Fish Type: Cod Price: $13.00
Overall, I would highly recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Excellent Potato Score: Excellent Tartar Score: Excellent Bread Score: Excellent Miscellaneous Score: Excellent |  |
Comment: Usually I don’t like to eat Cod twice in one day. If I am lucky enough to have Fish Fry for lunch it is almost always Cod. If this is the case I try to change it up for dinner and have some Lake Perch, Bluegill or another freshwater fish for dinner. The day started with a trip to the Silver Eagle, which was actually pretty darn good, and I figured it would be a freshwater Fish Fry for dinner since I had Cod. It is a good thing I am flexible and willing to buck these trends or I would still have yet to try the Fish Fry at the Del-Bar in Lake Delton and I would not know what I was missing out on.
I found out some of my friends were going to the Dells for the weekend and didn’t have a lot of plans. I figured since it is less than an hour away we could meet them for a Fish Fry and have a couple drinks. I heard somewhere that the Del-Bar was a nice place and had a Fish Fry special that was very good, so we made the drive. We arrived at the Bar around 8:15 and met our friends. For those of you who have not been to the Del-Bar the name “bar” may be slightly misleading. This place is ridiculously nice, especially when you take into account your average Wisconsin restaurant. It may have once been a humble small town bar/supper club but in its current state it rivals a very nice Chicago steakhouse or the nicest restaurants in downtown Madison. I was very impressed with the atmosphere, this is a classy joint. We had a round of drinks, gave our name to the waitress and were seated at an awesome booth/table within about 5 minutes.
The Fish Fry at the Del-Bar is about the cheapest thing on the menu clocking in at $13. Every other entre is in the $20-$35 range so you know this is a swanky place. The fish is Cod (if you couldn’t tell from the intro) and was delicious. It was served in four chunks (Avenue Bar style) and fried perfectly. The batter was superb. It held together exceptionally well while not being firm or chewy. The fish was flaky and tender and absolutely melt-in-your-mouth kind of stuff. The French fries which accompanied the fish were also great. They were shoestring style and while not served scalding hot tasted delicious until the end. The tartar sauce was also amazing. I could not quite put my finger on it but there was something extra special about it, a special ingredient of sorts. Fish, good. Tartar, good. Fish AND tartar at the same time, phenomenal.
The bread selection at the Del-Bar was also great. Right when you sit down there is a basket of thin garlic bread and other assorted cracker style items then once the Fish Fry comes you are treated to another round of soft dinner rolls. I think there was also some coleslaw somewhere but I don’t really remember it at all but I’m sure it was good.
Be warned: the Fish Fry comes with a soup/salad option. I asked if it was possible to upgrade to Caeser since I like it better than a regular tossed salad, she said no problem. I didn’t realize there was a $3 up charge, but that is not the issue. The problem was in upgrading to Caesar I inadvertently got a full potion that covered an entire dinner plate. This thing was gigantic. It was all I could do to enjoy as much of it as possible and still save room for my Fish Fry. I felt bad leaving some of it on the plate but there was just no way. Take heed, if you are upgrading to a Caesar you might want someone to share it with.
The Del-Bar is a fancy yet casual restaurant. In a place like this you can usually expect great service and our waitress was every bit of excellent. She knew the menu forwards and backwards and did an amazing job of keeping everyone at the table happy and full. A true professional.
Overall this was a spectacular Fish Fry. Everything about it was top notch. The fish, the fries, the tartar, and the rolls were all amazing. Top it off with great service and a fantastic establishment and the Del-Bar is winner. I will be back many times I can assure you. It is obviously off-peak season in the Dells which made getting a table easy, if you plan on going in the Summer I would highly recommend a reservation as this place must get packed with all the tourists. This is a classic Fish Fry; I am having trouble not drooling as I sit here and think back on deliciousness that is the Del-Bar.
www.del-bar.com/
800 Wisconsin Dells Parkway
Lake Delton, WI 53940
1-866-888-1861
