Fish Type: Lake Perch Price: $11.50
Overall, I would not recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Fair Potato Score: Excellent Tartar Score: Good Bread Score: Good Miscellaneous Score: Good |
Comment: Is there any better way to celebrate a Brewers victory than eating a Fish Fry in Milwaukee? I didnt think there was, so that is exactly what I did.
It took us about 30 minutes to get out of the Miller Park, and we landed at McBobs around 4:30. Being that it was Wednesday afternoon there were plenty of open tables so we just picked one and got on with it. It took our friendly waiter about 10 minutes to come over, but he was apologetic for the delay, and extremely punctual from that point forward. McBobs runs their Fish Fry specials on Wednesday as well as Friday, and serve their full complement of fish (lake perch, walleye, and grouper) on both days (they also do baked halibut, but cmon...). Since Im not a big grouper guy I bypassed the Super Combo which contains all three pan-fried styles and settled on the regular combo of walleye and perch. It was ready lickety-split and I had at it.
For $11.50 my combo came with two nice sized perch fillets and two small walleye chunks. The perch was good, and looked just like its picture on Milwaukee Fish Fry List. The breading was crunchy, extremely spicy, and a little over the top to be frank (this coming from someone who likes spicy breading, mind you). The actual fish was firm, and only slightly flaky. It was hard to tell if the toughness was the result of poor quality fish or the hearty breading since the coating was so strong it basically took it over all it touched. The walleye did fare slightly better however, as the thicker cut held its own against the brawny breading allowing the fish to maintain more of its inherent flakiness. Overall, both fish were decent, but the walleye outpaced the perch in the long run.
Doing everything it could to stack up to the breading was McBobs homemade tartar. Unfortunately, even the thick, mayo-rich blend couldnt make a dent in the spicy sheath and was basically unnoticeable. Much more in your face were the homemade potato pancakes which were quite good, but not generously portioned. The two small cakes were well fried with crispy edges giving way to smooth evenly-cooked middles. While the recipe could use a little more onion, the apple sauce did just enough to perk them up.
Finalizing this Fry were the traditional sides of coleslaw and rye bread, although both renditions on the classics skewed from the norm. The (presumably) homemade slaw was bogged down with some serious curry powder which had a nasty twinge. The resultant orangey blend looked as bad as it tasted and didnt do a damn thing to supplement the middling fish. Picking up some of the slack, although not nearly enough, were the two small pre-buttered pieces of marble rye bread which we fine, but nothing special .
Overall, I feel confident in recommending the walleye at McBobs, but at this point the perch is a different story. This Fish Fry was decent, but it wasnt the resounding success I hoped itd be. Everything about the meal hovered around the mean, and while only the slaw was a stinker, there was little to make us want to come back. Decent fish, good cakes, acceptable tartar, and marble rye are nice, but when it comes to Fish Fry we are looking for the best. Unfortunately for us, McBobs just isnt.
www.foodspot.com/Clients/WI/Milwaukee/McBobsPubandGrill/default.aspx?accid=21587
4919 W North Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53208
(414) 871-5050
