Background
This is Part 1 of my 24 Hour French Fry Odyssey around Seattle, covering hours 1 to 8. You can read about the other sections of the Odyssey by clicking this link. For context, the Odyssey is an endurance challenge with the following rules:
- Must be completed within 24 Hours
- Must visit 24 restaurants
- 1 restaurant per hour
- No mass-market fast food chains
- Must eat a meaningful amount of fries from every restaurant
In total, I walked 32,210 steps over the 24 hours (I didn’t use my car for most of it), I spent $234.13 on food, and I burned 6,295 calories. No clue how many calories I consumed. I knew that this would be difficult, but I didn’t anticipate that the mental and physical aspects of the challenge would be equal trials. As the name implies, this was a journey.
I selected the restaurants based on recommendations from the Seattle Reddit community, my own research, and several others out of pure desperation. I had a detailed plan going into the day, but things derailed late in the challenge and I had to scramble to finish! The ratings charts shows all of my stops in order along with the rating of the fries (dark bars are what’s reported in this blog installment). I hope you enjoy my adventure.
Stop 1 – IHOP [6:00 am]
The IHOP near me wasn’t open 24 hours, but it was a safe bet for an early morning order where I could get something off the lunch menu. The day didn’t get off to a great start because I had a lot of trouble sleeping the night before. I was super nervous and couldn’t calm myself down enough to get more than a few hours of sleep. Nevertheless, I persisted. I arrived at IHOP around 6:15am, was seated at a booth in the nearly empty restaurant, and looked at the menu. Despite knowing exactly what I was going to order, I pretended to review the menu for nearly every restaurant I visited.
IHOP was slow, but I wasn’t in a hurry (yet). I ordered the fries, set up my camera equipment, and waited patiently. The fries were a standard skin-on variety, 10mm thick, and very lightly seasoned. Since I had another 23 plates of fries remaining over the next 23 hours, I deliberately ate a modest amount of what was served. For “fun” I poured a little bit of maple syrup in the corner and used it as a dipping sauce. It was an interesting idea, but not something that I’d recommend.
I spent $6.40 and rated them a 5.5 out of 10.
Stop 2 – Patty’s Eggnest [7:00 am]
Diners were the key to completing the early morning hours, but I needed to find places that were willing to sell french fries during the traditional breakfast window. Patty’s Eggnest in Mountlake Terrace had no problem with this. I also found a cheat to convince myself that this WAS a breakfast food. I ordered a side of sausage gravy that I could dip the fries in. Definitely breakfast.
At this point of the challenge I still didn’t feel fully awake, and I wasn’t hungry at all. I don’t usually eat breakfast, so eating twice in two hours was especially weird. The fries at Patty’s were good, though. They were very skinny (6mm), and had they been any skinnier I would classify them as shoestring fries. At 6mm you can get a pretty good crisp on the potatoes without too much time in the fryer, and these were definitely crispy. I believe they were skinless. They tossed them in a seasoning blend, and it paired well with the peppery sausage gravy. This was a positive visit.
I spent $10.71 and rated them a 6.8 out of 10.
Stop 3 – Ludi’s [8:00 am]
This was my first deviation from plan. I had intended to stay north in the suburbs for one more stop, but I ended up with enough time to to get downtown and took advantage. I left my car at a transit center and took the light rail to Westlake Center in Seattle. I had never been to Ludi’s before, but a friend of mine recommended them very highly. It’s a diner with strong Filipino roots, and most importantly they have french fries on the menu. I arrived around 8:15am, placed my order at the front, and grabbed a stool along the wall.
I was starting to feel a bit more awake at this point. Still wasn’t hungry, and my stomach was somewhat out of sorts. Nothing too concerning, though. My order of “Crispy Fries” arrived quickly, and I was excited to see that they used a lightly battered potato (probably coated with a bit of potato or corn starch). This helps create a crust on the fry and can provide a strong contrast between interior and exterior. I measured them at 9mm thick, which is still a medium fry for me. Most of the fries tasted great, but there were a few that were almost raw in the middle. I suspect that the fries were frozen in a clump and that didn’t get fully shaken out in the fryer. Not a huge problem. I ate them with some ketchup but I should have asked if they had any interesting dipping sauces. They were modestly seasoned, and overall an okay plate of fries.
