THE OFFP Reviews: The Asylum, Washington, D.C.
A really good reason to visit the
Adams Morgan area of Washington, D.C.
 
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"Nestled in the heart of 'multi-cultural' Adams Morgan..." -- so went the article in USA Today -- is a small club called the Asylum. We'll spare you the history and politics of its inception and life here, but the French Fries are amazing! This is NOT the place you might expect. While it is a restaurant, it's certainly not something you might find in the Michelin guide. Then again, why use a guide written by people who make tires? There has to be a better way to choose a place with French Fries than that! The place is really a night club. They play loud music. The kind you either love or loathe. But this isn't a review of the club; this is a review of some of the bestest French Fries available. We couldn't come up with any reason not to go, so we went. |
 The proprietor, Jimmy |
 The patrons (they were shy) |
 Bartender, bouncer, boss (cook not pictured) |
Then we walked into the Asylum. Jimmy, the proprietor, went for broke and picked up our entire tab for the night, beer and all.
We're only human.
Honestly, these French Fries are fantastic (and not very expensive). The potato product itself is the Lamb-Weston seasoned waffle-cut, and is cooked in a peanut oil blend (which is actually mostly soy oil) and served with a ketchup sauce (and seasoned with a bit of Old Bay seasoning -- the stuff normally used on crabs).
Even more amazing are the "Bean & Cheese Fries" now offered, with generous amounts of refried beans and cheese almost swamping these wonderful French Fries. But not quite drowning them. This alone could be a meal, which is why we realised (too late) that we really should NOT have had the homemade veggie chili tacos and the homemade cheese sticks while we were waiting, but we just didn't know. After all, when you sample a few different restaurants' French Fries every day, you start to fall into a pattern.
We had a talk with Jim.
| OFFP: | Why these particular (Lamb-Waston seasoned waffle-cut) French Fries? |  The offer presented to us.
12 minutes later. |
| Jim: | I tried a bunch [of different brands] and wanted something different. I sampled a lot of different ones and the people raved. The public responded that they love 'em. | |
| OFFP: | What was the stupidest thing someone said about the French Fries? | |
| Jim : | Besides whether they belong on a Web page? | |
| OFFP: | You were reviewed by the Washington Post (and so were we). What did they say about your French Fries? | |
| Jim : | Not much. | |
| OFFP: | How often do you eat French Fries? | |
| Jim: | All the time. |
Jim is a man of few words.
The Asylum is more than just ambience -- even if the clientele match the name of this locale rather well -- it's great French Fries. And a balanced pool table. But this is only a review of French Fries.
We informed USA Today that this place was one of the ten best places in the USA to get French Fries. They printed it. What happened next was... well.. not completely unexpected.
Quoth Jim, "All these people started calling us for dinner reservations (no such thing at the Asylum). Or they'd come in, look around, and ask if they can get the French Fries to go (laughs)." Yes, they are available to take out.
We'd like to present you more of the interview, but this is all we can print without losing all the links that schools have to our site. Jim, however, did have a few choice phrases concerning his inclusion in USA Today, none of which we... err.. have room for here right now.
As we said, the music is loud and you will either like it or hate it, but there is no question when it comes to what your opinion of the French Fries here will be. We were amazed. You will be, too.
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The Official French Fries Pages hereby gives two thumbs up to The Asylum 2471 18th Street, NW Washington, D.C. (202) 319-9353 |
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