Fish Type: Walleye Price: $19.00
Overall, I would recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Excellent Tartar Score: Excellent Bread Score: Excellent Miscellaneous Score: Good |  |
Comment: Springers is a Fish Fry place, no ifs ands or buts about it. If you're not there by, say, 4:30 on a Friday night you will be waiting for a table, that's just the way it is. You either like it, or leave it, but don't complain about it - it's a Friday night in Wisconsin after all. Thankfully, Springers has a BIG bar, plenty of indoor seating while you wait, pull tabs, bar games, and probably the best part (at least 1/2 of the year) a HUGE waterfront patio with seasonal live music! It's an idyllic setting, with what comes after the wait falling right in line.
What comes once you're seated is one of the most expansive Fish Fry menu's you'll ever feast your eyes on. In addition to COD SPECIALS (BAKED COD, LIGHTLY BREADED OR BEER BATTERED FRIED COD - available as a 2 or 3-piece), they are ALSO SERVING: BLUE GILL, CATFISH, GROUPER, WALLEYE PIKE, DEEP FRIED SHRIMP, and COCONUT SHRIMP, in addition to their FRIDAY CHEF FEATURES which this week were: RAINBOW TROUT, MAHI MAHI, LAKE PERCH, ORANGE ROUGHY, TILAPIA, FRIED SMELT AND CRAPPIES (WHEN AVAILABLE). Whew... Oh yeah, there are steak and chicken specials too, in addition to a great kid's menu! With so many options I was incredibly overwhelmed and bopped back and forth between the smelt, perch, bluegill and walleye, eventually settling on the walleye since that's what I'd told myself I was getting before seeing the exhaustive menu. I stuck to my guns at least...
The "WALLEYE PIKE" runs $20 and, while I should have asked how it was prepared, I just assumed deep fried since the menu didn't specify. While it was fried, it wasn't immersed in oil as expected. This fillet was pan-fried and served on a bed (albeit a very thin bed) of spinach. While it was still good, and meant to be eaten with knife and fork, I dove in as I normally would - with two bare hands. The fillet was smallish as far as walleye goes, and without any sort of breading didn't have a ton of flavor. That said it was moist and flaky and very well-prepared. Oh well, you live and learn...
Whereas the fish led me astray the hash browns were all that and a bag of chips. They slippery spuds were expertly fried and capped by a slab of ultra gooey melted cheddar and heaps of coarsely-cut white onion. While a little more care in the onion distribution would certainly have been welcome that's a pretty petty complaint, as they overall flavor was still superb.
While the name says nothing of it, Springers is a supper club through and through and they have the traditional tartar to prove it. This stuff is as thick as molasses and measures up to any you'll find. The lakeside location also provides a whole basket of breads to diners before their entrées complete with: rolls, fritters, cellophane-wrapped bread sticks, and cold-pack cheese spread. It's as supper clubby as it gets and makes the Springers' experience so much more.
The last thing to mention is the homemade slaw which is a real zinger and landed a punch where my walleye whiffed.
Being fixated on one thing and/or making up your mind before you've seen all the options can be a good thing. It shows resolve and the ability to follow through, but you can also get burned, and I kind of feel like I got singed this Friday. Sure, my walleye was still tasty, but not what I was expecting; if able to do it over again I'd certainly pick the perch or select the smelt since those weren't just specials, they were FEATURES! Oh well, as I say, you live and learn and next time flexible will be the name of the game when playing Fish Fry roulette at Springers. Overall, we still recommend this Fish Fry and while I liked it, I'm sure the more health conscious among us would absolutely LOVE it.
www.springersonthelake.com/
3097 Sunnyside Street
Stoughton, WI 53589
(608) 205-9300
