I love fries. Maybe even too much. Who would have thought that something so basic could be so delicious?
I was at a pizzeria the other day which specialises on fried pizza. And they happened to be promoting ‘patatine’. Unfortunately, they were sold out when we arrived. I was a little disappointed, but that got me thinking of how great it’ll be if we had a shop in Rome selling ONLY fries since everyone loves fries.
A couple of days later, Cart and I stumbled upon this joint by chance while we were walking to San Pietro. It was such a coincidence!
Fries is a place that sells only fried potatoes. There are variations from – chips to tornado fries, but I think the highlight would definitely have to be the fries.
The potatoes were thickly cut and fried with the skin on and sold in 3 sizes – small at 3 euro, medium at 4 euro and large at 5.50 euro. We both got the medium sized one each. Which turned out to be quite a helping in the end, and we found out that that each was enough for for two to share. Luckily we didn’t have dinner prior to that, as I doubt that we would have finished our fries if we did.
We had to wait a while as they were made to order, but it was worth the wait. When they arrived, it was served in a red and white gingham cone and it was warm and comforting to hold in the cold, windy autumn evening.
I saw tall, small square tables with 4 holes in them, and only made the connection much much later that you could put your cones in them while you eat. It would be a lot more comfortable to eat that way if you had a larger sized cone.
Fries were said to originate from Belgium and I’d love to visit there just to try the fries. But you’d have to be careful where you order as I read that in a lot of places, they fry it in beef tallow before cooking it the second time in vegetable oil. Here, the potatoes are fried in vegetable oil making it friendly for almost all practises.
There is also a board telling you if the sauces were vegan or gluten free. And there were loads of sauces to choose from – I got for myself sour cream while Cart chose ‘cacio e pepe‘.
For me, a benchmark for knowing how good a fry is, is that it should taste good without additional condiments. And it was such a delight to eat! Crispy, warm and rustic and a little bit salty. But with the combination with the sauce, it hit the spot for me. Aaahhhh…
I don’t mind going back there again!
Apparently there are more ‘patatinari’ opening in Rome – there’s another joint in Viale Marconi and another one in Ostia. Got to try them all!
Fries
Via di Porta Cavalleggeri, 19
00165 Roma
Marina, i think we passed by the fries shop by the side of the road while heading to the Vatican City. Was tempted to try it but it was still early morning.
Talking abt food..there’s this bakery n cafe at Tiburtina area, Granier, which sells a variety of sweet breads like cream, apple, french chocolate croissant, donuts. I fell in love with this place but sadly it’s only in Rome. I found out it’s a franchise from Spain. How i wish they open one in Venice too 🙂
Do you remember the name?