cod and god 2010

ok, so i have been quite the slacker this year when it has come to the fish fry. getting home late on friday nights from chillicothe has not helped my cause. as easter is rapidly approaching, it seems unlikely i will be able to analyze a large sample size this year. i only have comments to offer on one westside fry: st. martin's.

and, i have only one thing to say about it.

the right amount of grease is a good thing.

the wrong amount leads to two people throwing away their fish fry dinners from st. martin's. the fish was batter dipped and so greasy it soaked through the bread. the fish inside the batter dipping was overcooked and falling apart. brian said the mac and cheese wasn't even good.

the next day we were shopping and i kept wondering what this horrible smell was. finally, it dawned on me that the smell was eminating from brian's jacket, which he had worn while waiting in line 20minutes for our fish the night before. grease odor marinating on a fleece jacket did not improve my opinion of our experience.

sorry, st. martin's, but you disappointed me.

cod and god, week 4

i'm so behind. fish fry photos are piling up and i can't organize myself sufficiently to process them. so here, in brief, is the our lady of lourdes fish fry. lourdes is where i attended grade school, as did my mother. that's the westside for you.
first, the menu. salmon AND crab cakes? wow. i should have stuck with the fried cod, but i was lulled in by the siren's call of the crab cake.

crab cake = dry inside and crispy outside. i also got take-out and forgot to pick up condiments, so i didn't even have tartar sauce to alleviate my desert-ed crab.

mac and cheese = stouffer's.

fries = meh.

yummy (previously) frozen cheese sticks. a creative twist to the normal fish fry fare.

finally, fried shrimp. cocktail sauce would have been a delightful addition.lourdes gets points for breaking out of the normal fish fry mold with unique offerings. the salmon did look pretty tasty and i wish i could have sampled some of everything. they were also very well organized by the boy scouts, with separate eat-in and take-out lines.

again, no beer. what the heck?

frisch's fish

the rumors are true. frisch's fish sandwich is phenomenal. the fish is flaky and dredged in cornmeal-ish batter, unlike the breadcrumbed numbers at bk and mcdonald's. tartar sauce excellent. bun sturdy and fresh. i ordered mine with cheese, but on this sandwich (and i will rarely, like, never, say this about cheese) it didn't add anything but calories.

it is pricier than other fast food fish options, but it is probably worth it.

bk big fish

the search for superior fast food fish continues. the bk big fish is big and the fish itself is tastier than the mcdonald's filet. much more like actual fish. the breading is also crispier and i liked the addition of lettuce. the tartar sauce, however, is inferior. actually, i'm not sure if it is tartar sauce or simply mayonnaise. no cheese on this one, and i have to admit i kind of missed that extra flavor and texture.

i would like to add that this fish was photographed and consumed while driving. such is the american way.

cod and god, week 3

on the lenten hit list this week was our own parish, st. catharine of siena. the holy wooden fish pointed the way.

this was displayed below a "got milk?" poster of miley cyrus in the school cafeteria.little knobs of cod, heavily fried. the batter was quite thick and crispy. they were good, but the floppy rye bread (it's that german rye, made by either klosterman or butternut, i can't remember which) had a difficult time standing up to it. i didn't try the tartar sauce this time.real baked mac 'n' cheese! breadcrumbs and all. just needed salt.alas, no beer at this fry.

cod without god, week 2

last friday there was no church fish fry. a trip to michigan warranted a road stop at the long john silver's in piqua, ohio.

this sign greeted us.

i have not been to long john's in probably 18-20yrs. it still tastes exactly the same. i will always love the hush puppies and those little crunchy batter bits. i've had worse fast food fish (see filet-o-crap for details), so it was completely edible. i was surprised to see the little baggie of corn on the cob. over-cooked, of course, but possibly more nutritionally viable than the cole slaw.

the long john's had an a&w inside, a weird chimeric trend in the fast food nation. i assume this is an endeavor to dupe the public into believing diversity exists in a world of monotonous standardization. but it did allow me to order a side of fried cheese curds (not pictured), so it's all good.

filet-o-crap

i would like to have a conversation about the flaccid fish sandwich mcdonald's is peddling. it is truly appalling. bland fish of suspicious origin topped with unnatural, plasticky cheese. this can not be what lou groen had in mind when he created the filet-o-fish for catholic cincinnatians back in the early 60s. he originally envisioned a halibut sandwich, but today the sandwich is made from alaskan pollock (according to wikipedia). and unlike the picture below, the bun totally eclipses the filet, leaving me to wonder 'where's the fish?' the only thing tasty on the sandwich is the tartar sauce.

i don't know how people (brian, my mom) can eat this craptacular sandwich, lent or not. if there is a filet-o-fish in my future, it will be hold the fish. tartar sauce and a bun will be just fine with me.

god and cod, week 1

i have reached the conclusion that global warming can be attributed to friday night fish fries. pictured is the styrofoam aftermath of 1 person's meal (mine) at the st. james white oak fish fry last friday. and considering the undercroft of the church was absolutely packed, there is probably a special section of rumpke devoted to fish fry refuse.

i had fried fish, 2 pieces of bread, mac n' cheese, applesauce, and a slice of apple pie (all for $7.25). the best part was st. james offers SALTED rye as one of their bread options. yum. the beers were $2. score.

the fish was really good, crispy on the outside and flaky on the inside. the mac n' cheese was warmly lunch lady-esque. all in all, st. james gets two thumbs up on the fish fry circuit. especially for the god and cod centerpieces.

after the fry, we ventured to piazza discepoli for their weekly wine tasting and special moerlein beer tasting. the moerlein tasting was supposed to include the new queen city stout, but unfortunately the representative was not able to get any. i did learn that moerlein is looking to move back to cincinnati and is going to be producing little kings, burger, and burger light. my grandpa will be so stoked!