Fish Type: Cod Price: $13.00
Overall, I would highly recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Excellent Potato Score: Fair Tartar Score: Excellent Bread Score: Good Miscellaneous Score: Excellent |  |
Comment: The All You Can Eat Fish Fry is going the way of the dodo. Sure, there are still a handful out there, but it used to be just about every Fish Fry was AYCE. Now even the places you never thought would give it up are - case and point: Rocky's Supper Club in Stoddard, WI. I grew up not too far from Rocky's, but as a kid we never once took the trip to the River for their Fish Fry. As an adult I try to get there as often as I can, but I have to admit I was a little shocked when we showed up this Friday and the words "All You Can Eat" were nowhere to be found on the menu. In actuality it was totally fine as the 3-piece with a side of their famous curds was more than enough to satisfy.
Rocky's is a true blue supper club and as such a relish tray comes to the table before any of the fried stuff. This was a proper tray with plenty of carrots, radishes, pickles, and peppers to please a diversity of diners. A big old basket of rolls, cups of supper club standard coleslaw, and a dish full of pre-portioned tartar cups also arrived at the same time and set the stage for the curds and the fish which was soon to come.
Let's start with the curds and get that out of the way. While obviously not part of a typical Fish Fry, the curds at Rocky's are apparently "world famous" and they tout them all over the Coulee Region. They are definitely good ones, but what really set them off was the shrimp sauce that came with. I love horseradish. The curds seemingly share the same beer batter as the cod, which is really light and crunchy, but not as otherworldly as the airy cod of my memory. This cod had a little grease leakage here and there and not a ton of flavor. It was still very good, but since it's not AYCE it does lose some luster.
The fries were just regular crinkles and easily the lowlight of the entire meal. I mean, there just really isn't all that much you can do to make them great. Conversely, the tartar was sweet and zippy, and about as thick as you'll find anywhere. It was a supper club popper and really made the competent fish look much smarter.
There was a day when places simply had to be AYCE just to get people in the door, but as the price of cod rises, and the alternatives just aren't that attractive (I'm looking at you Pollock), these places aren't given much choice...it's go 3-piece, go high (priced), or go home. I think restaurants like Rocky's are doing it right - keep things around $13, give people 3 big pieces of quality fish, and add a few perks like a relish tray to make them feel like they are getting more than just some fish-n-chips. Overall, we highly recommend this Fish Fry and will keep coming back any time we are back in the Driftless.
www.rockysrestaurant.com/
101 N Main Street
Stoddard, WI 54658
(608) 457-2111
