Week 7 Review: Country Heights Supper Club

Week 7 Review: Country Heights Supper Club, Hazel Green, WI

You know how you drive by a billboard advertisement for a restaurant and you say "we should try that place!".  Well after years of driving by the billboard, we finally made our way to the Country Heights Supper Club in Hazel Green for our final fish fry review.

Because there was a pretty important basketball game going on that evening, we decided to go early to check out the fish fry.  When you walk into Country Heights its like you're walking into the 1970's.  Everything seemed to be exactly what was there in the 70's.  We had made reservations for just us two for 5:30 pm, and when we arrived there were plenty of tables open.

Once we got seated at our table, our server came over fairly quickly. The Friday night special was the AYCE Pike fish fry for $11.95. The AYCE included the salad bar and a potato. We both ordered the Friday special and decided to head to the salad bar before the crowd got there.

This salad bar was one of the largest ones we've seen yet.  It had numerous items to choose from, as to where I can't even remember everything that was there! Some the items on the salad bar were: coleslaw, toss salad (with numerous toppings), potato salad (2 different kinds), pasta salad, noodle salad, macaroni salad, cheese & crackers, dinner rolls, and soup.

In order to try everything that I wanted to try on the salad bar, I had to go up a few times.  Overall, only a few items really made an impression on me.  The lettuce and toppings available were all good and I really liked the salad dressing.  The dinner rolls tasted fresh, and I enjoyed the cheese spread and crackers.  The coleslaw was pretty good, but not exactly the kind I like.  The big negatives of the salad bar: all of the 'salads'. The potato salads, the pasta salad, and the macaroni salad were all terrible. Terrible to where I almost could not even stand one bite. They all tasted as if they had too much vinegar or were just plain old.

Dinner time! Our server brought out a good sized portion of our AYCE Pike fish, as well as my potato choice, which was a baked potato.  The Pike was lightly breaded and fried almost perfectly all over. It was not very thick, but had a good taste and flavor.  The tartar sauce was once again exactly the kind I liked and really paired very well with the Pike.  The baked potato was cooked perfectly and tasted very good as well.

Our server had stopped by our table periodically to check on us and refill our drinks, and was very accommodating to all of our needs.

Overall comments/rating: the salad bar turned out not to be as outstanding as it could have been; the fish was really good, but did not exceed the greatness of some of our previous fish fry's.  With this being an AYCE, with full salad bar for only $11.95, it was priced very reasonably (compared to others we've experienced).

In the end we are giving this AYCE fish fry a 7 out of 10.  If the salad bar options had been better tasting, then I would have rated it a lot higher.

I definitely thought the overall atmosphere was "far out" and if you're wanting to have a supper club fish fry, with a salad bar, this place would be worthwhile to check out as it's very reasonably priced for what you get. 

Week 6: Red's Supper Club, Cuba City, WI

Week 6 Review: Red's Supper Club, Cuba City, WI

One of my father's favorite places to go out to eat (when he was forced!) was to go to Red's Supper Club.  Since we're back in the area now, I wanted to be sure we did a review for their fish as I had eaten their fish dinner a long, long time ago and remember it being good.

I had made reservations for our group of 6, but because we had arrived around 6:30 pm, we really wouldn't have needed to have a reservation. Once we were settled in to our table, we were welcomed to large relish tray, bread basket, and dressings on our table.  Our server came shortly after and took our drink order and notified us of the Friday night special.

The special for the night was the AYCE seafood buffet, which came with side salad.  On the buffet was: roasted potatoes, fried cod, broiled cod, pike, frog legs, crab cakes, shrimp/veggie kabobs, and steamed veggies.  All of this was for $15.99.

About half of our group got the seafood buffet, and I was of course excited to have a little variation on the typical 'fish fry'.  Our side salads came out shortly after we ordered, and I wasn't a big fan of the french dressing on the table.

