Breakwater

You can tell a lot about a restaurant's culinary philosophy from their Fish Fry. Is it a pull-it-out-of-the-freezer-and-drop-it-in-some-hot-oil kind of place, or is it a carefully-choose-the-most-pristine-sustainably-sourced-freshwater-fish-we-can-find-and-lightly-pan-sear-it-to-reduce-fat-intake kind of place. Both speak volumes about the rest of the menu, and while both can be good, in actuality, the best Fish Frys tend to come from restaurants that fall somewhere in the middle - not lowbrow, but not too snooty either. The Breakwater trends towards the snooty, but not overly so.

The Friday special at Breakwater is a $16.00 walleye plate that is clearly unique and fresh, but maybe trying a bit too hard to be so. For starters our waitress was on the slow side. From simply coming over to say hi, to getting the initial round of drinks, to delivering the food, everything was a step behind where you'd like it to be. When the fish did show, it was cooling and looked unlike any other walleye I've seen.

Instead of one large fillet or even a couple smaller baby walleye filets (like you'd expect) Breakwater serves their fish in four petite pieces. The quartet was probably only 6 ounces or so total, and on the thin side. Each was coated in a very unique salt & vinegar potato chip batter that had a distinctive flavor and a big crunch. This batter would certainly have worked wonders on a fat fillet, but totally took over the waifish cuts leaving no walleye flavors to be found.

Where the cuts of fish were a bit pretentious, the house-cut fries were the genuine article. They came in a huge portion which dwarfed the wee walleye and supplemented it to some extent. While it's not a one-to-one tradeoff these damn-near-perfect spuds did their best to make this Fish Fry all it could be.

The tartar was good, albeit on the thin end of the spectrum. It had a good pop but was more of a dripper than a clinger and more ranch-y than mayo-y.

Like the fries the slaw was also clearly made in-house and composed of roughly a 50/50 cabbage/carrot blend. It was big on the vinegar, but also had some cream which struck a surprisingly pleasant compromise.

A unique bread choice could have been the starch to pull this Fish Fry back from the brink, but alas it wasn't meant to be. No bread came with the meal, and when taken in context with the other shortcomings it might be the straw that breaks the camel's back on this one.

Breakwater has a great culinary philosophy as near as we can tell and it was reflected (although not capitalized on) by the Fish Fry. Fresh and unique seems to be the vibe here, and while the fries did all they could, they couldn't salvage the other weaknesses. Overall, we don't recommend this Fish Fry, but the pizza my wife got was superb so we have to believe there is hope for smoother seas ahead.

It was one of the first truly nice (Fri)days of the year, and I knew I needed two things: a Fish Fry, and a body of water to eat it by. Since I didn't have the time to jaunt all the way up to Lake Wisconsin I did some local recognizance and decided that it was time to give Breakwater another shot. After looking at their menu I noticed the had changed their Fish Fry preparation (no more salt and vinegar chip crusts) and their price (only $10.50 for a 3-piece lunch) so it seemed the stars were aligning. I scooped up the little man and we were in Monona faster than you can say "I'll take River West Stein Beer."

The multi-tiered back patio at Breakwater overlooks the Yahara and had a decent number of full tables this Friday. It took a moment for the waitress to notice where the hostess sat us and bring us some menus and even longer for her to retrieve the aforementioned Stein Beer from the bar. Things weren't off to the best of starts, but she was very pleasant despite appearing slightly overwhelmed by amount of work in front of her. The fish came is a reasonable time frame, although it came sans-silverware. Since I like to eat my fish with my fingers that wasn't a huge deal, although I didn't get at the coleslaw for a good 5 minutes while we waited for her to retrieve the knife and fork. As far as the fish goes, the pieces were super small - practically bite size if you've got a big mouth like me. The meat was nice and flaky and Alaska Amber made for a very tasty beer batter, but it's really tough to gage since there wasn't a ton of it. The fish:batter ratio was spot on, but in all honesty you would need at least three more pieces of this size to make a decent portion. I know $10.50 is pretty cheap, but those three teeny wieners essentially added up on nice sized piece.

Some fat Julienne-cut freezer fries sat shotgun and came in a much more standard portion. While there wasn't anything special about them, they did their job, and weren't gone within a minute. Like the fish, a soupy tartar also missed the mark despite having a nice flavor. It was more of a salad dressing consistency which had it slip sliding off the surface before you could even get it from the dish to your mouth.

Somehow bread has become faux pas in 2018 but the places that are keeping with the tradition seem to be going all the way with real rye, and Breakwater is no exception. It was a great addition to the meal, but unfortunately the same can't be said for the uninspired slaw that I waited 5 minutes to get a mouthful of.

Breakwater has a pretty idyllic location in reality although getting to the actual restaurant can be a little awkward. First timers are met with a confusing entryway of stairs or elevator, both of which eventually lead to the second floor eatery. Once you're there however, everything comes together and is highlighted by the water front setting. Unfortunately, the Fish Fry (while revamped) still has a little way to go. The portion was just too small, and the service too scatter-shot to say this is one you've got to try. Overall, we don't recommend this Fish Fry but love the waterfront location and hope they can capitalize on it with some more tweaks.