Chicken Fried Road Trip: Dallas (Part 1)
I’ve driven by the Country Burger in my old hometown hundreds of time but had never eaten there. But, visiting over the holidays and a powerful hunger for CFS prompted me to stop in and (finally) try it. Chicken Fried Father joined me for the inaugural tasting.
The Country Burger is a neatly organized little place in the corner of a strip mall. Immediately the customers in line and the guy taking orders at the counter were friendly with us and we shared a joke about being out the house for the last time this holiday season. The décor was simple with a few booths and several long tables dotting the rather large restaurant.
The CFS: Juicy and tasty. It was a thinly pounded cube steak and it was well cooked.
Breading: The breading was thin and crispy – more central Texas style than the southern style I usually get around Houston. Troublingly, the breading had an odd “fishy” taste, almost as if they had fried up a mess of catfish before our CFSs and then fried our CFSs. The flavor of each bite was almost indistinguishable from a bite of catfish. This tended to ruin an otherwise tasty CFS.
(I should note that Chicken Fried Father enjoyed his CFS, although he unorthodoxly put jalapenos on his).
The gravy: Very good. Nice and peppery. White. It came in two little cups on the side so we could dole out the creamy goodness at our leisure. There was also a hint of an undefined herb: possibly sage or tarragon.
The sides: No choices – it came with French fries and Texas toast. The fries were really excellent: warm, salty and juicy. The Texas toast was amazing. It was fried on one side with butter but the other side was left uncooked. This made for an incredible bite with a nice crunch from one side and a soft chew on the other side. The sweet tea was also very nice.
Service: Table service. You’re assigned a vibrating / blinking device when your food is up. Everyone was very friendly and most welcoming.
Price: $6.99. A good deal.
I’d like to try Country Burger again (after they change the oil in the fryer, of course) – there are some neat items on the menu. It’s hard to find a good local CFS place but sometimes the right place has been there all along.
3 comments:
I grew up in Plano, too -- PSHS class of 97! Country Burger was a regular place for my friends and me to eat - a buddy, Tony Rogers, even worked there for a while.
Never tried the CFS, though. Will have to try it next time I'm visiting!
I haven't been there yet, but everyone at my church says Babe's is the place for CFS
http://www.babeschicken.com/
Any chance they used canola oil to fry the steak? Some people (including me) perceive canola oil that has been subjected to high temperature to have a very fishy flavor. It's a genetic thing, like those bitter paper strips they subjected you to in school to see if you could taste them. I instantly know when I get french fries cooked in canola, the awful fishy flavor (I hate fish) gives it away every time.
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