinkle cuts were pretty good.

Ott's also has sweet potato fries that come with honey for dipping (excellent choice), and onion rings that looked good at a distance, but I couldn't tell if they were breadcrumbed, Pankoed, or beer battered. They were thick, but as I said, they were across the room and I didn't order them so I can't really say. There are also Bay fries, crinkle cuts tossed in Old Bay, and Ott's claim to fame from recommendations - the Beef Fries, waffle fries smothered in homemade shredded roast beef, brown gravy and mozzarella cheese. I ordered none of these however. Nobody, not even me, can try that many different kinds of fries all at once.

The customer service was a bit lacking, but despite the simplicity of the fries I tried, they were very good, as I said. The company certainly made for an interesting and pleasant night, even if the service didn't. I might go back, maybe a smaller party in the main room would make for better service.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #59

This one comes from my friend Terry who's done more than a few guest blogs here. This is "Porterhouse steak, marinated in honey teriyaki, grilled medium rare on my George Foreman grill. Baked potato, rubbed in extra virgin olive oil and baconsalt, topped with cheddar cheese and sour cream. Dee to the lish."

French Fry Diary 396: The Friar's Nook, Magic Kingdom

This place has haunted me since our last visit to Walt Disney World. I had gotten a few recommendations for the homemade potato chips at this window in the wall counter service place in the Magic Kingdom called The Friar's Nook. When I looked it up I saw they also had Teriyaki chicken nuggets and that sounded great to me so I figured I had to try it. Sadly the night we finally made it to the Magic Kingdom, it rained very hard and many places, The Friar's Nook included, had closed down for the night. I determined to get there next time.

Here's next time (this was in March). As you can see from the photo, they are closed. I asked a Cast Member who told me that The Friar's Nook is only open during the summer (and apparently when it's not raining as well). As I stood there in disbelief with sweat pouring off of me, it took a serious reality check for me to realize that in Florida, just because it's ninety-six degrees out, that doesn't mean it's summer. I raised my fists to sky and shouted "Friar's Nook!" William Shatner style. I will have you and your homemade potato chips someday, this I swear...

French Fry Diary 344: Muscle Maker Grill

This is not the usual place you would expect to find here on French Fry Diary. When you think French fries, you think fast food, and when you think fast food, you usually think unhealthy. Well, the tag line at Muscle Maker Grill is "Great Food with Your Health in Mind."

I was enticed to go not by the ad line, or even by the potato products available, but by the teriyaki chicken nuggets. They sounded really good when I'd first heard about them, so the potato side, and the health, they were just happy bonuses.

I was kinda surprised but happy to find Coca-Cola in such a healthy place (again), but oddly, all in all, the menu seemed very fast food junkie friendly. Not on the menu but as a special was a real burger, but alas, I came for the nuggets. Maybe next time. I ordered and sat down in the crazy red neon lit dining area to wait for my food. If it wasn't for the big screen TV with ESPN on it, I might have gone blind from the red.

Nuggets came with crisp celery and sesame seeds on them, nice touch. They also came with a fork and knife, weird, but plenty helpful with the nuggets, and the potatoes. They were really big (you won't leave hungry) and tender but only slightly teriyaki-ed. Not as good as I would have hoped but still good. I guess I could have asked for more teriyaki, but didn't.

The Western Potatoes also came in a bowl the same size as the nuggets. They were chunks of potato, most the size of the nuggets, soft and spicy, and baked. I couldn't quite identify what the spice was though. I do know that I was as fond of the green leaves in the potatoes as I was of ESPN and the red neon. Otherwise the potatoes were quite good. Both chicken nuggets and potato chunks came apart easily with a fork.

At dinner time on a Thursday night there were not many folks in the restaurant, but it is notable that there was a brisk business coming in and out with take out. Also notably they deliver. I would definitely come back, but with a bigger appetite. It may not look like much, but this meal was very filling.

French Fry Diary 280: The Friar's Nook, Magic Kingdom

The Friar's Nook. This was actually where I wanted to go on the last night of my Disney World vacation, but ended up at Columbia Harbour House instead. I had gotten a very good recommendation for their homemade potato chips. They also have teriyaki chicken nuggets that sound good too, but I was mostly going for the chips.

Sudden downpours and storms shut a lot of the counter service places down in the Magic Kingdom earlier in the evening, and The Friar's Nook was one of them unfortunately. I'll get to it when I return in March. Looking forward to those chips. Keep your fingers crossed against rain.