While some
Belgians shun this baraque à frites (French for fry shack), I truly think it
holds its own amongst some of the best, and puts the widely appraised Maison
Antoine to shame.
If you love
condiments with your fries or any fast food dish, Belgium is the place for you.
At all baraque à frites you have a wide gamut of sauces, from ketchup to
mayonnaise to spicy tomato-mayonnaise to curry to peppered mayo to cocktail to
garlic to mustard to Samurai (no clue what that is nor want to know) and to
infinity and beyond..
While when
it comes to haut cuisine I’m all about sauces, but when it comes to fries I
prefer to pass. When I eat fries I want to taste the essence of the potato and
the grease in which it is encapsulated. Ketchup and its other cohorts are so
laden in sugar and other, well, crap that they so thoroughly dominate whatever
you are eating that you cannot even taste anything but the sauce. I mean, why
not just drink ketchup straight from the bottle? But I digress.
So needless
to say, I always order my fries with no sauce to the shock of the person behind
the counter. Pas de sauce?! Non (merde quoi)!
Fritland’s fries are, to me, perfect. This establishment has understood what makes a
good fry. They don’t overcook it to the point where all you are eating grease
drenched wood chips like some other well respected baraque à frites establishments
in Brussels.
The fries
are slightly crisp on the outside and are removed early enough in the process
whereby the center is still soft, moist and creamy. And this is where it gets
good. It seems to me that the potatoes they use are of high quality because you
get a slightly sweet flavor which you often do not find in other fries. Even
the grease they use tastes good, which probably means that they change it
frequently to allow for a cleaner grease flavor.
Also, and
this is really something to watch for, they put just the right amount of salt
on the fries. If you don’t pay attention at other places, they often lazily
apply the salt, putting so little, you wonder if any was put on at all. On this
particular point I understand that some people are fussy about salt. In fact,
it is a major debate in French cuisine, so whatever you fancy, I will respect
your opinion – no salt, some salt and well, lots of salt? Actually no, lots of
salt is out.
Just for
the purposes of educating the masses, I also ordered a Fricadelle. If any of you have seen Bienvenu chez les
Tch’is, you know not to ask what it’s made of, but I’ll tell you. Basically it
is a fast food version of Boudin Blanc (white bread sausage). So it is a pork,
bread sausage, with some seasoning. Although it looks atrocious, and will shave
off more days of your life than a carton of cigarettes, it actually tastes
alright. The outside is very dry and not slippery like a hotdog, so I think it
is not encased in edible plastic like its American cousin. The texture of the
inside is mushier than a hotdog due to the bread, with which the pork is mixed.
Places like
Fritland also offer up other bizarre forms of junk food such as a poly crock (a
deep fried chicken link), chicken wings, Mittraillette (French for machine gun)
sandwiches, which is a bagette bread filled with meat (often Fricadelle or
boudin), fries and smothered in a sauce of your choosing, hamburgers, American
style hotdogs amongst others.
Won’t fuss
to much about the staff: they are Turkish guys who whip out Belgian fastfood
day in and day out. You don’t go to place to chat up the staff nor expect much
besides a smile if you are lucky.
A corné of
frites and a fricadelle cost 4 euros even, 2.30 and
1.70 respectively.
Usually
fries are sold in a cone like below.
I chose not
to rate Belgian Frit n' Toast, which is near to the grand place as is Fritland, in the
end because their fries didn’t make the cut: bad grease, just ok tasting potato
and the name is a kindy of cheesy. I think it is for tourist to be honest. So
if you are near the Grand Place if in Brussels, which you invariably will be if
you visit the city, go to Fritland instead.
Part deux:
Arcadi Café
Just a
stone’s throw from both Fritland and Belgian Frit ‘n Toast is Arcadi Café, where
you can get a mean tart.
This
restaurant, which does serve pasta dishes such as spaghetti and have a variety
of omelettes, has a long list of both salty and sweet tarts, which cost 4.50 and 7.50 euros. Stick with the tarts if you go to Arcadi and
skip the menu fillers. You can make noodles at home. On this particular visit I opted just for a
sweet tart, as I was venturing over from Fritland on a full stomach.
Making a
choice is was not easy. I had already savoured the Tarte aux framboises
(raspberry tart), and Tarte au poire et chocolat (pear and chocolate tart). I
hear the salty tarts are just as good and I believe it.
To continue
testing all the varieties, I went with the Tarte aux fraises (strawberry tart).
Just like its brethren, it was a thumbs up…but I would say the raspberry and
pear and chocolate tarts were a tad better. The craftsmanship was the same, so
the difference lied in the nature of this particular tart. Obviously anything
with chocolate is going to pack a flavorful punch, and the acidity of the raspberries
cuts through the sweet in the cream and crust, creating a nice mix of flavors.
Strawberries in general are clearly sweet but not sweet enough to create a nice
mélange of flavors on the palate. So I would say this tart was a step below the
others. Now as for the cream: it was very fresh, thick and light. However, and
this is more of a personal preference rather than a mistake by the pastry chef,
but I would have liked the cream to have richer buttery flavor and a pinch or
two more of sugar. Nevertheless it was heavenly. The crust, too, was correct.
Not too doughy or flaky. You can always judge a good crust by taking a bite out
of the end. If it pleases the palate, then it passes the test, which this one
did. A couple of dashes of powdered sugar was a nice touch. It added a nice
visual dimension to the tart, giving it a more elegant presentation. It gave
the impression that the pastry chef added a touch of love and pride on top.
The wait
staff, which all seems to be of Moroccan decent, is very friendly. You get that
warm Maghreb/Middle Eastern hospitality, which is always pleasant. They smile
and are enthusiastic to see you, unlike many Continental Europeans in the
service industry.
Café Arcadi, Rue d'Arenberg 18, 1000 Bruxelles
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