We had to go shopping, and to make sure I would be enthusiastic, Melissa pulled out some printable coupons for New York Fries. She got them from the Bargain Moose and the offer is valid until the 24th of February.
So, as you can imagine, I reluctantly agreed to stop at the Galeries de Hull location, one of over 200 around the world. Well, by around the world, I mean mostly in Canada. But there are also NYF spots in South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the most recent expansion - Hong Kong.
Thankfully, despite it being noon-ish, there was no line-up at the counter. I say thankfully, because the teenage girl who was staffing the counter would have been overwhelmed fast - everything seemed very complicated.
She completed the order of the previous customer and then slowly turned her attention to us.
I promptly presented my coupon - a free regular fries (value 3.49$) with any drink purchase. It seemed to confuse her - perhaps she has not seen enough of them. I ordered a Pepsi, and to complement my order, I added two hot dogs.
Melissa was craving poutine, and that completed our order.
Almost immediately, an older girl showed up to help out, putting the fries in the hot sunflower oil, while the other seemed confused by the bun steamer. She finally figured it out, but in the process forgot I had ordered two.
Meanwhile, Melissa was struggling with the ketchup dispenser - it was basically empty. Since another consumer had arrived, it took me a while to gain the attention of either of the two staffers to point out the problem and to be supplied with mobile ketchup dispensers, known as “packets”. They’ll come in handy later. I had to wait a little bit more for my second hot dog, but it gave me the time to garnish the first one and fill up on the NYF spices. Once everything was in order, I found Mel who went ahead to save some places.
I choose the following from among the different toppings offered to garnish my dogs:
- Relish, Mustard, Onions, Pickles, Tabasco.
- Relish, Mustard, Tomatoes, Hot Peppers.
NYF’s hot dogs are fairly big, and are made of chicken and beef. They are slowly cooked on a slanted roller grill, one of those designed to be at the front of the counter in order to increase visibility and therefore increase impulse sales. Thankfully, my purchase was most certainly planned. I’ve already talked about the steamer, which does an ok job steaming the thick fresh bun, preventing any “too much bread” issues, which could happen if the bun was not fresh and not steamed properly.
But people do not go to NYF because of the hot dogs - they go because of the fries. In fact, the Gould brothers of Brantford “discovered” the New York Fries after reading a review in the New York Times and going to a small stand at the South Street Seaport. They liked the fries so much, they decided to buy the place and make money by spreading the spuds.
NYF has a 3 steps process, which is honestly pretty close to what you should do at home when you make french fries. First, they handcut russet Burbank potatoes, with the skin on (they claim it is for flavour and nutrition - I believe it is just faster and cheaper). Second, they store in cold water to remove some of the starch. Third, they deep fry to order. That’s it.
Now, to be honest with you, although I do agree that the fries are fresh, crispy, golden and pretty tasty, I always grow tire of them as I eat them. Nothing to do with this location - the quality, taste and texture is very consistent throughout the chain. No, I do not know what it is - perhaps its keeping the skin on? Perhaps they stay in water too long? It can’t be too much salt, can it? Or maybe they are cooked a tad too long? I do not know, I cannot put my finger on it. But there is something that makes them feel really, really dry, especially when you have them on their own.
Which is probably why Mel opted for the poutine.
The gravy definitely helps to moisturize the fries. A classic brown gravy, it is dark and thick, not too salty. Beef flavour is very present. It was quite warm, warm enough to slightly melt the cheese. Talking of cheese, they are generous with the curds, though it shall be said that there was no “squeek-squeek”, which can only mean that the cheese is not extra fresh.
Although this is not the best poutine around, it is very respectable, quantity, quality and size-wise. Too bad my coupon was for a free regular fries!
I’ve always missed out on the 
Wafflers, rejoice!
