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....oy. :lol:

I dunno....I hear good things about Les Halles, but I've never had. I'm going to say 'Breadline', off the top of my head. Firefly was pretty good, Circle Bistro was pretty good. The fry plate at Palena!

We need categories of awards. "Best fries on a plate", "Best fries in a paper cone on a metal stand", "Best fries that come with a non-tomato-based dip".

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"Best fries in a paper cone on a metal stand"
My vote is for Firefly.
"Best fries that come with a non-tomato-based dip"
While the fries themselves are mediocre, I adore the garlic dip that comes with the fries at Lebanese Taverna (especially the Tyson's location).

Oh, to combine the two... :lol:

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Les Halles gets a thumbs down from me.

Palena's are OK. The fried lemons are far better than the fries.

Firefly's fries are excellent.

Of course, my favorites are those made at home. Getting Scott a fryer for Father's Day 2 years ago was an excellent decision on my part. :lol:

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I've never had Palena's famous fry plate or the fries at Les Halles...

But the best fries I've had recently have been right around the corner from my new digs at Amsterdam Falafel on 18th Street. Damn those are some fine fries...

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1. Belgique Gourmand - Occoquan has the best fries within 100 miles of here. And when they're really on, they're the best I've had outside Europe. Crisp and salty outsides heading to golden at the tips, fluffier than cotton candy inside. Excellent with the house mayo, or soaking up juice from the beef carbonade or mussels.

2. Amsterdam Falafel - Not so good when they first opened, but consistently better and better to the point that they've surpassed Bistrot du Coin's frites. They're a little bit greasy in the typical Dutch style, but a fresh order is the best thing going on 18th St.

3. Bistro du Coin - Sometimes a bit mushy, but then again that's more typically French. The best mayonnaise out of any of the contenders. Very flavorful, enough to make them worthwhile even when they're delivered at room temperature.

4. Chadwick's Georgetown - I've already been talking about Chadwick's more than enough recently, so I'll just say that I confirmed at lunch yesterday that these are great fries.

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I've eaten more than my share of the fries with homemade ketchup at Saint Ex.

At Palena, I like the potatoes Dauphine (sp?) better than the plain fries. I could skip the lemons and onion rings and happily eat about twenty of those fancy potato puffs.

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I like the fries at Iota, in Arlington, and the lovely truffled fries at Firefly -- I have to be careful where I put them, though, as they have a tendency to mysteriously disappear if they're not under constant guard :lol:

One thing I learned to love when I lived in England was fresh chips/fries with garlic mayonnaise. With a nice pint, it was, to me, the absolute perfect meal!

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Dare I say it - I'm one of the incredibly few people who doesn't like fries :lol: - unless they have Old Bay on them (which means I'm eating them for the 'crab' fix, not the potato). Seeing fries as a side is the kiss of death for me...

So this is a great thread - to read and see what all the fuss is about.

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mcdonalds?!?!?

maybe not my favorite; just putting it out there for discussion.

i like breadlines alot, because i really like limpy, potato-ey fries, kind of like 5 guys.

now do people care if the fries they love are of fresh potato and hand cut as opposed to frozen?

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I'll admit to having some McDonald's fries at 2 am last night in my drunken stupor. Oh, and a quarter pounder that hit the spot at the moment. <_< The fries were probably overly salted, but then and there, I thought they were perfect and my friend and I fought for the last small bits.

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The fries I had yesterday at Les Halles sucked.  Some were nice and crispy, but others limp and snapless.  My favorite remains Bistrot du Coin.  FF runs a close second.

Every time I have been to les Halles their frites have sucked. BdC's are good. Circle Bistro's are my current favorite.

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mcdonalds?!?!?

maybe not my favorite; just putting it out there for discussion.

Of the fast food places, I like McDonalds fries most. I went a couple of years without eating them when I was on a really strict diet but had some last fall and liked them as much as ever. I don't think I really want to know what they're putting into them <_< .

Of DC restaurant fries, definitely Firefly, then probably Belga.

I, for sentimental reasons--and this goes OT--used to love the fries they had at the Sears store restaurant near where I grew up.

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I have to say the fries at lunch at Hank's Oyster Bar were pretty awesome. I didn't think to order any because the crab cake sandwich came with some nice greens taused in vinaigrette.

But a friend ordered them and I got some evil looks when I stole a whole bunch of fries off her plate.

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Ode to fries. First, I wonder who had the beautiful thought to throw some sliced potatoes in some hot fat. They should be awarded the highest of all high honors.

In the DC area, I like the fries at Corduroy, Iota and Breadline. I saw a posting that mentioned Iota and felt I should add a bit more: they are wonderfully seasoned with salt and pepper. I see many a person order just the fries.

