Review
Daly's has an expansive Friday dinner menu, but boils it down during the lunch hour. On the phone I was told there was just cod, but when I was there perch was also listed, so I'm not sure what is what. Regardless, I was here for the cod so the $12 3-piece is what I ordered. Since it was slow the fish fried quickly and hit the table in record time. Three roughly four ounce pieces of cod came coated in a standard beer batter. A little grease leaked from the loins, but really just slicked things up without making a mush. The cod was pure white and very flaky which is just a way of saying it appeared to be high quality. The beer batter was pretty light all things considered and while it didn't have a unique flavor, there was something there. Overall, it was good, solid cod, and I plowed down all three pieces without issue.
In addition to a plethora of fish to choose from (at least for dinner), Daly's has an extensive list of sides to pick from and we sampled the waffle fries and regular (matchstick) variety. Now, usually waffle fries get the seasoning and the regular are well...regular, but Daly's flipped the script and seasoned the matchsticks and left the waffles wanting. There were loads of both so there's no complains portion-wise, but the seasoning on the sticks shot them far beyond the crunchy lattices and we would lean towards them in the future. The list of other options was too varied to remember in its entirety although the Parmesan somethingerother and the sweet potato style stuck in our minds.
Some bold and thick tartar soothed the savage cod and between it and the lavishly portioned fries drained my cup and the one that came with the kid's fish. It was definitely the good stuff.
A nice batch of slaw also found the fat part of the plate, and while it didn't have the stank we yearn for it was pure creamy goodness. The only real shortcoming to this lunch time Fry was the lack of bread, although there were a couple butter packets on the plate which made me wonder if it was supposed to be there and jut got overlooked. When I inquired as to whey I had butter with no bread I was told they give you those because some people like to put butter on their fish...huh? Exsqueeze me? That can't be right...
I've heard through the grapevine (which is 2018 means facebook) that Daly's is quickly becoming a local favorite in Sunny P and they fill up fast on Friday nights. While the place was pretty dead at noon (it was just one table of old ladies, a few patrons trickling into and out of the bar, and us) I wouldn't doubt they pack them in come dinner time. Good word about good fish tends to travel fast and SP is clearly listening. Overall, we recommend this Fish Fry, and will likely come back during dinner time and see if the rumors are true.
On Friday Daly's from scratch menu expands to include a Fish Fry and we previously sampled the cod, which was very tasty. We figured the lake perch would follow suit so we followed up a weeks after to see what was in the cards. The perch runs $13.99 and is made up of three to four fillets. Unfortunately, this perch wasn't the genuine yellow perch that is the hallmark of the traditional Fish Fry, but it was still quite tasty.
It was a slow Friday noon hour and my fish fried in no time. The "lake perch" shared the same batter as the cod and it works about equally well on the skinny fillets...although I'd definitely lean cod next time. The purported Zander fillets have a different taste than yellow perch, which isn't bad or greasy, just kind of bland. There's nothing unique about it like you find with real freshwater yellow perch, but it certainly gets the job done.
On our maiden voyage we went after the waffle fries since they are usually the variety that gets some sort of special seasoning. Daly's turns things on their head however, and they slather the regular fries in signature spices instead so we knew to go that route this time around. These superb spuds have a great crunch and come in a princely portion lets you munch until your heart's content.
Since the fish was lacking a little something I had no qualms about bathing it in Daly's bold tartar sauce. I went heavy and in reality could probably have used another cup but managed to ration what I was given effectively. No bread come with lunch which for me a is a bummer regardless of the time of day.
Last on the list was a cup of creamy coleslaw which looked to be homemade. I definitely caught a glimpse of lettuce in there which the food service slaws don't tend to have.
Word on the street is that this is one of the best Fish Frys in the Madison area, and while I can't quite go that far, it is really solid. While I'd personally say the cod is fins and gills above the perch I'd say both are worth your time. Overall, we recommend this Fish Fry and feel like we'll dive into Daly's whenever we have an itch to scratch.