Friterie des Nations — Restaurant in Calais

Friterie des Nations has quite a bit of fame. 🏖️ There was a long queue when I visited — despite the bad weather. 🌬️ Well, what felt like bad weather for me seems to be normal for this part of the world. 🌫️ The friterie is located right on the beach, on a cemented stretch of sand-swept ground. 🪨

There’s sand on the concrete, sand in the air, and soon enough it’s in your eyes, on your face, and in your lungs. 🏜️ On the upside: it’s some of the finest sand I’ve ever come across. ✨ On the downside: if you touch your face before washing it, it stings — badly. 🔥 You need water before rubbing anything. 💧

What’s strange is that the friterie right next door had no line at all. 🚪 Still, I chose — masochistically — to trust the locals and stood in the wind and airborne grit like everyone else. 🧍 It felt like a long wait. ⏳ On the bright side, the sunset was gorgeous — so bring sunglasses, you’ll need them. 🌇

Inside, three or four people were working, visibly tired and overworked. 😓 It wasn’t a pleasant sight, and it didn’t inspire much confidence. 🧯 With all that waiting time, I had the opportunity to observe the prep process. 🔍

The kebab? That frozen pink sludge kind you find in discount supermarkets. 🧊 It’s not real marinated chicken breast on a spit, like some places still take pride in serving. 🍢 Even most Arab-owned kebab shops still bother to use a proper doner grill setup. 🔥 This was just mechanically separated meat, pressed into flat kebab-like strips. 🥩

The cordon bleu? A frozen, ultra-industrial product — the kind sold in bulk in plastic bags at the low end of supermarket freezers. 🛍️ The cheese for the cheeseburgers? Cheap processed slices, with barely any dairy content. 🧀 But none of that mattered much to me — I came for the fries. 🍟

To their credit, the fries were made Belgian-style — double-fried. 🧽 The portion was generous. 🏋️‍♂️ But they were way too greasy. 🛢️ Maybe the oil had been used for too long. Maybe the fryer temperature was off. Maybe Belgian fries are just overrated — I remember liking them years ago. 🧠

Careful: the sauces aren’t free. 💸 The smallest disposable thimble costs €0.50, and some go for €1. 🧾 I was prepared and skipped them entirely. 🙅 Also, no bag unless you pay for one — so bring your own or prepare to carry everything awkwardly. 🎒

In the end, don’t order anything but the fries. 🧂 And even then, manage your expectations. 😶

2 out of...

We really enjoyed our chips from this takeaway place. We were lucky to be at the front of the queue but service was slow and the queue can build up. We didn't understand a lot of the menu and struggled to communicate but managed to get a lot of chips (big portions!) and a sandwich. Would be really useful to have one english menu available for us tourists travelling through, we would appreciate it! Will happily return for more delicious fries...

Really nice friterie: the service guys are wearing a yellow and blue uniform like the minions from despicable me (don't tell them: probably they don't know it). However they are very kind and welcoming and the portion of frites is reeeeeally huge! With as little as 5 euro you can hardly finish the portion in two. The seaside view is charming and also the seagulls seem to appreciate the place but they did not disturb us at all. Highly...