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I'll second Chadwicks and toss in two others that haven't been mentioned:

Bistro Francais - The fries that come with the Chicken at Brunch are excellent

Whitlow's on Wilson - This might be a personal preference, but they're different - and different is good sometimes. The best way I can think of to describe it is double-fried with some sort of breading?

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Bistro Francais - The fries that come with the Chicken at Brunch are excellent

I was going to chime in with Bistro Français, but you beat me to it. Let me add, though, that the fries come with most of the choices at their excellent brunch, not just the chicken. They are particularly lovely with the Eggs Benedict or Eggs Norwegian, with all that hollandaise and runny egg yolk to dip them in.

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How far will you go to eat seriously good french fries? Belgium? Spokane? Ocean City?

McDonald's ORIGINAL french fries (pre 1966) are available in only one place on earth at a drive in called Dick's in Spokane, WA. They are friend in 70% lard after spending two weeks in a dark cinderblock storage building. They are sliced to order with the skin left on and, after two weeks of storage, fried twice. The best shoestring potatoes on earth. Please, don't even begin to think that what McDonald's has today is even decent, even edible.

The ORIGINAL Thrasher's on the lower end of the boardwalk in Ocean City has the best thick cut french fries on this side of the Atlantic. NO OTHER THRASHERS ANYWHERE IS AS GOOD. The Washington Post in '04 wrote about 500 or more words about Thrasher's which opened in 1929:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004May28.html

The best really ARE in Belgium however.

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Amsterdam Falafel - Not so good when they first opened, but consistently better and better to the point that they've surpassed Bistrot du Coin's frites. They're a little bit greasy in the typical Dutch style, but a fresh order is the best thing going on 18th St.

The fries I had with my lunch there on Saturday may well have been the best damn fries I've ever had. WOW :blink:

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I won't say they were the best fries (frites!) I've even had, but the ones I had last week at Brasserie Beck's were certainly very good. They came with a trio of dipping sauces; my favorite a creamy curry-based one...

And as frites should, they held up well after a swim in broth du moules and in scooping up beef tartare.

I think the worst fries are Five Guys'. Nasty greasy peanut oily. Yick!

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I won't say they were the best fries (frites!) I've even had, but the ones I had last week at Brasserie Beck's were certainly very good. They came with a trio of dipping sauces; my favorite a creamy curry-based one...

And as frites should, they held up well after a swim in broth du moules and in scooping up beef tartare.

I think the worst fries are Five Guys'. Nasty greasy peanut oily. Yick!

To each his own.

I loved Beck but I thought their fries kind of, you know, sucked. Boring little undercooked, underseasoned, underflavored matchsticks. And I never bought into the whole mayo thing as somehow intrinsically better than Heinz, even if there is curry involved. Now, a little Sauce Bernaise or that shallot sauce that accompanies the onglets at certain francophilic dining establishments...

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To each his own.

I loved Beck but I thought their fries kind of, you know, sucked.

I'll have to try again to be certain they don't suck :blink: . To be honest, they weren't that memorable (neither is anything anymore), but I don't think they sucked. Compared to, say, a dozen bistro-like places that serve fries, they were good.

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I'll have to try again to be certain they don't suck :blink: . To be honest, they weren't that memorable (neither is anything anymore), but I don't think they sucked. Compared to, say, a dozen bistro-like places that serve fries, they were good.

Regardless of how well cooked the fries at Beck were and how good the accompanying mayos, I can't support a belgian restaurant that makes fries that are thinner than McDonald's. It doesn't give them the chance to develop the fluffy center that makes frites great. At this point the frites at Central are much closer to what you'd get anywhere in Belgium than the ones at Beck.

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I am addicted to the sweet potato fries at Eleventh Street Lounge. But also to the real potato goodness of Eammon's chips. And the frozen but tasty fries at Iota. And the fresh from the fryer fries at Elevation Burger. In short, I am, as my mother determined years ago, a starchetarian.

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The best fries I have found in this city, are at the Steamship carry-out delli on the corner of Eye and 18th NW. This is a tiny sandwich shop that maks great sandwiches (and fries). The fries are the "Steak Fries" slab type, and they are double cooked in small batches, so they are usually piping hot.

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I thought I read somewhere that Blue Duck triple fries theirs, but I might have invented that memory.
No, I think you're right. They even list them on the menu as "BDT Triple Fries"...and the last time is in duck fat. I've only had them once but OH MY GOD they were good.
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Soooooo who has the best frites in the DC area, preferably in MD?

I like the fries at Tap and Vine. They are the thinner shoesting fries. They are always hot and crispy. I alos like their tater tots. They are always perfeclty fried as well. The only drawback to the tot's are they are pre-packaged. I would love it more if they were homemade.

I would also have to add Earl's to the list, with a caveat. The are not consistient with the quality, but when they are they are good

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