Fish Type: Cod Price: $9.50
Overall, I would barely recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Excellent Tartar Score: Excellent Bread Score: Poor Miscellaneous Score: Good |  |
Comment: The classic American greasy spoon. I've never actually figured out if "greasy spoon" a term of endearment or what, but when you're talking about diners that term invariably seems to come up. I kind of like it in that it conjures up images of down home cooking and blatant disregard for anything healthy. Most diners follow a formula and in Wisconsin Friday Fish Fry is a variable in that equation. The Prairie Diner in SP is no exception to that rule. They have a $9.50 3-piece cod special all day on Fridays, as well as a 2-piece cod, ocean perch, and walleye.
The PD is as clean as any greasy spoon you'll find and handled by one friendly waitress. She hustles to and fro, waiting on all comers with a smile and spring in her step. The line cook here is no slouch either and I had a big old plate of grub in front of me less than five minutes after my slip hit the clip. Three good sized pieces of cod took center stage on this plate with their light flour breading. As is typical at diners, they don't want to offend the taste buds, and as such there wasn't a whole lot of flavor to this breading. The fillets themselves were also clearly not of the highest quality which you sort of have to expect at that price point. Some of the meat was tending towards translucence and there was definitively a smattering of the of the inter-plank white residue. Still, it tasted just fine when doused with the creamy tartar and for that price you really can't expect Bearing Bounty.
For me, the best part about the diner experience are hash browns with cheese and onion, and as expected Prairie knocked them out of the park. These crispy shreds were topped with not one, but two slices of gooey American cheese and sprinkled with some kind of Cajun-y seasoning. The left a reddish grease puddle behind that was as intriguing as it was tasty and truly paid homage to their slippery pseudonym.
Not only was the tartar creamy, but there was a boatload of it. Two full cups of the bold blend bellied up next to the 3-piece and gave the fish an extra fin to stand on. Some nasal-bending horseradish slaw stuck it to me, and while it was on the soupy side it was easily scooped with a spoon. As is all too common in 2018 there wasn't any bread served with the fish although a bowl of corn sort of served as a substitute.
You kind of always know what you're going to get at a greasy spoon and this trip to the Prairie Diner was no exception - it was good, not great, a lot of food, but easy on the wallet. Overall, we recommend this Fish Fry and will slide back in some day when we're good and hungry.
www.prairiediner.com/
1034 Windsor Street
Sun Prairie, WI 53590
(608) 837-3400
