Fish Type: Cod Price: $9.50
Overall, I would barely recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Fair Bread Score: Good Miscellaneous Score: Good |  |
Comment: Brothers Three is one of those places you just have to go to every so often. Its the kind of place that grounds you, makes you appreciate the subtle pleasures, and reminds you to not take life too seriously. It is a simple bar with good food and good people, and when I realized it had been over three years since wed paid B3 a visit, I knew what needed to be done.
The construction on Northport slowed me down considerably, but I still managed to meet Gabe at the Fair Oaks foxhole just after twelve. First came a beer, then a fish order; 10 minutes later we had the goods and went to town. On Friday Brothers Three has a lot of fish specials, although of the long list, only the cod, lake perch, and catfish really fit our description of a Fish Fry. Today it was fried cod all around, although the fish we got was a far cry from the beer battered version of yesteryear.
In lieu of thick beer batter, Brothers cod now features a spicy breading on substantially smaller cuts of fish. That said, the new breading was light and flavorful, but could have used a bit more flavor. There was clearly an attempt to zest it up, and while it wasnt bland, it didnt quite make it over the hump. The fish itself was flaky and not greasy, but was a little dry.
Brothers Three doesnt have a ton of potato options, but the French fries were a good choice regardless. The freezer fresh, skin-on spuds were well-fried and served in a larger than average portion. They simply did what needed to be done.
Three years is a long time and over a span of that length things have a tendency to change, just look at the fish However, Brothers tartar was true to its roots and remained the same old sauce. The homemade blend had a creamy mayo base, but an extremely dilly flavor. While the dill wasnt visible its flavor dominated the sauce, and I suspect that a hefty amount of pickle juice is used behind the kitchen doors. MFF likes his dill confined to dill pickles, or ever-so delicious chips which bear that name, but he is not a fan of it tainting his tartar and overwhelming his fish. This stuff did jus t that, and much of the plentiful goo went unused.
Sharing the basket with the Solo cups of slaw were some standard tear-off style dinner rolls. The white buns were very average, and served with some fridge-fresh butter making spreading near impossible, and the rolls even less desirable.
Finalizing the Fry was a plentiful portion of horseradish laden slaw. It was creamy, almost exclusively comprised of cabbage, but ruled by the hradish - a slaw not for the faint of heart.
Brothers Three really is much better than youd expect it to be. Im sure most of the people that zoom by on Hwy 30 assume it is a total dive, with grizzly regulars who will give you the stink-eye from the second you walk in, but quite to the contrary, they draw a surprisingly diverse clientele, and have a fairly sophisticated menu (at least for a bar). They reportedly also have AMAZING burgers if that is your thing, but weve never had the honor of that. Overall, we recommend the Fish Fry at Brothers Three, and will try to make it back sooner next time. Sure the sauce is dilly and the rolls are run of the mill, but the fish is good, the fries are yummy, and the service is quick and friendly. Brothers Three is good enough for me.
www.brothersthreemadison.com
614 North Fair Oaks Avenue
Madison, WI 53704
(608) 244-6818
