Germany Has French Fries

Howdy, folks!  One of my international fry spies of intrigue has filed this report from across the pond.  Seems the Germans are into fries as well.  My editorial notes are in bold.

Greetings from Germany!

Hi folks – my name’s Erick and I’m a regular reader and longtime fan of GFFR.  My family and I are spending a couple months in Germany this summer, and with so much great food around, we couldn’t help but think of our fellow GFFR readers, so we asked Gibby if we could contribute a few guest posts and he graciously agreed!  A few days ago, we visited a very old college town in southern Germany called Tübingen.  FYI-the translation of “Tubingen” is “gin-filled tub college town” 

This place is literally just called “X”. The “Scwaben Braü” sign is a beer advertisement.  I guess X marks the spot!

Some local students in line before us show up for their daily fry fix. Hotties! The restaurant has some indoor accommodation, as well as the pick-up window. No one was sitting inside, so we figured the pick-up window is where the action is.  Unlike most establishments in the downtown area, there was quite a queue. “Queue” is a fancy word for “line you wait in to get stuff”.  Screwy euros!

All prices were in Euros, and were quite reasonable.  A small fry was only 1.50 Euro (about $1.80).  I asked the proprietor for a picture, but he politely begged off and hid behind the window – very humble.  He and his fellow kitchen staff appeared to be Turkish.

A helpful local who also speaks English made sure that our order was clearly understood in German:  Two small orders of fries and one “curry wurst” – a German favorite.  Not clear whether the woman or the baby helped with the English.

Here’s a close-up of the menu. My wife Tao and daughter Anya, reflected in the glass as they try to make some sense of the German words.

Is the Grunion one of their sponsors here? The Grunion has not been approached by X for any endorsement offers as of time of publication.

The goods delivered.  Total time from order to delivery was 3 or 4 minutes – very fast turnaround. Everything was hot and fresh. These are the “small” orders, so I give them good marks for quantity.

My son Jeremy: Waddaya mean I can’t eat yet because Dad has to take a picture?” 

Meanwhile my daughter Emily eyes the fries longingly.

Observe the fried goodness!  The fries were so yellow when they came out that they practically glowed in the dark.  NICE. The ketchup was also very nice – all tomato sauce and spices with no sugar added!  The curry wurst was very authentic and kicked everything up a notch.  They even give you this nice roll in case you want to make a curry wurst sandwich, or just mop up the excess curry.

Check out the little wooden forks they give you to keep your hands clean – neat, tidy, and environmentally friendly.  A nice German touch.

The fries were crisp and hot – they stood up to the ketchup without getting soggy too quickly. They were also big enough to retain some warm potato goodness in the center. I found them to be an ideal balance between McDonalds fries (too thin and salty for me) and Steak Fries (often too thick and cold in the center). I would have given them a perfect score if the kitchen staff were a bit more friendly. All in all, I give them a near perfect 9 out of 10 – strongly recommended!  Please note that fry spy ratings do not necessarily reflect actual Gibby ratings. See store for details. Limit one per customer.