Fish Fry ... to go

Greetings everyone, and thanks for checking out the weekly dose of fish fry banter.

This week I decided to "lay low," which means, I didn't feel like going out, knowing I had a big Saturday ahead of me.  So this week, I thought I'd give you my "take" on "take-out" fish frys.  

There is a newer establishment in Hartland called  J.C. Bogars, located at 352 Cottonwood Ave., I had heard some mixed things about the restaurant, but figured now was as good as anytime to make my own assessment of the fare at this quaint dining establishment.

I called from my cell phone about 15 minutes outside of Hartland, and the courteous server who answered the phone assured me the food would be done in 10 minutes. While my food wasn't exactly waiting for me, I still was able to get in and out very quickly.  Twice while I was waiting, I was greeted warmly by the two different servers, making sure I was taken care of and within five minutes of my arrival, I had my food in my hand and was ready to head home.

Because I was dining alone, I thought it only fair (again, this is for you Cabby) to order the traditional fish fry of deep-fried cod, with homemade potato chips.  The meal also came with a slice of rye bread and cole slaw, all for $9.95.

I had my ups and downs with this meal.  I'll start with the "down" as I always like to end on a positive.  There were huge problems with the cole slaw and I was so disappointed in that.  For once, I was excited to dive into an oil-based slaw, but it was so bitter in taste, I literally had to spit it out and throw it away immediately.  It had me very cautious as I moved into the main entree, but to my surprise, I did not experience any more "spit-out" moments with my meal.

The fish was a little heavy in its breading, but it was a delicious blend of bread crumbs and spices featuring dill.  I've never had dill in my fish breading until I moved into this area, but I'm becoming quite fond of this ingredient.  The fish itself was a little overdone, but I'll chalk that up to being "to-go." The rye bread was average (store-bought) and not worth putting a lot of comment into.

Also, because I was dining alone, I decided to actually try the tartar sauce (yes, Jodi).  I have to admit, this was the absolute BOMB of sauces.  I bet you have no idea of the secret ingredient making this sauce edible -- yep, you guessed it -- DILL!  Who would have thought that a dill-based tartar sauce would entice me to try it.  I mostly used it as a dip for my homemade potato chips, but I did put on some bites of fish, and it enhanced the flavors quite nicely.

All in all I would recommend a visit to J.C. Bogars -- I'm going to give this particular dining experience a 6 out of 10, but I'm looking forward to actually sitting in their dining room and enjoying a full dining experience.  Anyone who really knows food, realizes that getting take-out just can't measure up to actually going out to eat, but I had 35 miles to ride the next morning and I couldn't be tempted by the nice-looking bar!

Have a great weekend everyone, I'm not sure where the next fry is going to take me, but that's the beauty of this year, you just never know.

In the meantime, I suggest you give a really big hug and let someone important to you KNOW how important they are! '

My big shout out goes to my fabulous mom, who will turn the big 6-0 on Monday, October 4.  I can't wait to give her a big hug on Sunday right before she takes me to the Packers game.  Nice present, huh?