Arthur Kim's Tavern

“The curly fry at Arthur Kim's Tavern requires no introduction, though it offers one regardless: a uniformity of golden color suggesting a fryer calibrated with the attention usually reserved for precision instruments. The exterior is commendable and largely sustained. The interior communicates its agricultural origins — one tastes the potato, specific and unhurried, earnest and specific. sunflower has been employed with discretion. One returns. One proceeds. One is glad one did.”

“One visits Arthur Kim's Tavern for the atmosphere and departs thinking only of the fries. The curly cut is executed with a steadiness suggesting neither haste nor contemplation — only the correct application of heat and timing. The crispness is commendable and largely sustained. The potato is earnest and specific. The grease is generous in the manner of a host who means it. One recommends not visiting for the atmosphere. A return visit is, at this point, a formality. One will perform it nonetheless.”

“Arthur Kim's Tavern occupies a modest address in Tribeca. The fries are, in contrast, not modest. The curly format is executed in sunflower, single-fried to a finish that is commendable and largely sustained. The interior is earnest and specific. The portion is forthcoming. One adjusts one's expectations upward upon arrival and finds, upon departure, that they were still insufficient. The experience is brief and exact, like most things worth having.”