Fish Type: Haddock Price: $9.00
Overall, I would not recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Fair Bread Score: Poor Miscellaneous Score: Good |
Comment: One area I have never really explored in Madison is the Southeast side, including Monona down that way. There are quite a few businesses in this area and since they are right near the confluence of the two major lakes you figure the restaurants around here should have some good Fish Fry. It was a nice sunny day so I thought a trip to the Bourbon Street Grille and lunch overlooking the water was sounded just about right.
We arrived around 1pm and found a spot in their “parking lot” pretty easily although with waterfront establishments parking can be a little weird. To get to the restaurant you go in the front door, take a right, head up a flight of stairs, then around the corner, and finally down a long hall…just getting to the actual dining area was quite a little trek in itself. There were not a lot of people in the place and we noticed a sign on our way in saying there was no alcohol available which made me a little uneasy about what was coming. We got a nice table by the window and some h2o. The lunch Fish Fry consists of a two-piece Haddock with fries and tarter for nine bucks. I ordered mine and sat back and waited.
There were a couple signs posted where their liquor should have been that read “Empty shelves due to racism in Monona and selective enforcement.” When we asked the waiter what it was all about his only comment was something along the lines of “it is a long story…” Now I was really starting to wonder, but as long as the fish was good I really wouldn’t care. Our food came fairly quickly and was good but nothing really special.
The haddock was two long thin fillets which tasted very good and had a nice light, flaky batter. It did taste slightly over fried which made it a little greasy and a little mushy but not too bad. The French fries were about the same, well fried but just not anything overly memorable. The tartar sauce was okay but really a jumbled pile of mayo, relish, dill and a bunch of other stuff I could not quite put my finger on. It left it tasting kind of store bought and unoriginal.
Even with just okay fish, fries and tartar they could have been recommendable if they had anything to support them but there was a total lack of bread, coleslaw or any other side items. For $9 I should at least get a slice of Wonder and some kind of slaw.
Overall this Fish Fry kind of left me wondering. It seems like if they would just kick it up a notch this could be a great Fish Fry as it stands it is a overpriced and underwhelming. The place is great, the ambiance is nice and having the water right there is superb. I really wonder what happened to the liquor license and if some of the general malaise surrounding the restaurant is due to the fact they are losing business because of it? Regardless, my Fish Fry left me wanting more and it will be hard to convince myself to come back even if the place itself seemed great.
www.bourbonstreetgrille.com/main.htm
6308 Metropolitan Lane
Monona, WI 53719
