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Fish Type: Haddock (AYCE)     Price: $12.00

Overall, I would recommend this Fish Fry.

Fish Score: Excellent
Potato Score: Good
Tartar Score: Good
Bread Score: Good
Miscellaneous Score: Good

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Comment:

Forgive me lord, for thou hath sinned. We hath overlooked the sanctity of thine all you can eat buffet and opted for a defined portion on others terms. We ask for your forgiveness, and beg for you to be merciful.

One of the great sins in the land of the Fish Fry is to choose against an all you can eat Fish Fry and go for a lesser amount. For some reason on our trip to The New Glarus Hotel we committed this exact atrocity. I ‘spose it has to do with the fact that other AYCE buffets are really hit and miss (case and point, Fitzgerald’s) and we didn’t want to “risk it.” I like my fish right from the kitchen, but as the old saying goes, “When in Rome…” We, unfortunately, did not do as the Romans, even though the waitress was pushing the buffet and it seemed like the popular choice among our fellow diners. Like the Nazi guy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, we chose poorly.

The $12.00 haddock dinners we picked instead consisted of five to six lightly battered pieces which I suspect were grabbed right off the buffet table. The batter was very flavorful, but had a little grease (although the grease was pretty tasty in and of itself). The bone white haddock was flaky and when paired with the batter produced a delightful result. I devoured the scant portion and was left longing for more, and wishing I had went for the upgrade.

Accompanying my fish was a generous pile of matchstick fries which were nice and hot. These heavily salted numbers were fried just right and not available on the buffet (I don’t think). There was another option with the AYCE and while the portion I got was plenty, it is nice to know I could have had more if I had chosen more wisely.

I also presume I could have gotten more of the ranch-esque tartar on the buffet which would have been nice since as our waitress never brought me the second one that I requested. I basically knew I was going to need an additional cup as soon as I she set down the first one as it was barely bigger than a thimble. This ain’t sewing class sister; you might as well chuck this thimble-cup out the window and grab me an ice cream scoop, ‘cause there is no way this thing is gonna cut the mustard. The diminutive amount of sauce was good, but it was cleaned out well before the petite portion of fish even. Boo.

The bread that came prior to fish was acceptable with one caraway-rye (or something along those lines) and two plain white rolls comprising the trio. The rye had a nice sour taste, while the plain white roll had a hard crust that wasn’t to Gabe’s or I’s liking.

Since the New Glarus Hotel is kind of supper clubby place they have some fringe benefits that you won’t get everywhere. These include some deliciously sassy baked beans, a nice looking salad bar and freshly tapped Spotted Cow. There was also a serious hootenanny taking place as many of the locals were kicking up their heels to the sounds of an authentic Swiss band. The New Glarus Hotel is certainly not short on culture (or tasty food for that matter).

Initially I wasn’t sure if we had made the right choice, but as I sat in our booth with a only a bare plate remaining in front of me I realized that my suspicions were true - not getting the AYCE was a huge mistake. The buffet was the focus of everyone’s attention, including the cooks who were especially concerned with it and constantly checking it for freshness. In addition, the buffet also had cod, so we could have tried another option in addition to the tasty haddock, and built our database even further.

Overall, this is an easy Fish Fry to recommend, but we pulled a serious gaffe by not getting the buffet. We will assuredly come back for it some other time. As it stands, the Friday Night Fish Fry is still recommendable, even if for only $1 more you get all you can eat fish, and salad bar. D’oh! At least next time we’ll know, and now you do to. Going to New Glarus? Go for the buffet.



www.newglarushotel.com
100 6th Avenue
New Glarus, WI 53574

(608) 527-5244