This immensely popular food cart—part of the famous late-night hawker center of food carts near the western end of Hawthorne east of the river—purveys French fries, and only French fries. They’re labeled “Belgian,” but they’re not really Belgian in style. First of all, they’re skin-on; second of all, they’re less crispy than the traditional double-cooked Belgian style. This is perhaps because of the combination of large fry batches with a relatively small fryer, which forces the fries to sit in a big pile, getting a bit soggy from fry-to-fry contact, rather than cooking them in smaller batches and spacing them out enough to maintain their crispness.

These are relatively petty complaints for the friendly, flirtatious, bearded Potato Champion. First of all, mad props are bestowed upon him for the service of poutine, that Québécois specialty in which a dish of fries is sprinked with cheese curds and drowned in beefy gravy. Here, the gravy has an unusually vinegary tinge, but it’s good stuff, and poutine is one of the most popular orders amongst the cult following of foodies that descend on the cart in the wee hours. If you’re not in a poutining mood, the frites sauce (dubbed “European-style mayo,” and it would perhaps be most common in Holland and Belgium) is the world’s most perfect topping for French fries. Props for that, too, although we wish they served our favorite, curry mayo. There are, however, numerous other mayos and sauces, some of them quite spicy. This certainly honors the Dutch-Belgian tradition.

Even if these fries aren’t world-class—even if they won’t transport you to Antwerp or Amsterdam, where French fries are an art form—the Potato Champion is a worthy addition to Portland’s food-cart scene. These are just good, hot fried potatoes, served at a reasonable price in terrifically late hours. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.