Buffet time! For my first round of the buffet I got the roasted potatoes, frog legs, fried cod, broiled cod,pike fish and crab cakes.  The fried cod had little to no taste with its breading, and was a little tough; the broiled cod was a little dry, and I really didn't care for the crab cakes. The frog legs were....interesting, but not terrible. The pike wasn't bad, but didn't have much flavor to it either.  The tartar sauce was exactly my favorite type of tartar sauce, but it still didn't make the fish taste much better.  Now you're probably thinking that I'm going to end my review here, but like I said before, this is a buffet so there are 2nd chances!

I went up for my second round, and they had just put out fresh fish. The broiled cod was outstanding this time! Had great flavor and was not dry at all.  We also were able to try the shrimp kabobs which were also made to perfection! I loooove shrimp, so this was a welcomed addition to my fish fry challenge.

Our server had stopped by our table periodically to check on us and refill our drinks, but the entertainment of the night came when she cleaned off our table and accidentally spilled the whole stack of plates down my back.  It really wasn't as bad as it sounds, as I didn't get completely covered in food but it did hit me pretty hard in the shoulder.

After the repeated apologizes from the waitress, we shared a grasshopper.  It was a great way to end the meal.

Overall comments/rating: the broiled fish, tartar sauce, and shrimp kabobs were wonderful and really helped bring the entire dinner up a rating.  And it was nice that we got to go up again to try more fish as the second time around was a lot better.  The salad was mediocre, the potatoes really had a stew flavor to them that I didn't really care for, and our service was fine, but not excellent.   For what you all received, the price of $15.99 seemed a bit high, but since it was a seafood buffet, I wasn't surprised, and I left pretty full.

This fish fry was hard to come to a conclusion on the rating as it was a buffet that had more than just fish.  I won't lie, as the shrimp really did help make the experience better, but in the end I've given Red's Supper Club a 7 out of 10 as the fish (and tartar sauce) was excellent!

If you're looking for a classic supper club experience, Red's Supper Club is definitely a place to check out. 

Week 5 Review: Bluff Lake Catfish Farm, Maquoketa, IA

Week 5 Review: Bluff Lake Catfish Farm, Maquoketa, IA

This week we traveled to the middle of nowhere for one amazing catfish meal.

Family had recommended we try Bluff Lake as they have an abundance of catfish.  Bluff Lake sits just outside of the Maquoketa Cave Park in a valley and can be (was) extremely hard to find.

As you come upon Bluff Lake restaurant you are immediately wowed by the view of where the restaurant sits in the valley between two large hills/cliffs.  The restaurant has a catfish pond that can be overlooked by the outside sitting area.

This place did not take reservations so we had to put our name in when our entire party arrived.  There were lots of people waiting for seats, but luckily they had a large waiting room with a bar.  We were able to get a table surprisingly quick (about 20 minutes after we got there) for our large group of 8 people.

When we were seated in the very small dining area, our server came to our table right away.  Our server definitely looked like she was extremely busy and was ready to take our order, immediately. The majority of us ordered the all you can eat (AYCE) catfish dinner. We could get catfish fillets and whole catfish, both were fried. Our dinner came with coleslaw and waffle fries, all for $12.50.

Dinner is served! Our food came out in record time! Since most of our table got the fish dinner, we had the coleslaw, waffle fries and catfish served family style.  Let's start with the coleslaw. The coleslaw was finely chopped and had just the right amount of vinegar and sugar. It was very tasty and was exactly the kind of coleslaw I like.  The waffle fries were cooked just right, and tasted fine, but I didn't waste too much of my appetite on them.  Now for the catfish. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  We have been waiting for 5 weeks to eat fish this good!  The catfish was lightly breaded/fried and we were able to get it in fillets and whole.  It was different for me to see a whole catfish in front of me, but it sure was good!  And what about the tartar sauce?  Well, first off, you didn't even need tartar sauce for the catfish as it was prepared perfectly, but the tartar sauce that was served was again, exactly the type I like. It had a mayo base with just the right amount of relish.  Delicious when paired with the catfish.

