Fish Type: Haddock (AYCE) Price: $11.00
Overall, I would highly recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Excellent Potato Score: Excellent Tartar Score: Good Bread Score: Good Miscellaneous Score: Excellent |  |
Comment: If there is one thing you should know about Madison Fish Fry by now (other than the fact we are obsessed with fried fish) it is that we love our Spotted Cow. Strangely enough, our love for the alluring ale started right around the same time as our fancy for the fried delights, forever linking the two in our mind. Perhaps surprisingly, or perhaps not, the home of the benevolent brew is also the home to a trio of top notch Fish Frys, not the least of which was our latest Friday excursion.
Like bees to nectar we bobbed and weaved our way through the narrow New Glarus streets, drawn, as if almost by instinct, to the edge of town where the saccharine delights of Flannerys Wilhelm Tell reside. We buzzed through the front door at 7:30, postulating that a list and some bar-time were in our future. Quite to the contrary, we were barely even able to snag the bartenders eye, grab a Holstein and pay our tab before our table was available. We were seated straight away, and just as quickly made the acquaintance of our waitress. Even with only mere moments to peruse the menu, we made our choices and hit her with without delay. Bam!
With my order of AYCE haddock came an option for salad or coleslaw of which I chose the cabbage derivative. It arrived before the fish and was nothing less than excellent. It was creamy with an almost deviled egg-like quality (perhaps mustard and Miracle Whip played a part?) It partnered well with the football shaped rolls which were above average, but would have been much better if served warm.
Five minutes or so after polishing off the slaw the fish arrived, freshly fried and hot. The first go-round only had four small pieces which I lovingly dubbed the FishNuggets. Unlike their MickyDs counterpart this 4-piece was clearly high quality as evidenced by its extreme flakiness. It was smooth and creamy, finishing with an almost buttery essence. It was enhanced by Flannerys light, golden-brown breading which was delicious but could have used a hint more salt. The second round was more of the same, although since they give you the option to mix-n-match I manned-down a tried a couple pieces of the baked as well. Like the fried rendition, the baked was also delicious, as it was very moist, generously seasoned with paprika and almost melted in your mouth.
Pairing with the fried haddock was Flannerys homemade tartar which was tasty but had an almost Kraft-like twinge. By and large it was fine and while hardly any relish was evident in the thick mix, the pungent aroma led me to believe some pickle juice played a part.
Potato pancakes are pretty hard to come by around these parts, but Flanneys apparently has the inside scoop, and features them with the Friday fish. The three medium-sized medallions were semi-thick, and sported a crispy, near-perfect crust. Their subtle onion flavor blended wonderfully with their apple sauce accompaniment making for a truly sublime side.
All in all the food was great, but we would be remiss if we didnt mention the stellar service. While our waitress was younger than average it was evident she genuinely cared about her customers wellbeing. She was very nice, extremely polite, punctual, and actually seemed to enjoy her job, which is very refreshing in this day and age. While I did need to take the initiative and inquire about the AYCE portion of the Fish Fry it was a very minor inconvenience and the service she did provide more than made up for that small oversight on her part. At MFF we fancy ourselves as good tippers, and quite honestly, she may have gotten the best one ever, deserving every penny.
New Glarus has a niche. Sure the brewery is great, and we will forever fawn over their Spotted Cow, but their place in Fish Fry lore is quickly being cemented along with their legendary suds. Weve sat at The Stube, weve hit The Hotel, and now weve come full circle at Flannerys. I guess you could say that you just cant go wrong with a Fish Fry in New Glarus. Overall, we highly recommend the AYCE Fish Fry at Flannerys and properly perch them amongst the best of the best New Glarus or not.
www.flannerysnewglarus.com/index.html
114 2nd Street
New Glarus, WI 53574
(608) 527-2618
