Fish Type: Lake Perch Price: $13.00
Overall, I would recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Fair Bread Score: Good Miscellaneous Score: Good |  |
Comment: When Lent rolls around places get busy. From the most famous supper clubs to lesser known dive bars, and anywhere in between, if theyre serving fish theyre fair game for big crowds and long waits. This fight for fish is part of the fun of Lenten Fridays in Wisconsin and something we here at Madison Fish Fry really enjoy (I realize we are probably in the minority here).
To be fair, Brothers Three is usually pretty busy anyway, but when mid-February rolls around the intensity is bumped up a notch. We showed up at 11:30 for lunch, and the place was already already swarming, leaving us but a couple open tables to choose from. We snagged the first one we saw, and felt fortunate to get it. The waitress buzzed over as soon as she saw us and grabbed us some drinks.
B3 has an impressive selection of fish on Friday although all of them are getting up there price-wise. The perch runs $13, the cod is relatively expensive at $10.75, and the walleye almost breaks the bank at $14.50. There are also some other options like Mahi-Mahi and shrimp, but you wont find MFF trolling those waters - we want fish-fish. Before your choice of fish arrives at the table, a basket of rolls will make its appearance. Our batch came with some cold butter packets, but without bread plates. We slapped some napkins down on the plastic tablecloth and went to work on them anyway, enjoying the soft buns and hand-warmed butter. Even without plates the rolls were tasty and fresh so well still chalk it up as a win. A whole basket full of tartar cups came along with the rolls, but well get into that later.
The main course arrived in to time and looked just right. Nearly every inch of the plate was covered by six large lake perch fillets and a bunch of freezer-fresh fries. The perch was actually pretty good, despite a couple bones here and there. The meat was tender and supple, and paired with a light breading that was good, but could have used a hint more salt. Overall, it was pretty respectable, but could have really benefited from a good tartar.
Unfortunately, the massive amount tartar provided by the Brothers was downright nasty. While I presume it was Sysco (based on the clock baring that brand name on the wall) it didnt have a familiar taste which leads me to believe it may have been doctored in some way or may have simply been a different commercially available sauce altogether. The brew was thick and creamy, but had waaaaay to much pickled relish for the fragile fish. It really reminded me of Kraft tartar (which I just cant stand), and covered up the fish, rather than complementing it.
The fries were definitely Sysco and came in the big brown freezer bag we have seen so many times before. They were the high end skin-on style though, and served in a big portion, so everyone was pretty happy with them. Some creamy, but commonplace slaw finished out the Fry, and while adequate, was a little runny at the end.
All things considered we were pretty happy with our Lenten excursion to Brothers Three. The fish was tasty, and everything else played its part well enough (except for the tartar). Overall, we recommend the lake perch at Brothers III, but probably wouldnt wait around for it if it got too crowded.
www.brothersthreemadison.com
614 North Fair Oaks Avenue
Madison, WI 53704
(608) 244-6818
