Fish Frydays 2012 #5: Our Lady of Sorrows

Fish Fish Fish

Hello again. I have really been trying to have these out and ready before Friday morning, but I have routinely failed this Lenten season, and I’m sorry, but if you’re sitting at your desk wondering where you are going this week, hopefully my little corner of the internet will help you pick the right one for you.

As I’ve mentioned, I did not plan out our trips this year like I have in the past. In fact, I really have no idea where I am going tonight. I sent my mother in law a text yesterday to let her know that I hadn’t figured that out yet. So…I’ll work on that while I’m working on other things today and we’ll end up eating some fish.

This past week, we chose to stay in the City and hit up Our Lady of Sorrows in Princeton Heights. I saw a picture of it on the net and I was sure I had been there before, but it turns out that wasn’t correct, so our band of fish fry nomads piled into my little civic and we went to the place. Thankfully, someone else in the car knew where we were going, because I did not.

 

Where you order.

By the time we arrived, we were running a bit late and didn’t arrive until after 6pm and we were all a bit hungry and ready to eat. We walked down into the cafeteria where they were serving the fish and it was a pretty tiny room, or maybe I’ve just gotten bigger and older since I used to go to into junior high cafeterias?  I was quite ready to tear into a nice piece of fried cod and a cold beer. I’d even have been happy with a Budweiser Soda, as my friend from England calls them, at this point.

As we walk in, we see a table bedecked with a candelabra, wine, and a bucket full of iced up Shinerbock beers. I saw that and I was in a good mood for my beer prospects that night as I have only had a Schlafly Pale Ale and the rest have been Budwiser Sodas.

We then meander around the cafeteria, the people serving the fancy table were standing right where we needed to go to get right to the serving line. So we had to walk all the way around this place to get in line. As I’m surveying the line, I see the usual fare, fried cod, fried shrimp, baked cod, soda $1, beer $2.  Sides consisted of fries, mac and cheese, green beans, etc. Normal stuff  here.

So, we get our food walk over to the cashier, pay him and then I set out to get a lager. I walk all the way around the place, and nearly pulled out a Shinerbock off of the fancy table and then take it to the cashier to pay for it, but that seemed wrong. So I looked around me and everybody was drinking soda…So, I ask the cashier where I can buy a beer and he turns to a little girl who’s volunteering and she says there’s no beer this week…..

From my tweet: “There was no beer at that fish fry,” I received two noteworthy responses:

“@13blog what? Did you leave immediately?”

and

@13blog WHAT!?

OK, so I know I’m not crazy. So I chose a Dr. Pepper and sat down to eat.

My plate.

When I saw the fish, I honestly wasn’t expecting much, so I put tartar sauce on it. I also took a side of green beans and fries. As I attempted to bite into the fish, I can say that I made the right choice of slathering some tartar sauce on top of those fish. It was another night of boxed fish. With as many of these fish frys that are literally conducted in school cafeterias I cannot imagine why anyone would be serving fish from a box.

Gooped up fish.

As we ordered and picked up our food, I was blasted with heat from kitchen. It was strikingly hot, which was why I was so surprised that my fries were pretty cold and soggy. My little girl wouldn’t polish them off either.

I’m not really a fan of green beans. They are what they are, but I eat them because they are good for me, not because they are good tasting.

All in all, the fish and fries I had had nothing on the fillet-o-fish sandwich at McDonalds on Kingshighway less than a mile away. The Dr. Pepper I had in lieu of a beer was the best part of my meal that day to be perfectly honest.

I want to reiterate, I don’t understand why people serve boxed fish. Places like St. Gabriel’s, St. Stephen’s, St. Pius, and St. George really show how easy and fast it is to make great batter dipped cod.