French Fry Diary 737: Robin Goes to Five Guys

Many folks here know my longtime friend and fellow creative Robin Renee, besides being a hell of a writer, and a terrific performer, she's also been a contributor here at French Fry Diary from time to time. She's also a vegetarian, and our collaboration on her current project Blog March 2017 indirectly to her trying Five Guys because of something I posted about President Obama digging the burger chain.

We texted back and forth after she had tried the Eagle Plaza location in Voorhees. She took lots of pictures, found the veggie sandwich just okay, but her fries were "…insanely salty."

I offered her some good advice for ordering fries at other places. Usually Five Guys doesn't count in this as they always cook them to order, but it might have helped in this situation. If you are worried about salt content, always order your French fries at fast food and other chains with no salt. First this will force them to cook a new batch, so they will be fresh and hot, and it also allows you the choice of controlling your salt intake but how much you put on yourself. It's a good tip and useful in these situations.

I of course felt bad and apologized to Robin again for making her go to yet another meat restaurant. I do this all the time without realizing it. The last time, I invited her to a steakhouse (The Pub), which luckily had a fantastic salad bar plus veggie selections. Sorry, Robin, I'm an idiot.

In her own words, "The good thing these days is that there's something veggie just about anywhere now," which is a good thing, because as I mentioned, I'm an idiot.

Please check out the Blog March, it's important. And if you feel so inclined, please join and/or donate to ACLU, vote, or register to vote if you haven't already, support People for the American Way, Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, Lambda Legal, and Public Television.

French Fry Diary 717: Manny's Original Chophouse

This is my new favorite restaurant. No ifs, ands, or buts, Manny's Original Chophouse is it. Recommended by our realtor Rusty on our first house hunting foray into Lakeland Florida, I fell in love quickly. We had been looking for a place comparable to The Pub (that's what we were in the mood for), but soon realized how much better Manny's was than The Pub. Welcome to Florida.

There's 'call ahead,' and we did, but we were seated right away on our first visit (as with our second and third as well). The waitress wrote her name in crayon, along with her manager's name, on the paper tablecloth on top of the real tablecloth so we wouldn't forget it if we needed it.

First came the bread. Fresh baked hamburger rolls are what they looked like with buttered tops and they were hot and wonderful. We could have eaten them like that and been happy, but they came with ramekins of both regular butter and sugar cinnamon butter. Adding the butters made these better than any sticky bun I have ever had, wow, melt in my mouth wonderful.

And the appetizers did not end there, then came the onion rings. We got the half-order, which was enormous. I can't imagine what the full order is like. These were super-thick sweet onions, lightly breaded with crushed fine Panko, a heavenly onion ring. Truly, these were the best onion rings I have ever had, ever. And on all three visits, the bread and the rings were superior every time. Consistent perfection. Even before the entrees came, we were full, and Manny's was our new favorite restaurant.

I got the grilled chicken smothered in Manny's BBQ sauce on rice, with hot natural cut fries. The fries were okay, and delicious in the sauce, but the second and third times I opted for the baked potato, which was huge and mouthwatering with butter. I found my potato target there, as well as the amazing onion rings. The Bride has tried the steak pieces and the fajitas and the garlic smashed potatoes. On future visits I can't wait to try the steaks and the teriyaki chicken.

Manny's family is from Greece, and they have several restaurants in the central Florida area. We've tried two of them and look forward to eating at the rest. I cannot recommend this place enough. For friends and family, when you come visit us in our new home, we'll be taking you to Manny's so you can see, and taste, for yourselves. This place is that good.

French Fry Diary 704: South Jersey Farewell Tour

As some of you may or may not know, The Bride and I are moving from the wonderful South Jersey/Philadelphia area to the Sunshine State of Florida. By the end of the summer we'll no longer be New Jersey residents. Before we go I will be eating and enjoying the last of such wonderful foods as cheesesteaks and soft pretzels for instance.

I have a number of places I want to visit one last time before we go, a farewell tour if you will. Favorites like The Pub, Donkey's Place, The Pop Shop, and Chickie's & Pete's are all on the list, but I want your input. If you were leaving this area, where would you want to go one last time? Let me know!

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.

French Fry Diary 199: Arby's Bait and Switch Onion Rings

What was advertised...

The new thing at Arby's is their Steakhouse Onion Rings. Now those last three words bring to mind a certain image - big thick panko battered onion rings, the kind that come next to, or on top of a big thick juicy steak. First and foremost I think of the ones that come with your steak at The Pub.

Luckily, so as to avoid confusion with the fantasy onion rings one's mind might conjure, Arby's new Steakhouse Onion Rings are accompanied by ads throughout the restaurant so you know what they look like. And they look darned good, perfectly shaped and tasty.

What we got... 

We got our order and left, as we were in a hurry to meet friends at our place, so it was a quick dinner on the go - real fast food. When we got home, I was in for quite a shock. I don't know what happened to my "Steakhouse Onion Rings" but I got crappy onion rings instead, and they certainly weren't anything like what was pictured at the restaurant. These were greasy, flimsy, falling apart, and not at all tasty. And five onion rings at $1.99, so not worth it…

Not cool, Arby's, so not cool. If you want to do something to make up for this fiasco, bring back your regular cut French fries or those delicious onion petals instead...

French Fry Diary 101: The Pub, Pennsauken NJ

The Pub has been a fixture on the Airport Circle (or what’s left of it) for decades. I had stopped going there some time ago because of difficulties with the no smoking law in NJ restaurants. With that cleared up I finally went back. It was never a question of the food, only the air.

The Pub is a beautiful place, somewhat out of time. Great bar lounge, semi-ancient video games off in a hidden corner and a gigantic dining hall reminiscent of medieval times. A couple of the prime features of The Pub experience are the enormous help-yourself salad bar, and the hot fresh loaves of bread brought right to your table. Mostly though, The Pub is known for its open-air char-grilling. It’s a thrill to see the open flames billowing from the ovens and knowing that your steaks or other meats are being perfected there. Sorry, barbequing – it’s a guy thing.

I got my usual, the chopped steak, basically a glorified hamburger, but it made me very happy. The best chopped steak of its kind in my opinion, and it comes with a big thick wonderful onion ring with some delicious au jus ladled over it. But that’s not why you’re here – you’re here for the favorite fried food.

I ordered the steak fries I remember from my last visit some eight years ago, although it should be noted that The Pub also serves a terrific baked potato as well. Either choice is usually amazing. Unfortunately, it seems the steak fries are not what they once were, or at least weren’t this trip. They were kind of unspectacular, but tasty with the au ju. On previous visits, the steak fries were almost perfection.

I did notice something odd during dinner. Other guests who had ordered the crab cakes or the actual hamburger (as opposed to the fancy one I ordered) also got fries as a side, but they weren’t steak fries, they were regular cuts. It made me wonder how many different fries are available at The Pub, and why it doesn’t say anything about it on the menu.