Remember how my stomach felt a little off? Well, despite “taking care of business” before I left the house, I had a Number 2 problem at Stop #3. The bathroom was clean, and I was fully prepared with “One Wipe Charlies” from Dollar Shave Club. These peppermint scented butt wipes are a lifesaver. This brings the grand total of bathrooms killed on the odyssey to 1…but it won’t be the last.
I spent $6.62 and rated them a 6.7 out of 10. The rest of the menu looks awesome (Ube Pancakes!).
Stop 4 – 5 Point Cafe [9:00 am]
I walked North from Ludi’s towards the Space Needle and my 4th destination. The 5 Point Cafe is a 24/7 restaurant and I originally intended to use it as a fallback in case something went wrong. The name comes from the intersection that the restaurant sits at (it’s a 5 point intersection). It’s not super close to other spots, but I ended up with enough time to work it into the early rotation. The walk was cool and refreshing, and it brought my step count up above 6,000 for the day. The restaurant had an interesting ambiance for 9 o’clock in the morning. Music was pumping, and Billy Idol’s “Mony Mony” seemed to fit really well with the eclectic decorations. Despite the rough appearance of the place, the host was super friendly and accommodating.
When I placed my order I asked for half the amount of fries they usually give, and that I would pay full price if needed. I explained that I wasn’t super hungry and didn’t want to waste them. There was an off-menu option for a 1/2 order of fries that she offered me, and I added on a side of hollandaise sauce. Similar to the sausage gravy earlier, dipping fries in hollandaise is a great justification for eating fries for breakfast. The fries were 8.5mm thick and cut with some skin remaining on the potato. I didn’t find the fries noteworthy on their own (fried well, seasoned okay), but the hollandaise was exceptional. Very zippy from the lemon juice and carried a bit of heat from the paprika or hot sauce that they used. I’ll need to remember hollandaise as a fry dipping sauce, because it worked incredibly well.
I spent $6.61 and rated them an 8.0 out of 10 (mostly due to the hollandaise).
Stop 5 – Chicken Valley [10:00 am]
The walk back towards the core downtown area was very pleasant. I had a couple of options picked out for the 5th stop near Pike Place Market, but I couldn’t find the first, and the second refused to serve french fries during their breakfast hour. While searching for the first pick, I ran across a shop called Chicken Valley that had an interesting fried potato object that I decided to pull into the project. I ordered my “Tornado Potato” and found a seat in the public waterfront viewing area nearby.
The Tornado Potato is pretty. They spiral cut a potato on a stick, coat it in some sort of batter, and then fry it until very crispy. It’s then dusted with some sort of seasoning powder (my guess was garlic parmesan, but it was also sweet). Despite the appearance, this thing sucked. I don’t know how long it had been sitting in the display; it did not taste fresh. The seasoning was fine, but the texture was bad. Once you bit through the coating it was nearly hollow. I also found it very difficult to eat off the stick and probably should have considered removing the stick before consuming. Not great.
I spent $9.21 and rated it 3.0 out of 10. Some of that rating might be due to the cost relative to enjoyment.
Stop 6 – Ivars Fish Bar [11:00 am]
Time to leave the market. I headed down Post Alley, paid homage to the Gum Wall, and started walking along the waterfront towards Ivars Fish Bar. Don’t get this confused with Ivar’s Acres of Clams which is a nice sit down place. You want the walk up counter that serves clam chowder, fries, and other odds and ends. There’s a statue of Ivar out front depicting him in the pursuit of feeding seagulls. This is a Seattle tradition, although I seriously doubt that any marine biologist would agree with the signs indicating that feeding the seagulls is a great idea.
You’re not going to believe this, but I ordered a basket of fries. Yep. It’s true. I also noticed something called “clam nectar” on the menu, so I gave that a whirl as well. I was their first customer of the day, but there was no trophy or prize. The fries were 8mm thick with a little bit of skin remaining. Fried crispy to a light blonde, but a bit under-seasoned. I should have asked for some malt vinegar and lemon to squeeze on top. They tasted fine with ketchup (a bit starchy), and the seagulls didn’t complain. The clam nectar was served too hot (like coffee) and tasted more like chicken broth than clams. Not bad, though. At this point I had walked 10,993 steps.
