Review
From our house on the North Side of Madison it is about a 45 minute drive to Belleville. If we lived closer to Verona this drive would only have been about 20 minutes. Borland’s is located right on Main Street in “downtown” Belleville. From the outside you are not really sure what to expect since it looks like a typical Main Street Wisconsin style tavern. Once inside the picture clears up a little. Borland’s is more like a VFW than a regular everyday tavern. Their liquor selection is thin although they can still make a killer Old Fashioned (according to my friend) and have Spotted Cow on tap as well as in a bottle, so I was happy. The bar at the front of Borland’s was sparsely stocked with patrons (and 50 year old deer head mounts) since most of the crowd was clearly here for the Friday Night Fish Fry special which is located in the rear of the building. We got a round of drinks at the bar and headed down the short hallway to wait for an open table in the dining area.
We could not have stood there for more than a minute or two before the busboy/hostess peeked out from the kitchen and pointed us to the “second table on the right”. We sat down and our waitress was at the table almost instantly with our placemats/menus and silverware. Judging from the menu Borland’s is only open for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, but do serve lunches during the week. This lead me to believe that they must do a killer Fish Fry since Friday is one of the only days they are open and the Fish Fry is first and foremost on the list.
The fried Cod is a three piece dinner for $8.50 with one extra piece costing $2.25. There is also an option for “Double Fish” for $16.00 but there is no way I was going to attempt that feat. I opted for the “Regular Fish” with the “Extra Piece Fish” for a grand total of four since I was pretty hungry. The Cod was nothing less that excellent. It was light and flaky with a delicious, North Side VFW style, batter which was slightly spiced up and complimented the fish very well. The French fries were straight cut potatoes, fried just right, not too crispy but not soggy at all. The tartar sauce was good as well although it was awaiting our arrival at the table in a big squeeze bottle. We quickly polished off the remnants of the bottle at the table and got a fresh one from the kitchen. It was a good combination of mayo and relish without being overbearing. Borland’s definitely has the big three components of the Fish Fry on lockdown.
The bread at Borland’s was a pre-buttered slice of white bread that looked like was torn right off the loaf, very much how my grandma would have done it. The coleslaw was actually great, I was very surprised. I ate my whole portion of the finely chopped cabbage delight and delved into my girlfriend’s portion as well since she was not interested in it. This is some of the best slaw I can remember. The service was actually very good although it appeared that only one lady was running the whole show.
Overall this was a great Fish Fry. The food was excellent, the service was friendly and fast, and the atmosphere was great. They even had Slush Puppies in the dining room for the kids (or for the adults who want to reminisce about their childhoods). This place is Wisconsin in a nutshell. If you want to take a nice drive into the country and get a great Fish Fry at the same time go to Borland’s in Belleville, you won’t be disappointed.
Last time we came it was later in the evening and there was basically no wait. This Friday was a bit of a different story. We arrived at Borland’s at 7pm during the peak rush. The bar area was just about full, as were the 4 or so tables that flanked it. The line protruding from the dining room signaled that we would have a decent wait, so we grabbed some beers. The line actually moved more quickly than I expected and we actually got seated in about 20-25 minutes which wasn’t too bad at all, especially considering we had a pretty large group.
It took our waitress a little bit to get a handle on our large group, but it was worth it. She had no problems splitting up multiple checks and even though she was a little older did a fantastic job with everything. Pretty much everyone in our party got the Fish Fry other than the two little ones who came along (they got chicken strips but were equally pleased). I think the Fish Fry was even better this time than the last time. The batter was great as was the fish itself. It was very tender, flaky and consistent from piece to piece. The French fries were straight-cut style and fit in perfectly with the rest of the deep fried delights.
The tartar sauce at Borland’s is good even though it just sits in a massive squeeze bottle on the table. At least one of our fellow diners remarked that he liked it like that. It doesn’t really bother me if it sits there as long as it’s good, and this stuff is. The coleslaw at Borland’s is also ridiculously good. It has to be some of the best out there. The bread they give you with the Fish Fry is a straight forward pre-buttered slice of white bread. Love it. This is a no-frills Fish Fry but usually those are the best kinds. Borland’s has done a great job at keeping it simple but of consistent quality and taste.
What could be better than celebrating the sale of a home with the Zahm fam, Gabe, Brown and our new friend Erika over some great Fish Fry? The food was excellent and the service was outstanding. The adults all had a blast and even the kids had a good time. With Brown no longer be in Belleville it will be harder to justify the drive but I will have to come up with some excuses to get to Borland’s because this Fish Fry is so good and probably worth the drive on its own.
I got the "Double Fish" and it was double delicious. The cod fillets were moist and flaky, and kissed by a delightfully crispy and extremely flavorful breading. It was damn near perfect and I had no problem putting away all six pieces.
The fish paired so well with their ultra-thick tartar that it was almost criminal. It's a match made in heaven with the pleasant pop from the tartar taking that well-seasoned breading to places neither could reach on their own.
The fries were pretty plain, the (practically) minced slaw didn't look the best, but tasted great, and my double bread did the deed.
Borland's morphed into a St. Loius Cardinals bar at some point and lost a bit of that old school tavern charm because of it, but (as a Brewers fan) I won't hold it against them. 😜 It's still a great place and, judging by the clientele, still a Belleville institution.
Overall, I'd highly recommend this Fish Fry and will definitely be back to ring the Belle real soon.