Fish Type: Bluegill Price: $20.00
Overall, I would highly recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Excellent Potato Score: Excellent Tartar Score: Excellent Bread Score: Excellent Miscellaneous Score: Excellent |  |
Comment: There’s a bar north of Portage called Cooper’s Bar & Grill that supposedly has a great Fish Fry, or so I thought. Google had confirmed my suspicions but when we pulled off Cty CX on our way to Eagle River the sign said the GreyDrake and I got worried.
It turns out any trepidation I had was unfounded and the GreyDrake has been named as such for over a year and is still slinging the same, if not better, food than under its previous moniker. The options on Fridays are vast (bluegill, cod and perch among them), and come with a romp through their fully-stocked salad bar. Boom!
I was feeling fresh, and went for the sunfish and a side of hash browns with cheese and onion. The first stop was the salad bar and it was good one - loaded with fresh veggies, cold salads, and a tasty fiesta-style soup - an impressive spread for a country bar. The fish arrived not long after and looked immaculate…I could tell immediately it was going to be good.
The bluegill were standard for the sunfish - six fillets in a light breading with a gentle fishy flavor and satisfying snap. They were expertly fried and while I say “standard” that is no slight…when it comes to freshwater fish, the standard is what I’m after. They paired remarkably well with the tiny cup of tartar and were offset nicely by intermittent bites of marble rye.
Access to the hash browns required repositioning of the fish, and while I know some people hate that, pulling a little melty cheese from the backs of the fillets didn’t bother me one bit (and these hash browns were worth every rip). A flattop master is clearly at work behind the scenes and these shreds would make even Mr. Potato Head see stars - crispy in all the right spots and ooey gooey in all the rest, they damn near stole the show. Standing watch over the whole scene was a bonus side of cowboy beans that were marvelously meaty and satisfying. Yeehaw!
Owners change, names change, Fish Frys change, sometimes it’s for the better and other times for the worse. In the case of the GreyDrake, I can’t imagine a scenario where the latter would be true - this was great. Overall, we highly recommend this Fish Fry and will definitely be waddling back in.www.facebook.com/p/GrayDrake-Saloon-61576282306387/
N9091 County Rd CX
Portage, WI 53901
(608) 389-0248
