Fish Type: Whitefish Price: $18.00
Overall, I would highly recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Excellent Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Good Bread Score: Excellent Miscellaneous Score: Excellent |  |
Comment: There are legends great and small in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Bigfoot, the Hodag, and gangsters runnin’ bootleg liquor not the least among them. There are also legends south of the border, the most unsubstantiated being that there is actually a legitimate Friday Fish Fry somewhere in Chicago…
I’ve heard of this fabled Fish Fry for years, but had yet to unearth it through my investigations on the fringes of the city. This Friday was different. This Friday our journey took us into the belly of the beast and here we finally landed at @willsnorthwoods where the mythical creature was told to reveal itself.
The Friday special at WNI is Whitefish and when I queried the bartender as to if it was actual Lake Superior Whitefish or just another fish that happens to have white flesh (cod or haddock), he looked at me like I was the Yeti. No matter, the order went in and when it came out I could tell Will’s takes their Fish Fry seriously.
Whitefish is more oily than its saltwater counterparts and typically doesn’t fry all that well. If indeed that was true Whitefish, and I have no reason to believe it wasn’t, it was likely the best beer battered Whitefish I’ve had. It was smooth and flaky and the beer batter was spot-on - not too thick and not too thin. Will’s hand-cut fries were also superb and went toe-to-toe with the fish for star of the show.
Tartar can be a fickle muse, and this sauce was made in-house with some serious seasoning. More like a Cajun remoulade than a traditional supper club sauce, it packed a serious punch. A purple cabbage slaw was clean and inviting and also clearly homemade, while the lightly toasted slice of rye was legit and simply awesome.
Let it be known that the fabulous Friday Fish Fry in Chicago-proper has finally been exposed to the world and it is at Will’s Northwoods Inn! Overall, we highly recommend this Fish Fry and think it would even leave its mark on the right side of the border! ;)willsnorthwoodsinn.com
3030 N Racine Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 528-4400
