Fish Type: Cod Price: $12.00
Overall, I would recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Excellent Bread Score: Poor Miscellaneous Score: Good |  |
Comment: I have a few loves in my life: my wife, my infant son, maps, hockey, and of course, Fish Fry. Its not often that several of these worlds collide, but when my family goes out for Fish and it winds up being at a hockey rink I have to think the planets have somehow aligned just for me. This Friday everything was in sync.
Truth be told, I had no idea that Willie Tys was located in the same building as the swanky new ice arena in Sun Prairie, but when I checked out their website and saw a Friday Fish Fry listed I knew what had to be done. In all honesty, had I known it was adjacent to the hockey rink I would have been there much sooner, probably on opening night as a matter of fact.
The Fish Fry at Willie Tys is only served for dinner (after 5pm) and goes for $12. When we showed up at 5:30 this Friday the place was pretty busy, but there were a few open tables. It was also well-staffed, and probably over-staffed for how big the place really is. We somehow wound up with the worst waiter in the bunch, but despite his aloofness our food still came quickly (I credit the kitchen for that).
A 3-piece cod is the only fish offered, but its a well-reasoned special. It has an extremely unique batter with what appeared to be a buffalo wing sauce in it (in fact I think there may have been some Franks Red Hot in the mix). It boasted a really great flavor which complemented the cod canvass very well. It was quite enticing, but there was a problem grease. And not just a hint of it, but enough that it saturated the batter on pieces two and three. Despite my efforts to turn them throughout, little could be done to keep the coating intact. While the grease wasnt a total deal breaker (since the batter was so flavorful), if they can somehow eliminate it they will have a true winner on their hands.
Plenty of thick, julienne-cut fries played the supporting roll and were nothing special, but there was nothing wrong with them either. They did just enough, but the tartar did so much more. Willie Tys mix was thick and creamy with lots of pop and just enough relish to let you know that it wasnt just mayo. They specialize in aioli at Willie Tys so youd expect the tartar to be crackerjack, and it is. The only detractors being that it was $0.75 for an extra ramekin (which was necessary) and the cup wasnt quite big enough to fit the wide cuts of cod.
Like missing an empty net Willie Tys failed to provide any sort of bread with the Fish Fry. While I knew that was the case going in, it doesnt make it any less annoying. Their unique, but funky slaw didnt help matters either as it lacked flavor despite the obvious attempt to avoid that fate. It was roughly equal parts carrot and cabbage, and tasted like they were going for a chipotle-cumin kind of thing, but it just didnt manifest that way. Oh well.
I love hockey and I love Fish Fry so any time the two meet its going to be a huge winner in my book. I can only imagine how great sitting down to a cold beer and a Fish Fry would be after a good skate and really hope I get to do that someday. Overall, we recommend this Fish Fry despite a few shortcomings and will definitely come back to see if they can get rid of the grease. Greasy goals are one thing, but greasy fish is quite another.
www.willietys.com/
836 Grove Street
Sun Prairie, WI 53590
(608) 318-1057
