Best sweet potato fries in Toronto
Hi,
I'm looking for the best, best best ever sweet potato fries in Downtown Toronto, and I can't seem to find any places that offer that at all.
Please, please help.
Devilish
Oct 16, 2007 08:49AM
Monsoon used to offer really great sweet potato fries with a chili aioli (I think). Not sure if it's still on the menu. Or if it's still as great.
100 Simcoe St, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Dr. Generousity on Bloor West has them, and they come with maple sour cream, very good. Freshwood Grill on Roncesvaille also has them. I think the first place is better though.
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I haven't ever had them downtown, but I have to agree that Dr. Generosity's (in Bloor West Village) are really good--and the maple sour cream is a perfect accompaniment.
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Mill St. Brew Pub has them. Thin, lightly salted and very tasty.
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Sounds like the ones at Ten Feet Tall on Danforth near Coxwell, I think. They come with aioli or a choice of dips.
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Utopia on College.
Savannah Room on College, once upon a time, don't know about recently.
586 College St, Toronto, ON, Canada
294 College St, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Thanks guys, I'm going to check these restaurants out. Starting with Utopia because I'm 1 minute away from it.
Really appreciate it.
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Try old york. Niagara south of King.
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Old York was a Restaurant Makeover. Was it successful?
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You'd have to ask the person running the place but I can say - still the same people. Still the same new look. They get very busy and serve good to very good food.
I think it is an example of a successful RM.
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Shanghai Cowgirl on queen west also has great sweet potato fries...
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The Rushton, on st.clair, west of bathurst. Great all round eatery. The sweet potato frites are addictive!!!!
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I actually had some really good SPF at Ki once. Not sure if they still have them on the menu, but def. worth a try.
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Have you tried FRESH on Spadina/Queen? They're not bad, but then again I'm not a big fan of sweet potato fries (can't crisp them up as much as regular fries), nevertheless they are quite long and thick, with a nice aioli on the side I believe.
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allen's on the danforth.
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Gotta second allen's.
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you know maybe I got a bad bunch, but I was really not impressed with allens.. I found their sweet potato fries a bit saugy and I guess I just dont like how thickly cut they are.. my vote goes to ten feet tall (b/c of the dipping sauces especially the pineapple) and mill st brew pub because they are very nicely salted and crispy.. Ive also had some good ones at the house on parliament, and brydens out in the west end
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The Victory Cafe (On Markham, just off of Bloor) has awesome sweet potato fries with a yogurt-based dipping sauce. They're super tasty.
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I second the Utopia recommendations above, along with pretty much everything else on the menu at that restaurant.
C'est What pub at Front and Church has always had decent sweet potato fries too (but they call 'em "yam frites"). But I'd pretty much stick to just ordering those along with a couple Canadian craft beers. Don't risk the rest of the menu.
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Second your suggestions re C'est What.
Yam frites, tap cider and a book; lovely way to spend an afternoon. Linking..
67 Front Street East Toronto ON
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Are they Yams or Sweet Potatoes?
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On the menu, they're called Yam Frites.
There's a difference, isn't there? I hardly thought about it.
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Yes, well technically not the same. However, the word is used interchangeably although incorrect. I assume they were sweet potatoes and they just call them yams, lots of people do.
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Ok. this thread is really bothering me now. I need to know which ones are house made and which ones are from frozen.
I know Fresh for Lifes are house made but arent very good. i know shanghai cowgirls are from frozen and tasty enough. I have a feeling most are from frozen and from very few suppliers.
I also think that they may even be lightly battered to add the nice crispness some are reporting. As I agree with Merriam that they dont crisp as easily as potatoes do.
So lets have it!
Chow!
HL.
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This raises an interesting moral dilemma: is it better, from a chowish point of view, to have tasty commercial fries or mediocre homemade ones?
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I've seen the chef handling the bags of cut fries at Ten Feet Tall (love their version, they were mentionned in previous threads), and my assumption was that it was a bag of frozen precut fries from a supplier.
They are delicious and crispy, nothing like the terrible blackened, soggy things I got at Allen's; I hear they are hit and miss there, a miss-and-never-again for me.
