Fish Type: Bluegill Price: $13.00
Overall, I would barely recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Fair Bread Score: Poor Miscellaneous Score: Excellent |  |
Comment: Country Corners is just far enough out of town to actually be considered "country." It's not even five minutes outside of the city limits, but the intersection of Buckeye and Femrite feels like a world away. We'd been there once before and were pleasantly surprised at the ambiance (there's definitely a country music vibe) and the service (CCs is a bar first and restaurant second) so we figured we'd come back sometimes soon thereafter. Well, it took almost a decade but we finally followed up and mostly did so mostly because we saw they now have bluegill on their lunch menu (and I just can't resist cheap bluegill).
The sunfish in the country is dirt cheap (at least as far as bluegill goes) with the "#3" going for a mere $13. For being out of town it was busy during lunchtime, but our waitress was super fast and super nice - she even let us do a 1-piece cod with a half order of French fries and charged accordingly for our 4 year old. All told our fish fried in about five minutes and hit the table in a cloud of dust and plume of steam. Seven fillets made up the portion and were mostly on the large side but there was a minnow or two in there. The small ones were VERY fishy and would turn a lot of people off, but the balance were smooth and mild. They had a snappy, not rubbery, texture and NO GREASE at all. They were enrobed with a panko-style breading that was intriguingly crispy and didn't dry out the fillets in the least. By and large, it was surprisingly well done, but a little more seasoning in the breading would go a long way.
County Corners is a pretty basic bar and some pretty basic fries are produced by their fryer. If nothing else they were soaked for just the right amount of time and came out crispy without being overdone. A thin and dilly tartar didn't do the fish any favors with its lack of zip and it's lack of stick. While tartar is an afterthought for some, for us a thicker, bolder sauce really drives things home and this dilly dangler did anything but. It was the only real detractor save for the lack of bread served.
Rounding out the meal was a creamy slaw with a potent horseradish finish that, while not enough to make your eyes water, did open up the sinuses a bit. We're suckers for the radical root so this kind of slaw sits just fine with us, but it might be a little to pungent for some lily livered polecats.
While Country Corners might not be what most people envision when they think of bars in and around Madison it's actually a pretty nice place with pretty good food. Overall, we recommend this Fish Fry and think it's a definitely worth a drive into the country.
www.triciascountrycorners.com/
3737 County Road AB
McFarland, WI 53558
(608) 222-2077
