Fish Type: Cod Price: $18.00
Overall, I would recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Fair Bread Score: Poor Miscellaneous Score: Excellent |  |
Comment: When you’re in the Driftless Region, Friday Fish Fry means fried cod with fries or baked cod (poorman’s lobster) with a baked potato. That’s all I grew up knowing on Fridays and @kosgastropub in Westby does that part justice, but also takes their Friday specials in new and interesting directions.
For starters, KOS has fried cod on their menu every day they are open, not just on Fridays ($1 off on Friday though). They also offer 2, 3, and even 4-piece portions, AND offer it four different ways - baked, deep-fried, pan-fried, or blackened. I’ve never had pan-fried cod, and was intrigued at the prospect, but stuck to the standard deep-fried 3-piece on this, our maiden voyage to the cozy eatery.
The 3-piece runs $18 and is centered around the chunky cuts of cod. Each piece of the flaky fish is a solid 3-4 oz and comes cloaked in a super-crispy beer batter. It was perfectly fried to an appealing golden brown and virtually grease-free. Really nicely done.
An appropriate amount of battered shoestring style fries were fried equally well and a joy to eat, and the homemade tartar (while a bit overly-dilly IMO) improved the fish ever so slightly. A gigantic portion of slaw arrived before the fish and looked to be the Sysco standard (which is fine), but if I had to do it over again I’d choose the salad option which my wife raved about. It was honestly as impressive as any “side” salad I’ve ever seen.
Fried cod is pretty ubiquitous in southwestern Wisconsin, but KOS is putting an appealing spin on what could otherwise be a pretty boring Friday Fish Fry experience. While we stuck to the norm this time around, I’ll definitely explore their other preparations next time we wander into Westby. Overall, this is an easy one to recommend.kosgastropub.com/
105 W State St
Westby, WI 54667
(608) 634-3314
