Fish Type: Cod Price: $11.00
Overall, I would not recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Fair Tartar Score: Good Bread Score: Poor Miscellaneous Score: Fair |
Comment: The road of life is not always a smooth one and we all hit bumps along the way. The road to Fish Fry is similar, and while we usually get where we need to go, we dont always get there in pristine condition. Some fryers know how to navigate these gnarly roads and reduce the wear and tear, but others dont have the skills needed and seem to hit every little dip along the way. You could say our ride at the new Luckys in Waunakee was a bumpy one.
Right away I knew we were in trouble as we got seated in the Stadium Section which was basically a big section walled-off from the main dining room. While it wasnt a horrible space, we were one of the first groups in the tacked-on feeling area, and the lone waitress patrolling these grounds was nowhere to be found. Eventually she showed up (a good 10 minutes after we sat down), and we gave her our orders for food and drinks since wed had ample time to peruse both menus while we waited. Fittingly, it took a disproportionate amount of time for her to return with our libations, during which one of the other parties which had joined us in the Stadium actually got up and left. It was a rocky start for sure, but sometimes once you get out of first gear things smooth out. Unfortunately for Luckys the hiccups just kept coming.
Not long after the drinks arrived the food showed up (kudos to the kitchen). Since I was starving I plowed into the plate with reckless abandon and was happy with some parts, but disappointed with others. I first tried a French fry and they were lukewarm at best. The limp spuds were heavily-seasoned and showed promise, but suffered from too much time spent out of the oil. Ba-bump.
Thankfully, the fish was adequately heated and was surprisingly flavorful. The cod sported a dark beer batter which initially had me worried. It looked burned, and while it did have some over-fried batter cling-ons they were in a small minority and were easily brushed aside. The beer batter actually had a very nice flavor which was a little smoky, but not charred tasting or anything like that. The fish itself was clean and greaseless, but since it wasnt scalding hot when it arrived it got mildly mushy. Baby bump.
Playing the role of Teller to the fishs Penn was a plain-Jane tartar sauce which appeared to be house-made. While, like Teller, it made its partner more palatable, it was almost pure mayo and uninteresting. It did cover some of the imperfections in the fish, but a bump up in the relish department would actually have made this ride a lot smoother.
No bread. BUUUUMP!
Perhaps the most perplexing part of the evening was the slaw situation. While the slaw served with the Fish Fry was very good, a totally different version came with my wifes veggie burger. The Fry slaw was a traditional creamy blend with crispy and distinctive taste, while the red cabbage slaw that came with the burger was even more unique and perhaps even tastier. Why two different slaws? We may never know, but both were excellent and had us wishing the everything else was more like the slaw. Oddity bump?
For some reason I was expecting a smoother ride from Lukcys than the one we got (even though our previous experiences at their downtown location were also bumpy). Overall, I dont recommend this Fish Fry, and wont come back until they have ironed out the wrinkles.
www.luckysbarandgrille.com/waunakee/
1008 Quinn Dr
Waunakee, WI 53597
(608) 850-5825
