I'm taking a quick break from reading for one of my classes to write some stress relief.
It's not exactly a secret that I like junk food. People around me also know that I like bar food (fried things, tiny burgers, etc.). What always has me wondering, though, is how some places haven't pushed the limits to deliciousness that they are so capable of achieving with things off their own menus!
The biggest offender I have found are french fries. I'm not talking those ghostly pale sticks from McDonald's or Wendy's or the other fast food schlock, but actual, honest-to-goodness french fries that are served at "Appetizer" status. Battered, wedge cut, oven baked, skin on, seasoned, curly, peppered, or whatever elevates them to almost be considered "gourmet," you know what type of fries I mean. Some bars that serve food will serve very good fries, but they don't seem to catch on to the fact that there is so much more they can do then just give you the bastard of all condiments, ketchup. I admit, not all places do, a few of them actually having some form of dipping sauce which is always better than ketchup, but not all the time.
Ever since I was younger, I would always dip my fries in something else. When we'd eat at fried seafood restaurants in Corpus or Port Aransas and my fish or shrimp would come with fries, they would be dipped in Tartar sauce or Cocktail sauce (which is probably just ketchup with extra things in it as far as I know, but dammit, it wasn't just ketchup at least). Nowadays, if I order fries from a bar, I always try to get some ranch to dip them in. Something about the hot, deliciousness of a potato mixed with the cool, tangy flavor of ranch just seems right. I urge more bars-- no, even restaurants that love their fries to break free from ketchup's inferior existence and offer us a CHOICE of dipping sauce. Hell, be creative and adventurous and give us a selection of things that you have personally tried and think others would like, too!
Which brings us to my final point about fries, and that is my biggest disappointment in terms of bar cuisine: Cheese fries. I love cheese and I love fries. I am almost always disappointed in cheese fries. I don't know what it is, but something is wrong with cheese fries. I always get the same thing, which is a plate of french fries smothered in melted, grated cheddar cheese. It reminds me of when I used to make nachos out of tortilla chips and grated cheddar cheese. While not bad, they always leave me feel lacking. I think it's because the shredded cheese has a low milk content which causes it to leak out a cheesy grease-like substance which soaks the fries all the way to the bottom of the plate. When you finish, your last fry will be a soggy mess, glued to its fallen brethren while soaking in an orange puddle. Some places will actually serve sour cream along with it to dip your fries in, which I actually do enjoy. But I think there's a better way.
Being in Austin, we are lucky to have places that will serve things like cheeseburgers and fries, and also chips and queso. You ever dip a french fry in queso? It is glorious. I wouldn't mind eating a sloppy heap of fries covered in good queso, or even if their cheese fries were just a plateful of fries and a bowl of queso. Keeps the fries from being soggy and the cheese from being a greasy catastrophe. So yeah. Most places, I think, should serve fries with queso instead of a plate of cheddar oiled taters.
I've probably never written this much about french fries before, and I probably never will. But dammit, people need to learn that ketchup sucks and certain types of cheese melt very poorly in an oven!
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