The Famished Frog

While up in North Jersey for St. Patrick’s Day weekend, we stumbled across a place in Morristown called The Famished Frog. I found this fitting because a frog is green which is perfect for this particular holiday, AND I was indeed famished, so it just made sense. We were seated in the restaurant side seeing how my son was with us, but you could hear all the fun goings-on in the bar area with everyone celebrating in classic St. Paddy’s fashion. The little guy didn’t mind missing all the fun anyway because a) he is not a big drinker, and b) he was too distracted by the free frog pencil topper that he received along with his crayons (see right).

The Famished Frog’s wings are “twice fried” and come in either Buffalo style or Oriental. Fried twice typically means that the chef drops the wings at a lower temperature and cooks them partially to hang onto for later. Then, they crank the heat and drop them in again for the remainder of the time. I was excited to see that because it usually means a crispier skin. So, I ordered the pound of wings, Buffalo style of course, and grabbed me a pint of beer because, hey, I am Irish after all and it’s in my blood.

When the wings arrived, they came equipped with blue cheese, celery, and wet naps for the aftermath. The smell was intoxicating and I couldn’t wait to dig in, so I grabbed the first piece and took a bite. Immediately I found that the chicken meat was a little drier than it should be, but still kept a good tenderness. You could shred it apart as easy as if it were pulled pork. The only problem was that the size was a little small. Which means that even though it was nice and tender at the beginning, by the time I reached the last bit of wings, the dryness took control and pushed the tenderness to the back seat.

The sauce was definitely the best part of this dish, and after smothering it all over the wings, I was a happy man. It contained just the right amount of heat but was tweaked with a tiny sweetness, and though I’m pretty sure it didn’t contain this in the ingredients, had an interesting pickle taste. What stood out the most was its unique and great flavor that, at least for the time being, made me ignore the other issues.

Overall, The Famished Frog was a happening place that caters to the bar scene as well as the family scene. I give them credit for trying to improve upon a standard wing preparation by double frying, but I believe the first go round was at too high a temperature and ultimately left the wing with no moisture which wound up hurting the dish. If it wasn’t for that tasty sauce, this dish would’ve been a failure. But thank goodness it was there, because it brought the wings back up to par allowing me to finish my meal and leave satisfied.

The Famished Frog
18 Washington Street, Morristown, NJ 07960
(973) 540-9601