Review
I was planning on a return visit to the Regent Street Retreat, but when Gabe put a blip on my screen and said he could get away for lunch I figured we might as well give the Echo their chance at redemption since he was the one hearing most of the claims. I swung by and grabbed him in the USS-Fish Fry, and found a spot on the street outside the Echo a couple minutes later. We docked our vessel and ascended the handicapped ramp into the dimly lit bar. Unbeknownst to us prior to our arrival, one of Gabe's co-workers (FQ) and his favorite bartender (JG) were also enjoying some lunch at the Echo this Friday, so we grabbed a couple stools and joined them (whether they wanted us to or not).
JG and FQ had already ordered, so when the waitress lady came over Gabe just ordered himself a Fish Fry and a Cow, and I did the same. The Fish Fry is actually billed as "Fish 'n Chips" (at least during lunch time) so I was kind of expecting exactly what we got. Our friend's burgers and fries were ready about 5 minutes after we showed up and our fish came about 7 minutes or so after that. When it came out the fish looked very good although the lack of bread made it a little less glamorous.
For $7.25 your Fish 'n Chips consist of 3-4 pieces of hand battered cod, fries, tartar and coleslaw. The fish and its batter were both actually good. The cod was light and flaky as was the batter which had a nice flavor. If the fresh tasting fish wasn't clue enough, each piece was oddly sized so you know it is homemade and not some pre-battered crap. On the whole the fish wasn't spectacular, but was better than I remembered. Unfortunately, the tartar was exactly as I remembered. While it is homemade, it is dilly as all get out, and did not improve the fish one bit. In fact, the fish actually tasted better without it.
The steak cut fries were very good and incredibly hot when served. The only problem was that there were only a handful of them which ran out on me in no time flat. The slaw also ran flat quickly as my tiny cup of the finely chopped delight was gone in 2-3 spoonfuls.
Of course, the Echo runs their Fry under the guise of a "Fish 'n Chips" which is a great way to weasel you out of a piece of bread. Unfortunately for them, I find bread to be an absolute necessity at a Fish Fry and this lack of starch hurts their score, much like it did Mulligan's last week. Hey guys, this is Sconnie, not merry ol' England; let's drop the "'n chips" add a "fry" and give me that piece of bread, for god sakes.
The Echo touts their Friday Fish Fry as "reliable" and I guess I can't really refute that: good fish, good fries, no bread and a reliably awful tartar sauce. Overall, this Fish Fry is barely recommendable in my opinion due to a couple major shortcomings with the bread and the tartar. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely a cool bar and a great place to hang out before or after a game at the Kohl Center, but let's not get ahead of ourselves and call their Fish Fry great. Good fish and good fries alone do not a Fish Fry make.
As we left the bar I could hear a faint reverberation in the back of my brain: no bread, dilly tartar, no bread, dilly tartar, no bre... Lousy echo.
The Echo has recently remodeled and is apparently much more "supper clubby" than it used to be. While we didn't get that feeling at all, we liked all the upgrades we did notice. They retained the layout, and updated some trim, but the bar has the same general look and feel (which is a far cry from a supper club in our book). Even though it was Girl's State Basketball weekend we had no trouble getting a table during the lunch hour and when the waitress came over moments later we ordered some beers and a couple plates of walleye in one fell swoop. The beers came lickety-split, with the fish tailing not far behind.
As you might expect with such a short turnaround, the fish was scalding hot, but from the get-go we had our concerns. While we like a light breading this fish appeared to be so lightly breaded it was practically not breaded at all. If any breading did exist, it was subtle and disappeared in the fryer, never clinging to the fish or making it to the plate. Even without its coat the fish was firm enough to be eaten with one's fingers, and somewhat flaky. It tasted of walleye, but since there was no breading or batter to pick it up, that's all there was - semi-dry walleye flavor. While that's not bad, it's not necessarily good either. In fact, we'd say it's a problem.
When fish gets dry a thick tartar can go a long way to at least making it palatable. Since we have never been fans of the Echo's dill-dominated sauce I was worried we might not have that luxury, but the updates at the downtown bar apparently stretch beyond a few coats of paint. The revamped sauce perked up the worrisome walleye with a much higher percentage of relish than the sauces of yesteryear. While there was still the dill, the sauce was creamy, and gave the fish the huge kick it needed.
Further picking up the slack were a The Tap's thick-cut wedge fries. These beauties sported a dense, crispy coating, and since they were so thickly cut, stayed hot until the very end. The coating was delicious and had some spice which the bland walleye could have benefited from...
As per usual, there ain't no bread 'round The Echo, which left the slaw to fend for itself. Strangely, between the two of us, one of our slaws was dynamite - fresh, and creamy, with a lovely zip; while the other's was rancid, and not fit for human consumption. It was odd, to say the least, and made for a less than pleasurable affair (kinda like batter-less fried fish when you think about it).
At the end of the day, this Fish Fry is what it is - just not that good. While we don't like that scenario any more than you do that is just the fact of the matter. Sometimes no matter how bad we want something to be great it just isn't. Sorry, Echo. Once again, your Fish Fry is falling on deaf ears. Overall, we just can't recommend this Fry Fry and feel it may have been the last time we'll try it.
The Fry of yore was a fish-n-chips affair and just not all that appealing. Today's special actually is special and goes for a scant ten beans. On our recent visit the cod was well fried...to say the least. While some would say it was overdone it didn't taste burned and wasn't chewy except for a couple bites near the edges. The batter had a good flavor but wasn't anything that would really blow your mind. Still, it was far better than anticipated based on our previous visits.
As a college bar you wouldn't expect house-cut fries or anything like that and the Echo's spuds certainly weren't. They were just the typical skin-on, food distribution style, but they still did the job. If nothing else, the fat buggers kept the little man happy and that makes them recommendable in our book.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The Echo has new tartar and we're singing its praises. It's no longer a crazy dilly mess, and has morphed into a thick and creamy mayo-relish mix. It's so much better than it used to be and actually overrode the darkened cod to the point where it was almost unnoticeable. That god for genuine tartar!
Some homemade slaw with plenty of parsley and other goodies came in a big old cup and while not zippy, was certainly enjoyable. The whole shebang was finished off with grandma's dinner roll which was a welcome sight since it was never even a thing back in the fish-n-chips days.
While this Fish Fry was far from perfect I have to give it the thumbs up due to the marked improvement over days past. Overall, we recommend this Fish Fry and will come back again one of these days hopping for fish that doesn't spend quite as many minutes in the tub.