Cafe vs Cafe'

[StraferJack]

"With you Mr Ben on the proper chip thing. Don't think they exist in caffs any more."

finding them ANYWHERE is proper hard

what we have is a plethora of places offering "hand cut", "triple cooked" chips - which sounds good (and should be a given anyway) but turns out to mean huge hunks o spud, with teflon exterior and bland, verging on raw interior

because they are all cut TOO BIG. And people are proud of this! You see it all on the time on cookery shows on'telly

this bobbins:

http://www.potatolovers.co.uk/images/recipes/3268518741_0b142ca6e1.jpg

no no no....

I want my chips hand cut, i want them triple cooked (or at least double) but have them as proper chips

more like these:

http://www.snarkandpepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/steak-frites.jpg

And the two best restaurants in the area let themselves down in opposite ways:

Franklins - too big and spuddy

Palmerston - bought in bland frozen fries

[Annette Curtain]

Who remembers this place.

I only went there once on a really hot day. 1 Fish Finger sarny & a glass of orange squash, all served by a guy in a faded burgundy "bus boy" uniform.

Quite bonkers and way out of time with the outside world, but I liked it very much

http://k-punk.abstractdynamics.org/archives/NewPiccadilly_large.jpg

['bout now]

Yep, used in countless ad shoots. Great Omlette and chips, owners sold up about 5/6 years ago.

[Otta]

Honest to God question. Why does it make ANY difference if your chips and hand or machine cut?

How they're cooked, yeah, but how they're cut? Who gives a shit? And if you do, what am I missing?

[numbers]

I remember that place too, it was on Denman street and they had a really giant old-fashioned till on the counter which was still in use. You'd often spot really famous people there, not that I went for that reason.

The Regency cafe is another proper cafe, hopefully its still there, its Victoria/Pimlico way.

[StraferJack]

I guess machine cut just means a uniformity I'm not too keen on

It also means someone is using real spuds as opposed to some reformed spud mulch

[Otta]

I totally agree about the real spuds bit, but I am totally happy for them to be the same shape. Not that machine cut chips usually come out the same shape in my experience.

[numbers]

crinkle cut are my favourite. My mum used to make them from scratch using a fabulous hand-held crinkle cutter thingy. It had a red handle. Feel quite nostalgic just thinking about it. Chips were a rare treat but we only got crinkle-cut if we'd been really good.

Or on those rare occasions whenever she could find the damn thing jostling for top position in the cutlery drawer.

[fishbiscuits]

The method of cutting doesn't matter, and the "hand-cut" tag is just wank. But real potato chips with that perfect crunch are one of the best things you can possibly eat.

I do like chippy chips and skinny fries too, but they're altogether different beasts.

[titch juicy]

best chips i've had are Honest Burgers

http://www.honestburgers.co.uk/

['bout now]

Chip shops use machines, whole spud in, and er.... chips come out.

Hand cut is just another elevation of ordinary stuff to w**k status

[StraferJack]

"Hand cut is just another elevation of ordinary stuff to w**k status"

there is a bit of that to be fair.

As I said earlier tho, it's more a shorthand I read as "real spuds" rather than "a real spud cut by someone or pushed through metal grid"

I don't mind either - but as Otta says, the important bit is the spud and not some machine cut, reformed potatoe glue

[The Minkey]

I used to work in Denman St back in the 90s and remember that caff well. It was the proper chips of caff society.

"Palmerston - bought in bland frozen fries". Yes! Last time I ate there I ordered the chips expecting proper chips so I felt a little cheated when the fries turned up. They were good enough to swap them for the mash but I felt it let the menu down as I think of the Palmerston as a more of a quality food sort of place and fries don't fit with that, imo.

[civilservant]

The Minkey Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I don't see any relation to caff-culture, CS,

> however, smoking and drinking seem to figure quite

> highly.

I love a good fry-up as much as anyone else. However, its undeniable that it's bad for you.

The recent analysis actually puts dietary risk at No 1 for the UK, ahead of both alcohol (No 6)and smoking-related risk (no 2). Other diet-related risks such as high blood pressure, high BMI, high total plasma glucose and high cholesterol are also in the top 10 for the UK. This is linked to 'Western dietary patterns, characterized by high intakes of processed meats, eggs, red meats, and high-fat dairy products', pretty much synonymous with caff-culture.

