Thursday, February 11, 2010

Luka's Taproom and Bar in Oakland, CA


I ordered the Luka's Belgian-Style Fries at lunch time, and partner-in-crime for the day Rebecca got hers as a side to burger. A small serving is $4, a large is $6. I ordered a small and thought the pricing fair, especially since they come with fun, tasty dipping options. The presentation is nice and the fries come with three condiments: chipotle aioli; smoked paprika ketchup; and herbed aioli. I must mention that Rebecca's fries came with aioli as well, which I think is a very nice touch. I enjoyed all of my condiments, although I wasn't completely blown away by any of them. My favorite by far was the chipotle aioli because it had a bit of a spicy kick to it. The fries themselves come piping hot and are nice and crisp on the inside and soft on the inside. They were unfortunately underseasoned and needed several shakes of salt (mainly because the salt kept falling to the bottom of the glass every time I tried to add some). Overall, a nice, tasty lunch treat.



Price: $4.00
Portion Size: Medium, and a perfect portion size for those "watching their weight"–not too big and not too small
Texture: Crispy outside and soft inside
Greasiness Level: 1 out of 5
Seasoning: Salt, but underseasoned
Fried in: Canola oil
Condiments: Chipotle aioli, smoked paprika ketchup, herbed aioli. Nice to have indeed!

Overall Quality of French Fries: 7 out of 10

Finding another 10 out of 10 is going to be difficult for sure.
Delfina (see 2nd post of the blog) is giving everyone a run for their money!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Bay Burger at The Emeryville Public Market in Emeryville, CA


These fries from the Emeryville Public Market are the lowest of the low, but they shall be discussed, as every fry encountered warrants review. These fries, which came as a side to a fried fish sandwich (which was also nothing home to write home about), are frozen, pre-cut fries, deep fried in...something. They are undercooked and mushy on both inside and outside. Very low quality, but will do in a pinch. (And if this says anything, I didn't finish them and left quite a few untouched. That's a pretty big deal for me.)


Price: $6.84 (comes as a side to a burger or sandwich)
Portion Size: A tad bigger than a Medium
Texture: Soft outside with undercooked, mealy potato inside
Greasiness Level: 3 out of 5
Seasoning: None
Fried in: Some sort of vegetable oil
Possibly Made By: Ore-Ida
Condiments: Choose your own (definitely needs them)

Overall Quality of French Fries: 1 out of 10

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill in Oakland, CA Part 2



This is Part 2 of the Lake Chalet fry review, which concentrates on the sweet potato fries, which I thought were wonderful. Again, ordered during Happy Hour (3-6 PM and then 9PM to closing), I felt that for $3.00, the price was fair. And I would probably pay the normal $6.00 without much complaint, although I feel that is quite a lot to pay for a medium size portion of fries.

The sweet potato fries seemed to be coated in a light batter, which I'm not sure added anything to the flavor, but probably helped amp up the crispness.
Again, these were under-seasoned, but very well cooked--crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

They were served with something the waitress called "Herb Saint," a salad dressing made in-house, which sort of makes me wonder if they were purposely under-seasoned--because they are meant to be eaten with the dressing.

Herbsaint (which is probably not pronounced HERB-SAYNT, the way the waitress did), according to Wikipedia, is "a brand name of anise-flavored liquor," which apparently is placed in this dressing, causing it to have a slight chemical undertone (I'm not sure if "undertone" is being used correctly here--English teachers, please let me know!). I did not find the dressing disagreeable, although other members of the research team were immediately offended by the flavors, calling it "weird" and claiming that the anise flavor was not as subtle as I believed, and was in fact, "right up front."

I did ask for ketchup and salt to go with these fries as well, and that helped kick up the flavor a bit. Overall, I was satisfied.


Price: $3.00
Portion Size: Medium
Texture: Crispy outside with soft potato inside
Greasiness Level: 1 out of 5 (meaning not greasy at all; very little oil left behind on fingers)
Seasoning: None?
Fried in: Some sort of vegetable oil (didn't bother to ask)
Could not determine: whether or not they were coated in thin batter
Accompanied by Condiments: Herbsaint Dressing

Overall Quality of French Fries: 7 out of 10

Lake Chalet Seafood Bar & Grill in Oakland, CA Part 1


This is a two-part review for Lake Chalet.

The first part is for the parmesan fries, which are not very impressive at all. They are probably what the baseline should be in terms of fry edibility. Ordered during Happy Hour (3-6 PM and then 9PM to closing), I felt that for $3.00, the price was fair. If I had had to pay the normal $6.00, I would have been pretty annoyed.

Although they had some things going for them (they looked hand-cut, as there was still some potato skin left on them and were not greasy at all), they were very, very under-seasoned and were poorly cooked (slightly crispy on outside, very mealy on inside). They were not served with salt or ketchup, but needed both in a really bad way.

Recommended only at Happy Hour for $3 or if in a major French Fry Pinch.





Price: $3.00
Portion Size: Medium
Texture: Slightly crispy outside with mealy potato inside
Greasiness Level: 1 out of 5 (meaning not greasy at all; very little oil left behind on fingers)
Seasoning: Parmesan and parsley
Fried in: Some sort of vegetable oil (didn't bother to ask)
Just for Decoration, Added Absolutely Nothing: Parmesan and parsely
Accompanied by Condiments: No, but needed them badly

Overall Quality of French Fries: 5 out of 10