I do not detect batter on Ten Feet Tall's chips. A friend did comment that they are sugary, however, which did make me wonder if they are treated somehow... but I don't detect any nasty flour-based battering.
I've also had them at McSorley's, where they were overdone (blackened) yet soggy. That's the range of my experience so I don't know if others use the same supplier as Ten Feet Tall, but theirs win for me wherever they come from. The choice of sauces from pesto aioli to jalapeno mayo doesn't hurt either.
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`The sugary taste could be natural. When selecting potatoes for fries often an older potato is best as the starches convert to sugar. There is a noticeable difference between a fresh bought sweet potato and once you store for a few weeks in a cold cellar.
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I agree that there is no hint of a coating at Ten Feet Tall; they've always been cooked to perfection for me, and I've had them over half-a-dozen times. Portion's big, and the price is right.
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i would prefer great and tasty frozen over fresh mediocre anytime.
That being said, I am confident that Old York are both tasty and fresh.
I will try them again in the next few days with a more critical assessment.
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I agree with you. Homemade doesn't always trump premade in terms of flavour, sadly.
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I dont know about who serves frozen, but regarding crispness they double fry them. Earlier in the day they would fry them at a low temp. Then before serving you fry again at a high temp. This gives sweet potato its cripsness, works for regular fries too.
Dr. Generosity leaves the skin on, perhaps thats a sign of home made? In any case they are excellent. I'll ask next time if they are fresh or frozen.
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The nature of a sweet potato or yam doesn't allow one to exactly translate potato cooking methods with great success. The moisture content levels make it a different initial product which will leave me with a disasterously dried out fry if I actually obtain that nice crisp shell, double fry or not.
Nearly all the fries I've seen are cut to the exact same specifications. If they were anything but commercial, I'd be shocked.
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So are you saying they batter them? Or are you saying its impossible to get them crispy? Even if they are all commercial they are still crispy, so there is a way of doing it. (the way suggested does work, also soak in water first and dry will help before 2x fry) The cut does not denote commercial vs. homemade. In school the first thing you will learn is knife skills, and consistency in cut is of the utmost importance. Also many restaurants, have proper slicers to do the job. The only way to know is ask I suppose.
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I doubt that many of the places serving sweet potato fries are hand cutting any of their potatoes. I say this because the shape, size and cut are the same across the board at restaurants that have them.
I thought that batter might be the case because of the very light and textured coating that was creating the crispness at the restaurants I liked. What else could be accumlating onto the surface during the cooking process? There isn't anything else to explain this.
Double frying potatoes is not unfamiliar to me. I've tried it myself and a light and barely detectable batter will do the trick, whereas plain just leaves it limp.
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Ive heard of a batter of milk and flour which would give a fairly light batter depending on how thick it is, never tried it though.
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It's true, sweet potatoes will not crisp up in the same way potatoes will when fried, which is why many places use a light batter. The uniformity of the shape is most likely due to the fact that many places use a potato chipper to cut their fries (much faster than a knife) which is basically like a potato extruder. I've had very good sweet potato fries at Harvest Wine Bar and Restaurant up on Main Street Unionville. It was a pub just a few months ago. The rest of the food is decent, but somewhat hit and miss
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They do crisp up however the problem lies in the fact they get soggy quickly. Much faster than a potato.
(this should be moved to recipes, we've gotten off topic)
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was at elephant and castle at yonge/gerrard and noticed they were on the menu, though i didn't partake. the normal fries were stellar, though. for pub food.
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I have always loved the sweet potato fries at Universal Grill.... thick cut, and very flavourful.
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The Yellow Griffin (across from Dr. Generousity, Bloor West Village, Bloor & Runnymede) ... comes with different Mayos.
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yah but unless you have amazing patience and a full afternoon to wait for the fries, dont bother going.. the service is HORRIBLE
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more details please:
house made or commercial? fresh or frozen? batter or no batter? crispy or not?
Chow!
HL.
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http://www.chowhound.com/topics/105925
Commercial/frozen, battered, crispy, no flavour.
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Went to Dr. G's on Saturday and ordered (2) takeout for my wife and I. Sat on a bench in Bloor west village and gobbled them up. They were very, very good!
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house made or commercial? fresh or frozen? batter or no batter? crispy or not?
Chow!
HL.
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