Fish Type: Bluegill Price: $13.50
Overall, I would highly recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Excellent Potato Score: Excellent Tartar Score: Good Bread Score: Excellent Miscellaneous Score: Good |  |
Comment: Judging a book by its cover can be dangerous. Judging a Fish Fry by its bar is even more dangerous. There are a lot of great Fish Frys hiding in places that you might not expect, and if you hold a preconceived notion of an establishment you might just be missing out on something special. This is exactly what happened to our friend Holly.
Although Holly attended UW, shed only been to the Big 10 for football games. Needless to say, the atmosphere of a game day Saturday is a little bit different than every other day at Jordans joint. On normal days the chaos and jubilation of game day is replaced by real tables, a calming atmosphere, and quietly excellent food. It really is a good book, one worth reading.
We rolled in to the Big 10 during the Michigan/Kansas game in the Sweet 16. Despite it being almost 9pm the place was plenty busy, but we somehow got a table with no problem. Our waitress-in-training came right over and had a round of drinks for us in no time the Big 10 wait staff (whether in training or not) doesnt mess around. As we sipped our drinks, Michigan closed the gap, and just as our food showed up Trey Burke hit a deep 3 to send the game to OT. It was a miraculous shot, and signaled great things to come.
My bluegill platter was loaded with four of the small swimmers, and looked just amazing. The eight frail fillets were lightly breaded and seasoned just enough to take the edge off, but still let the bulk of the bluegill flavor through. It was incredibly tasty, and easily some of the best available in town. Holly picked the perch so I also got to try some of it as well. Peculiarly, while the B1G has always had real yellow perch in the past, something seemed off this Friday. These fillets were massive, and while they still showed the characteristic lake perch skin through the breading, they just seemed to too meaty to be yellow perch. Holly guessed they were ocean perch, but they didnt taste quite that fishy to me, and I presume the Big 10 would never stoop to those tricks. I think it might have been Pike-Perch or one of the other species commonly associated with lake perch by distributors, but that is purely speculation. Regardless of the species, it was still tasty, but larger and flakier than anticipated, and just not quite right.
My bluegill bungalow was lovingly built on a sturdy foundation of homemade potato pancakes. The concrete cakes were exceptional, with their only shortcoming being a lack of mortar (the homemade apple compote was sold out). While I gladly would have paid the extra buck and a quarter for the gooey goodness, it wasnt a total loss since the potato derivatives are delicious with or without it. The cakes were a little starchy, a little oniony, but massively delicious.
The B1G tartar was also a triumph as the dill-doused blend of yesteryear is but a distant memory. While the latest thick and creamy incarnation still has a few random ingredients and a bit of dill, its just enough to perk it up, without weighing it down. The slaw was also great, and as finely chopped as is seemingly possible. The creamy concoction had a nice consistency and a little horsey-kick which kept it interesting.
Weve become accustomed to the pump-rye roll at the Big 10, but this time we received a full-fledged half-slice of thick-cut marble-rye. It was soft and stanky, and paired perfectly with the coleslaw.
Even though Hollys perch wasnt exactly what she was expecting she was still blown away at how nice everything at the Big 10 Pub actually was. She had only known it as a Badger Bar, and never considered it could be anything but. In reality, the Big 10 is much more than just a great place to watch the Badgers. It is a Fish Fry destination, and one of the best downtown Madison has to over. Touchdown Wisconsin!
big10pub.com/
1330 Regent Street
Madison, WI 53715
(608) 251-6375
