Jim's Gourmet Fries

When: July 1st, 2009 12:31pm.
Is there a better time to visit a chip truck than for lunch on Canada Day? (Plus, it's probably the only thing open!)

Companions: Jill & Damien

Where: Sydenham Foodland parking lot (map)
Exterior: This chip truck is a keystone for me: I have driven past it one to two thousand times in my life as it is between my parent's house and the place where I worked in the summers all through university. It is a permanent trailer sitting in the grocery store parking lot in Sydenham, Ontario. In recent years, they have added a screened-in hut around the ordering window where they keep the condiments. There are three picnic tables with umbrellas where you can sit, but it's also worth noting that it's very close to the lake and also a nice park where you can take your fries. It was predictably packed, as it was lunch time on Canada Day - there were tons of families and people coming from the nearby Sydenham Canada Day celebration. When we went up to order, they had lined up all the containers that were waiting to be filled, and we were number 16 in the line.
So it was a long wait. BUT, while we were waiting, local celebrity Dan Aykroyd pulled up in a fancy car! This was definitely a highlight of the visit - we tried our best not to stare, but how do you not gawk just a little bit when a celebrity arrives at the chip truck you're eating at? (We did draw the line at taking pictures of him) He sadly didn't stay for any fries, which was really his loss, because they were delicious!

Menu: Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, fries, poutine. The poutine comes in two sizes, and the fries come in four sizes (ranging from 'junior' to 'family').

Condiments: Ketchup, 2 kinds of vinegar in spray bottles, salt.
The Chips: We got a junior size fries ($2.25 - great value, as the portion is quite generous) and a small poutine ($4.50). They were both excellent. The fries were crispy, and deliciously fresh tasting. They came with a flat wooden fork which was really handy for both poking big fries and scooping out small fries. I would highly recommend these fries to anyone at anytime (although come before 4pm, because that's when it closes).
The poutine earned rave reviews from our official poutine reviewer, Damien. The cheese curds were tasty and distributed well throughout the dish. The gravy was well-seasoned and thick. Damien pointed out that too much gravy can make poutine too much like soup, but these ones did not suffer from that common problem. Overall, he gave the poutine two thumbs up!
Condiment Distribution: Jill reminded me that the classic way to ensure that you have ketchup for all of your fries is to 'hide' it down the side of the container, i.e. try to squirt it right down to the bottom of the container. We tried this with these fries, and the result was a 'bloodbath'. The last of the fries were swimming in a red pool of ketchup. These fries stood up to the ketchup, because they were so fantastic (see above), but use this technique with care!