Fish Type: Cod Price: $10.00
Overall, I would not recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Excellent Bread Score: Good Miscellaneous Score: Good |
Comment: What a difference a day makes, or so they say. In the case of the new Tipsy Cow in Sun Prairie, what a difference a new building and a few miles is seemingly making.
The original Tipsy location has been a downtown staple ever since it took over the wedge-shaped building on the intersection of King, Main, and Pinckney. The place is consistently packed, especially on Fridays when their Fish Fry has become a known commodity. All reports pointed to the new SP TC FF being the exact same as the downtown location's; since my office is out that way I figured luck was on my side and paid them a visit as quickly as I could.
Sun Prairie is obviously in a different universe than downtown (metaphorically speaking) and the Fish Fry wasn't exactly the clone we were expecting. Yes, it was the same price, and yes, the same cod and walleye options were available, but the preparation was not as flawless as we anticipated. The batter on the cod had the expected smoky flavor, but was thicker'n crap, and basically buried the cod. The cuts of fish themselves also seemed to be thinner and while mine were all flaky and pleasant, my dining companion claimed one was too rubbery to even eat. Eek.
The fries were just fries, which is on-brand for the Tipsy in general. A thin and uninspired tartar is paired with the fish, and while it doesn't do a whole lot it doesn't really have to since the Tipsy Sauce steals the show anyway. This smoky chipotle blend is perfectly zesty and teams surprisingly well with the fish whether the breading is overly-doughy or not. Seriously, you could drink this sauce as a shot...it's that good.
With so many places neglecting to even offer bread with their fish in this day and age, the Tipsy puts them to shame with a slice of real rye. It's a nice touch and almost salvaged what was otherwise a mildly disappointing Fish Fry. The classic pink Tipsy slaw rounded out the plates and while one of our dishes was swimming in soup, the other was dry as a bone. The dry version was actually the better of the two.
The common theme among on-line reviewers is that the new Sun Prairie location is mild disappointing compared to the original, and I'd say our visit echoes those sentiments. Everything just wasn't quite the same, and when you get a piece of rubbery fish that's essentially a deal-breaker. Overall, we don't recommend this Fish Fry at this time, but fear not, we will be back in short order to give them a shot at redemption...their track record behooves it.
www.tipsycowmadison.com/food
2816 Prairie Lakes Dr Suite 107
Sun Prairie, WI 53590
(608) 318-0232
