Review
I arrived at around 7:45 and met a couple dudes I know shortly thereafter. We sat at the bar and looked over the options listed on board. The cod and perch were both $9.25. The walleye was slightly more at $12.50 but we had nary a chance to order it since it was sold out well in advance of 8pm. I opted for the perch over the cod and sat back to enjoy my bottle of Schlitz.
It wasn’t long before the bartender/waitress gave us a couple rolls each, along with a stanky slaw that was actually pretty decent. One roll was of the sesame seed variety while the other was some sort of pumpernickel-rye hybrid. They were both warm and tasty which made me hopeful that the rest of the meal would be equally, if not more, satisfying. As it turned out these precursors were a terrible tease and wound up being the highlight of the meal.
When the perch arrived it was ungodly hot which gave me high hopes, however immediately upon biting the first piece I could tell something was wrong. The batter was fairly light but somehow not flaky; it lacked any real taste and just find of fell apart. The fish underneath was kind of mushy and not flaky either. It left me wondering if the fryer was simply too hot and overcooked the fish instantly since the cod had the same batter and was similarly mushy.
The straight cut fries were just fine but did not really stand out in any way which is about all that can be said for the tartar sauce as well. Both were acceptable but not enough to make up for the slightly below average fish.
After such a good start I really thought Slice’s was going to bounce back from their sub par lunch performance, but alas it was not to be. The fish was overcooked, somewhat greasy and just not flavorful in general. The fries and tartar were fine but couldn’t salvage the show even with a great setup from the slaw. Apparently walleye is the fish of choice at Slice’s. I would like to try it but am not sure how I will convince myself to go back for it. Overall, I probably would not recommend this Fish Fry, although it was an improvement over their lunch special for whatever that is worth.
It's $15.75 for "two huge pieces of walleye" at the Pennsylvania Ave bar, and the cod and ocean perch we had previously were also still available. Some Sysco slaw and a glistening roll arrive before the fish and in all honesty I had a hard time restraining myself from gobbling them up. I waited for my walleye and was glad I did.
The walleye comes as two fillets and are as hefty as you'll find. While individually they are on the small side as far as walleye goes, when added it makes up A LOT of meat for $15.75. While it's tough to say what's what in this day and age, this stuff seemed to be the real deal. It had the look, but not necessarily the flavor of walleye. Of course, it could be that the flavor was just covered up by the beer batter which glistened under the bar lights. It was a good walleye, and while not amazing was definitely good enough.
A pile of plain old fries were downright decent, but the waffles our son got were certainly a step up and I'd certainly sample the tots if I had it to do over again. The wife got the baby reds which were the real deal, but basically just boiled potatoes and bland as all get-out.
East side bars must share recipes (or at least food distributors) because this tartar was stolen straight from Club LaMark. It was dilly and kinda skunky and unmistakable. It was passable, but little else.
Normally when I get a Fish Fry it's easy to say whether I'd come back and try it again. This one is a bit of a tough call, since I'm not really sure where it falls. On one hand, it's a lot of food for the money and every thing was pretty decent, but on the other nothing stood out and it had a very standard Sysco feel to it. It's close for sure, but overall, I think we recommend this Fish Fry, and would likely come back, but the circumstances would have to be juuuust right.
If you are coming into town on 113 Slice’s bar and Grill is located right where Pennsylvania and Packers Avenues come together, on what is actually a pretty quiet little stretch (if you discount the motorcycle permitting lot right next door that is). We arrived at Slice’s at 12:30 or so which was absolutely the worst possible time. Apparently they must get a decent rush from the MATC crowd and we were right on its heels. The place was really busy but was surprisingly spacious and inviting. We grabbed a table and waited for the waitress to appear. Eventually we got sick of waiting and just went up to the bar to order our food and drinks.
The lunch Fish fry consists of 4 pieces of Cod with fries for $5.25 which is seriously cheap. It came up fairly quickly after we ordered and was plenty hot. Unfortunately this is not what I would call a “homemade” Fish Fry. The filets were clearly pre-battered much like you get at the Glass Nickel or the Argus. It tasted okay but was slightly mushy and greasy which tends to happen when you get this kind of batter. It forms a shell which almost acts like a grease trap. It was still easily edible and the fact that you get 4 pieces for only $5.25 make it a seriously good value.
The straight cut French fries were typical bar style and just right. The tartar was decent but a little dilly. This Fish Fry loses some points for the fact that they don’t give you any slaw or bread. I mean come on, I realize it is lunch but you can keep one of those four pieces if you throw me some slaw and a roll…deal? I assume for dinner you get the full Fish Fry experience and I will have to come back because their variety increases dramatically after 5pm. In addition to the Cod (which gets a bump to $9.25) they also have Walleye for $12.50 or Perch for $9.25 which I assume are “homemade” but can’t be sure.
Overall this is just not a recommendable lunch Fish Fry. It was certainly decent but lacked several important components. Even if it is more than fair for the price it just doesn’t quite cut the mustard. Slice’s (NOT Slices’ as the sign above the bar might have you believe) seems like a great bar. For god sakes “Happy Hour” is four hours (2-6pm) which is actually longer that they serve breakfast in the morning, now that’s a bar. The rest of the fried food menu looked outstanding and that bar itself was very clean. I will certainly be back for beers sometime or a Friday Night Fish Fry. Unfortunately that "slice" landed their lunch Fish Fry in the bunker.
Edit: As former Madison resident Eric G. mentioned "...stick to the bottled beer. The tap beer is disgusting." He is right.
I arrived at around 7:45 and met a couple dudes I know shortly thereafter. We sat at the bar and looked over the options listed on board. The cod and perch were both $9.25. The walleye was slightly more at $12.50 but we had nary a chance to order it since it was sold out well in advance of 8pm. I opted for the perch over the cod and sat back to enjoy my bottle of Schlitz.
It wasn’t long before the bartender/waitress gave us a couple rolls each, along with a stanky slaw that was actually pretty decent. One roll was of the sesame seed variety while the other was some sort of pumpernickel-rye hybrid. They were both warm and tasty which made me hopeful that the rest of the meal would be equally, if not more, satisfying. As it turned out these precursors were a terrible tease and wound up being the highlight of the meal.
When the perch arrived it was ungodly hot which gave me high hopes, however immediately upon biting the first piece I could tell something was wrong. The batter was fairly light but somehow not flaky; it lacked any real taste and just find of fell apart. The fish underneath was kind of mushy and not flaky either. It left me wondering if the fryer was simply too hot and overcooked the fish instantly since the cod had the same batter and was similarly mushy.
The straight cut fries were just fine but did not really stand out in any way which is about all that can be said for the tartar sauce as well. Both were acceptable but not enough to make up for the slightly below average fish.
After such a good start I really thought Slice’s was going to bounce back from their sub par lunch performance, but alas it was not to be. The fish was overcooked, somewhat greasy and just not flavorful in general. The fries and tartar were fine but couldn’t salvage the show even with a great setup from the slaw. Apparently walleye is the fish of choice at Slice’s. I would like to try it but am not sure how I will convince myself to go back for it. Overall, I probably would not recommend this Fish Fry, although it was an improvement over their lunch special for whatever that is worth.