[DulwichFox]

Twice / Thriced cooked chips.. ??

Depends how many times they have been reheated.

Cook piles of chips in the morning ... Let them go cold... put under heat lamp prior to serving

Fry for 1 minute to reheat as ordered..

?4.50 Bargain.

Foxy

[Pickle]

Chips are one of the only things I've really missed being done the way I like them since I moved from NZ 12 years ago. NZ fish & chip shops cook them while you wait. In the good old days they were put in the same fryer as the fish/sausages etc which made them extra tasty IMO, probably not done now though I guess. When they were done, they were hooked over the fryer for a while to let the oil drip off. Golden colour, good exterior crunch, and fluffy inside.

Here I find my local chippie is happy to have a go at cooking chips the way I like them (to him they are burnt), but they're not quite the same.

Sometimes the chips at GBK are quite nice, other times a bit dry. Must admit to being partial to a salty skinny french fry, sometimes good old McD's hit the spot.

[fishbiscuits]

Wow, an antipodean talking about something that's better back in NZ/Oz! Who would have thought it? (smiley)

But yeah, chip shop chips here are traditionally soft instead of crispy, the crunchy ones are usually only found in restaurants and fancy pubs. Although Master Fryer by the station/sainos cook everything to order (I reckon it's the best chippy in ED), so he may be open to the request of a well-done batch.

[LondonLogCo]

I don't think cafe's are all about the fry up, it's a bit narrow to view them like that. Personally the lunches and dinners aren't much different than most people's Nan or Mum would make. There's plenty of simple basic and healthy homecooked offers going on.

However, if you're some one who eats poorly , then you're in for it, whether you do that at home or in a Cafe. And if you abdicate your personal responsibility and project the blame on those serving food- then you're only kidding yourself.

Honestly, how many times a week do you eat out? once a week maybe twice. Out of the 21 meals in your week, 2 of those choices are so bad that they're pushing you up the Glaswegian Mortality Scale. Jesus H, get a grip.

Lastly, if you sit on a bus or train. If you sit at a desk all day, then come home the same way you came. If you lunch at Greggs/Prett most days & then haul you lazy backside onto a sofa once home, filling your face and you lungs with proven killer products. Then guess what? You'll more than likely die early.

All things in moderation.

[The Minkey]

There are plenty of studies pointing at the same foodstuff being good for you then bad for you then good for you, just take eggs for example, bad last year, good this. Everything in moderation indeed.

[civilservant]

LondonLogCo, The Minkey, you haven't quite got the point have you

The 'simple basic homecooked offer' is several heads of broccoli short of what is good for your lazy backside, whether its you nan's cooking or your friendly local caff. You don't have to stuff your face at Gregg's to have a poor diet. The fry-up may be the chief offender, but it's also about the pies and the bacon, the sausages, the FRIED eggs, the white bread, the cheap oil, the melted cheese, the baked beans packed full of sugar and salt. The idea that a couple of scraps of boiled carrot, a pea or two or a fried mushroom will suffice on the veg front. Bleeugh. Now that's put me off my Sunday caff blow-out.

[RosieH]

Bagsy not going for dinner at civilservant's house!

FRIED, I tell you, FRIED!

[civilservant]

It's a deal, Rosie! I won't come to yours, FRIED or not

[LondonLogCo]

Lunch at The Osk today:

Home made Veg soup.

2 x grilled Pork chops , fat off.

Large steamed veg on a large plate, pease , carrots , cabbage & boiled potatoes.

Light Gravy.

Just like my Nan used to make.

Where's the harm in tha CS?

[civilservant]

Nothing - sounds good - viva your Nan - clearly a cut above some Nans I have known

btw where's the Osk? clearly a cut above some caffs I've known

[LondonLogCo]

The Osk is in Honour Oak.

When you get there it says "The Oak" on the sign (obviously they've misspelled it)

Proppa nice Cafe it is too. They cook things how you like: fat off, extra veg plate, thick- thin gravy.