Midtown Lunch

When the Frying Dutchmen truck first launched they only sold one item: Belgian fries in either regular or sweet potato varieties. The hook was they had a bunch of dipping sauces, but as I discovered, although their fries are delicious it’s hard to shell out more than $5 for fried potatoes. A while later they added chicken wings to the mix, then some chicken sandwiches and the latest innovation is burgers which naturally go very well with fries. They used to park in the Financial District a lot but either due to parking issues or lack of interest they’re largely found elsewhere these days although they do stop in Soho at least once a week (they’re at Varick & King today). That’s where I caught up with them to see if their other food offerings were any good.

There are a lot more options than I was expecting and as is becoming the norm with the new-school trucks, it’s hard to escape with a real meal here for less than $10. I’d have to say none of the burgers really grabbed me and the range in price from $6 to $9 ala carte didn’t help to nudge me in that direction. My next choice was chicken wings for $5 but they were sold out already, so it was on to plan C which was a fried chicken sandwich ($6 on its own), thrown into a combo with a medium frites, dipping sauce and drink for $11. You read that right, I paid more than $10 for a fried chicken sandwich and fries from a truck.

When I unwrapped the sandwich the first thing that popped into my head was “this looks like a fancy version of the Burger King chicken sandwich.” I think it was the bun shape or shredded lettuce. There was a thin, but large fried chicken patty, dill pickle chips, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions and a little bit of hot sauce on top of the chicken. It was a tasty sandwich although the tomato, pickles and onions did a good job of making everything soggy by the time I could eat the thing. If I had to do it over I would leave off the tomato at the very least.

The fries were as good as the last time I had them, and I liked the yin and yang honey mustard/teriyaki dipping sauce I got. Was it worth adding $5 to my meal? I’m still not sure.

If you’ve tried any of the burgers or other chicken offerings from Frying Dutchmen let us know how it was in the comments.

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