THE FRIES HAVE IT: Sideshow’s pommes frites. - IMAGE: nataliebehring.com
The food at Sideshow has a very limited lifespan. The new
downtown food cart specializes in Belgian-style pommes frites, poutine
and beignets—all best devoured immediately after ordering before they
rapidly turn from hot and crispy to soggy and greasy. As the name
suggests, the cart was originally intended to provide side dishes to
other meals in the Southwest 9th Avenue and Alder Street pod, though
owner and cook Jason Myers added a small sandwich menu after realizing
he’d profit from offering something more substantial. Still, the cart’s
biggest draw is its deep-fried fare, and Myers says the poutine is still
his top seller. Sideshow’s Yukon gold fries ($4 for a small cone, $6
large) are cooked twice to a deep golden brown while retaining a soft,
buttery interior. They come with a choice of five sauces (Myers
recommends spicy Sriracha mayo; I can’t disagree) or thick vegetarian
gravy and squeaky cheese curds. Unless you’re sharing, opt for the
smaller $5 serving (forget “side dish”; the mammoth $7 box can easily
provide lunch for two), or you’ll never get through the whole thing
before it devolves into a sloppy brown mess. Likewise, the beignets ($3
for five), which are wonderfully soft little pillows of dough, lightly
sweetened with powdered sugar and as good as any I’ve had in New
Orleans, should be shared and consumed quickly, before the sugar turns
to paste and the insides go cold. Fortunately, this is the kind of food
you’ll be happy to shovel down your gullet without pausing for breath.
- Order this: Beignets ($3) or small poutine ($5).
- Best deal: Small pommes frites ($4).
- I’ll pass: The curry ketchup was like something my health-conscious mom would have made me eat.
EAT: Sideshow, Southwest 9th Avenue and Washington Street, 208-6681, sideshoweatery.com. 11 am-6 pm Monday-Saturday, 11 am-4 pm Sunday. $.