Our server came back periodically to check on us and refill our coleslaw and catfish plate, but didn't seem overly worried about our dining experience as she was busy with many other tables. After our table ate about about 20 + pieces of catfish (no joke), we finally were full and had just had the best catfish meal ever.  As we were leaving, the waiting room still had the same amount of people waiting as it did when we arrived. This place is popular!

Overall comments/rating: FANTASTIC meal! Catfish was cooked perfectly, coleslaw and tartar sauce were made to my exact liking, the restaurant atmosphere was full of excitement of everyone wanting to get their catfish and our service was mediocre. My only negative is that the only choice of potato that came with your meal was the waffle fries, which I am not a big fan of fries with the fish (more of baked potato gal).

With this being a fantastic tasting AYCE meal for only $12.50, I am going to give Bluff Lake Catfish Farm a 9 out of 10.  If the server would have been happier to serve us, and we could have had a different potato option it would have gotten a full 10.

If you're ever in the area, I would highly, highly suggest checking this place out. Not only is the catfish amazing, but the view surrounding the restaurant is pretty fantastic too.

http://blufflakecatfishfarm.com/

Week 4 Review: Village Bar

Week 4 Review: Village Bar Supper Club--Kieler, WI

Our fish fry takes us to the small town of Kieler, WI.  We've enjoyed the Village Bar on other occasions and were excited to go back to rate their fish fry.  We also were happy to have some 'out-of-town' friends join us :)

I had made reservations, but upon arrival it appeared we wouldn't have needed to, as the restaurant had the least amount of people I've ever seen in it. We were able to sit right away at our table.  Our server took a little while to get to us, but was very kind and pleasant.

We ordered our drinks and started eating the bread at the table while we waited for our server to return.  The Friday special was Cod or Catfish for $11.95. With your meal you got coleslaw, and a potato.  Each table did also receive a relish tray which included carrots, celery, cheese dip, and seafood dip.

Once our server did return, we ordered.  I ordered the fried Cod special; others at our table ordered the broiled cod and the catfish.

Dinner is served! Our dinners came out in record time.  My cod dinner came with coleslaw and a baked potato.  Let's start with the cod.  I got three fairly decent sized pieces of cod.  The cod was extremely fried and had a thick coating on it.  The parts that weren't so thick did taste good, but not great. It did have way too much breading on it and it really took away from the taste of the fish.  I tried the broiled cod and it OK as well, but not great by my standards.  The tartar sauce was one "flavor" below what I typically like.  It tasted like it had a little too much of a sour taste to it.  It wasn't terrible, but really didn't add much to the taste of the fish.  The coleslaw had a little too much liquid to it and not the flavor I like, but again, wasn't terrible.  My baked potato was a little overcooked and dry, so not that appetizing.

For dessert we had to order a grasshopper, because well, we were at a Supper Club and it only seemed right. The grasshopper was even better than our previous one, and was a great end to the meal.

This fish fry definitely was not all that I had hoped or expected it to be.  I have eaten fish here before and remembered it be much more tastier than this time. The relish tray was nice addition to the meal, but really did not impact my overall ratings on the meal.

Overall comments/rating: the fish had more breading on it than I would have liked and was a bit more greasy than it should have been; the coleslaw had a little less flavor and more liquid to it than wanted; and the potato was a little dry. For what you all received, the price of $11.95 seemed a bit high.  Our service was acceptable, as she was very pleasant to us, but a little slow.  The dining environment was nice and we of course enjoyed our company.

After careful thought, I have decided to give the Village Bar a 6 out of 10.  It was hard for me to give it such a low rating because I have had their fish before, but because I know it could have been better, I gave it a lower score from my experience.

I would, however, highly recommend going to the Village Bar as they do have great food at decent prices, and has a great Supper Club feel to it.