Chipstar
Anything fried goes. Am I right? At least in my book. I mean, I try to avoid it as much as possible, but truth is, I love fries. So when I heard that Chipstar, the Dutch-style fries chain from Italy that is spreading quickly, finally reached Tel Aviv, I had to give it a go.
I went on opening day, perhaps my bad, but I couldn’t resist some free fries. Yup, I love free stuff. The line was long but it moved quickly enough for me not to mind, with various passersby wondering what they were giving out for free. Well, fries! They were giving out fries for free and that was reason enough to wait for the fries. Because they were free!
When I reached the front of the line, I was finally able to see my sauce options. I contemplated between Mexicana and Hot Chili as all the others seemed meh. They have about 16 options, ketchup (duh), mustard and mayo which are too common in my book, all the way to barbecue, greek and citrus (?). I opted for Mexicana. The spicyness didn’t disappoint, but the way the Chipstar lady didn’t bother mixing or spreading it within the cone, meant only the top fries, and my first few bites were enjoyable. The rest of the cone, well, sans sauce, was ok, average. Yes, it was fresh and tasted good, but I think given that it was opening day, they may have rushed the frying time and didn’t allow the fries to cook as much as needed.
Yes, it’s the first place in Tel Aviv’s abundance of gimmicky and themed food spots to focus on fries. And actually, the name sits rather well with us here as a more appropriate way to refer to fries in Israel is chips. If nothing else, Chipstar is a great place for some late night fried munchies.
On a scale of 1-7: I give it a 4.8 (for bringing something new though it didn’t leave a strong mark in my book.)
Chipstar - Ibn Gabirol 90, Tel Aviv 03-560-0031