I spent $8.13 and gave them a 6.0 out of 10. They weren’t bad, just boring.
Stop 7 – Wonder Ethiopian [12:00 pm]
My journey from Ivars to Stop 7 was a combination of a long walk and a leisurely ride on the Street Car. My destination was Wonder Ethiopian Coffee and Sports Bar which was a string of words that I wouldn’t have guessed would exist together. This was a recommendation from the fine people of Reddit, although I believe it was phrased as “their food is really good and they also have fries”. I’m not super familiar with Ethiopian food, but I usually think of injera bread and thick stews in reference to the cuisine. The menu at Wonder had a lot of that, but also some more Western sports bar typical food (burgers, wings, etc.).
The restaurant wasn’t busy when I arrived. Just a few patrons. The waitress seated me, and I looked at the menu for much longer than required. It became a bit of a song and dance at most of the stops. I knew exactly what I wanted, but I still wanted to give the allusion that I was deciding. I was starting to feel tired at this point. The novelty had worn off and now I was 7 hours into an eating challenge with no end in sight. My solution to this was to order a can of Coca-Cola and hope that the sugar and caffeine would propel me forward.
Service was pretty slow, and after 20 minutes I could hear my fries getting tossed around in a metal bowl back in the kitchen. They arrived piping hot and well-coated in a berbere seasoning salt. The 10mm crinkle-cut fries held the salt well, and I really enjoyed the warm dusty heat from the blend that they used. I ordered the “spicy fries” instead of regular fries and it was the right move. I wish that there was a more interesting dipping sauce than ketchup, though. I asked the server afterwards if anybody had ever put one of their “wot” stews on top of the fries, kind of like chili fries. She didn’t understand what I was asking, and thought that I wanted to order more food. Regardless, I now have this burning curiosity about an Ethiopian inspired poutine dish where you use Doro Wot or Kay Wot as a gravy, and then top it with ayib cheese. Sounds great to me.
I spent $14.99 and rated them 7.2 out of 10. I had walked 11,955 steps and with the Coca-Cola flowing through my veins I was ready to make it to Stop 8.
Stop 8 – Mamnoon [1:00 pm]
Another long walk and a ride on the Street Car took me to Stop 8. While the cola at Wonder gave me a bit of an energy boost, it also created another problem. I needed to pee, and the bathroom at Mamnoon wasn’t open. Actually, it probably was, but I assumed it was closed and should have asked. Either way, I decided that I’d just finish this stop and take care of business during the next one, but it meant I was a little on edge for this plate.
Mamnoon is one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle, so this one was self-selected. Their harra frites have been featured on this blog for a long time, but I wasn’t opposed to featuring them again. They’re technically only on the menu during lunch when Mamnoon is operating as more of a walk-up counter, but if you ask nicely they’ll make them for you during dinner service as well. The fries are 10mm thick, have a beautiful golden crust, skin-on, and a dusting of Lebanese spices. I don’t find the heat level intense, but it’s enough for a slow burn on your tongue. The fry spices are great on their own, but combined with the spicy harissa ketchup this is an exceptional dish. I usually get the fries in a basket while I’m eating in, but this time they served them in a take-out carton. Even that brief amount of steam knocked some of crispiness off the fries, but not enough to ruin the texture completely. The server gifted me a couple of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, so I really felt like I was on the upswing, despite the onset of some serious palate fatigue. Beyond the bathroom urgency, I was feeling okay, and pretty happy that I was checking off 1/3 of the challenge with this stop. I was at just over 13,000 steps, and had burned somewhere around 3,000 calories.
I spent $6.52 and gave it an 8.8 out of 10. This is an incredible value for the quality of fries that you get.
Coming Up Next
The day had been going pretty well so far, but fatigue and bad luck were going to start taking a toll. Stops 9 through 16 are covered in Part 2 and take me from 2pm to 10pm (you can read about that here). Stops 17 to 24 are covered in Part 3 which you can read here. Also, here’s a video the first half of the Odyssey:
Here’s a link to a map that shows the locations I’ve visited.
Sodafry 