French fried thread! Who has the best french fries?

Best french fries I remember were from a cafe in Rome on Viale Aventino called Rino. The chicken was overdone to me, the spinach was too salty, the french fries were heavenly, and I can't explain why. Olive oil has a lowish burning point, so I'm guessing that it wasn't part of the process.

Fries have a die point. They get cold and limp and wander off the table as so many amoebae. But those fries, au point. delicious, even after some time on the plate.





(I've never been to France or Belgium, so sad. Think of the fries I could have tasted.)

I've tried Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries' fries my last vacation in Pittsburgh. They were good but not great. Overcooked if I remember them correctly.

In New York: I've got some great fries at Shake Shack, The Stand Burger, BLT Burger, and Jacques Brasserie.

McD's and Wendy's fries still lord over Burger Kings. But all three don't fair well if they get cold.

Right..

I like McDonald's, as far as fast food fries go, but actually, they have these great garlic fries at Yankee Stadium too.

I believe the correct term is "frenched fries." I don't know at what point, the name got changed. Probably after years of mispronunciation. I remember that totally pathetic 8 weeks back in the day when they were "freedom fries." I was advocating accuracy then too. I was like, guys! Their called "Freedomed Fries!"

T
K
O

If we're discussing actual terms it probably should be French cut fried potatoes. The French part of the title refers to the cut of the vegetable. Like French cut green beans.

nods

The Frying Pan has good garlic fries too. Are we not counting garlic fries here?

Yes. I was under the impression (I could be wrong) that the past tense of the verb of the french cut was "frenched."

T
K
Oh, and my vote for best fries: Steak & Shake

Garlic fries? Yep. Chili fries? Why not?! Fries with that nasty looking brown sauce from Canada? [sigh] If one must ... I guess.

To be fair, I've only seen those Canadian style fries on television and haven't gotten around to trying them.

a long time ago (15+ years) it was McDonalds, but they went "healthy" and now they suck. They are often cold, fried in inferior oil, and the company is afraid of salt now.

The best fried potatoes I get at Campagne, a french place in Seattle. They are cooked in duck fat and perfectly seasoned. They are not however french cut potatoes.

<<Drool>> I don't mind the thickness of the fries. I do love steak fries as much as the typical slender cut fries. To me? The key is the seasoning and the timing of the cooking.

Thrashers on the boardwalk. Ocean City, MD

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/422366/thrashers_french_fries_the_best_boardwalk.html?cat=16

with salt and lots of vinegar...

The Canadian fries with brown sauce is called poutine, or heart attack in a bowl...
Poutine is fries with a mound of St. Laurent jack cheese, or squeaky cheese, drenched in thick gravy. Delicious.

And the temperature of the grease.

Touche! Good point well taken.

I like home made french fries with the skins left on. I love eating them at county fairs and down the shore on the boardwalk - outside from a paper cup with ketchup and salt, as a meal in themselves.

Come to think of it, I almost never eat them inside - at a good restaurant I'd rather have a baked potato and at a fast food place, I don't even bother.
Why waste the calories? They always taste sort of mealy to me - I don't even think those are real potatoes, are they?
I'd rather indulge in a milkshake even though that's not 'real' milk and ice cream either - I do like the chocolate and strawberry ones- the vanilla ones taste TOO chemically (which is what they are anyway. (This is all in America - in England the chocolate milkshakes from McDonalds have a banana-y flavor to them - weird). So in England I just have milk at fast food places - because believe it or not - I think British milk tastes better than American milk! And any sort of milk tastes good with french fries.


But back to fries:
if I HAD to eat a pack of fries from McDonalds or Burger King? I'd pick McDonalds -with lots of salt and ketchup. And that's only in America - in England they are just rubbish...I don't know why - but really not even edible and that's in Burger King, Mcdonalds AND Kentucky Fried Chicken. And they don't have biscuits at KFC either - but the chicken is good here.

Please excuse my ignorance here, but .... when you're taking "French fries", is this any different to what many of us in other countries simply call "chips"? (As in fish and chips, a traditional Friday night fast food which Catholics used to enjoy on no meat Fridays.) Longish slices of potato deep fried in very hot oil, then sprinkled with salt when cooked. Crisp on the outside & creamy on the inside. Eaten piping hot.

the Brits referred to them as chips when they was here...

(the little one was a macsdonald fan)