Fish Type: Cod Price: $13.50
Overall, I would highly recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Excellent Potato Score: Excellent Tartar Score: Good Bread Score: Good Miscellaneous Score: Good |  |
Comment: If there is one thing you can say about Buck & Honeys it is that the Sun Prairie hot spot is a people pleaser. Whether it is the tidy, modern atmosphere, or the expertly mixed cocktails, the place emits a vibe that is sure to be a hit with even the most finicky of patrons.
We arrived just after 7PM and put our party of four on the list. Being Friday, B&Hs was bustling, but we found an open area, grabbed some drinks, and took shelter near the bar. Within 20 minutes the hostess summoned our quartette and showed us to our table on the mini-stage in the dining room nearest the bar. She left us with some menus, and a smile.
It took about 10 minutes for the waitress to finally make her way over, but it gave us ample time to study the menu (although the Fish Fry options are pretty limited so there wasnt all that much for us to take in). The three fish eaters all went for the $13.50 3-piece cod Fish Fry with the cheesy hash browns, while our lone vegetarian chose whatever it is she did. A couple of us also chose to add soup to our meals, yours truly included.
The clam chowder came in advance of the fish, was clearly made in-house, and tasted very good. It was thick and hearty, and featured a fair amount of clam. I gobbled it down and no sooner had the last bites been polished off than the scalding hot fish arrived.
We have come to expect the cod at Buck & Honeys to be some of the best of the best, but this go-round it seemed to have slipped a bit. The three average sized pieces of fish were obviously high quality, and featured the same light breading as always, but it seemed like a little something was missing. Perhaps it was just a bit less spicy than normal? Perhaps the breading was just a little bit thicker? I couldnt quite put my finger on it, but regardless, the fish was flaky and the breading still tasty enough to call it excellent just not Top 10 excellent.
I know for a fact that the home-cut fries at Buck & Honeys are some of the best around, but chose the exceptional cheesy hash browns after being lobbied by the waitress to do so. She was right, the cheesy spuds were pretty exceptional, and made a fine substitute for the homemade fries, but Im not sure they were quite as superb. They had a silky flavor that was mild, but almost too mild, smooth but almost too smooth. As Peter Griffin would say, the side almost insists upon itself - the flavor good, but not incredibly diverse. They were cheesy, but that was the long and short of it. Dont get me wrong, they were still great, but Ill take the flavors found in the home-cut fries any day.
The mild fish was little to no match for the tarter that B&Hs trotted out. While the sauce had a very nice consistency it was a bit heavy on the relish which easily overpowered the smooth cod. The slaw somewhat followed in the sauce's steps in that it was tasty, but slightly missed the mark. The creamy concoction almost reminded me of Wilsons slaw of old, and seemed to have some sour cream, or something similar, in it. Luckily, unlike the Wilsons slaw of old, it was salvaged with a hint of zest on the backend which pulled it back from the brink.
On our previous visits we lambasted Buck & Honeys for failing to provide any sort of bread with their Fish Fry a no-no in our book. Well, apparently they took our advice and added some kind of rye to the mix. Well, either the rye wasnt popular, or they were just out of it, but instead of the Fish Fry classic we received one of the little football-shaped white bread loaves. The loaves were just fine, and much better than nothing, but still not the rye Id gotten my hopes up for.
All things being equal, this was another great trip to Buck & Honeys, and, as per usual, all in attendance were pleased. On top of the excellent food, the service was punctual and very thorough beyond the opening delay. Overall, we highly recommend this Fish Fry, and will come back whenever were in need of diversity and deliciousness on a Friday night.
www.buckandhoneys.com
804 Liberty Road
Sun Prairie, WI 53590
(608) 837-3131
