The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

A contribution from two of our faithful readers:

The Adventures of the Roving Fish Fry Reporters, a.k.a. Lenten Lunatic Anthony Kaczor and his non-Catholic/just-hungry wife Sid Korpi.

Our quest this year: to get to a different fish fry every Friday during Lent, using the events calendar in “The Catholic Spirit” to determine our destinations. This is the chronicle of that quest.

Week One — Friday, February 1, 2008
The leader of the pack, having one of the earliest fish fries of all locations, was St. Timothy’s Church, 707 89th Ave. NE, Blaine. Anthony and Sid were surprised by his brother Alric’ wife Melanie, from Sun Valley, Calif., and her father Ed and sister Angelique. (She’d popped into town unannounced for a long weekend.) Speaking of old home week, Sid recognized an old friend from high school — they’d graduated from Blaine Senior High in 1980 — and did some catching up over the catch of the day.

Fish Fry Review
(Items are rated with "+" or "-".)
– Baked fish had a funny-tasting spice Anthony didn’t care for. –
– Breaded fish was tasty and not too greasy, the wholetable agreed. +
(Anthony liked it with balsamic vinegar.)
– Good coleslaw and baked beans. +
– Milk, water, coffee and juices available. +
– No dessert offered. –
– Bake sale on-site. +
Cost: $9 adults

Verdict: Would we go back next year? YES, if nothing else,
it’s near Sid’s sister’s place and we can use it as an excuse to visit.

Week Two — Friday, February 8, 2008

Sticking to our own ‘hood, we visited the Church of St. Albert the Great, 2836 33rd Ave. S., Minnepolis. We’d heard from KARE-11 news that this was voted the best fish fry in the Twin Cities, and we knew from past experience that the lines can get extremely long, so we got their
early. Surprisingly, the place was half empty the whole time we were there. Could be because this was their first week and the pace would pick up on subsequent Fridays.

Our friends Patti and Larry Rogacki of South Minneapolis, also fish fry aficionados, joined us. Sid, unfortunately, was battling a horrendous cold and because she had no sense of smell, said everything she ate tasted like warm cotton balls; she recused herself from contributing to this week’s rating for that reason. Anthony scarcely sat still, always jumping up to buy raffle tickets throughout the meal. Sid points out that, as of yet, "We’ve won absolutely nothing."

Fish Fry Review

– Baked fish came in large but bland portions. –
– Breaded fish was tasty and not too greasy. Larry had thirds. +
– Garlic mashed potatoes looked good but were too watered down. –
– Meatless spaghetti was offered. None of us got any because we were full, but it looked and smelled pretty darn good. Nice
alternative for non-seafood lovers/vegetarians. +
– GREAT DESSERTS! Myriad varieties of bars, cookies and cakes. ++
– Milk, juice, water and coffee available. +
– Large raffle selection, $500 prize and a weekly 50-cent raffle for various gift certificates. +
Cost: $10 adults, a little pricey but still near average.

Verdict : Would we go back next year? YES, although we think KARE-11 overrated the quality of the overall meal. On desserts alone, however, it earns a great big plus from us.


Week Three — Friday, February 15, 2008

Anthony emailed 2 million relatives and/or friends to meet us at the North Aire Event Center (former Knights of Columbus Hall), 6831 Highway 65 NE, Fridley. A great many of them did, which contributed to it being the most insanely crowded fish fry we’d attended so far. Some pals showed up and had to mosey along because they couldn’t find any
place to park.

We found it rather frustrating that our guests and we had to be scattered all around the auditorium, as there were never more than a few seats open at any one table and then only for seconds. You could feasibly have to be willing to knock old ladies out of their chairs if you wanted to secure a spot, Sid noted. Very little visiting could happen because of that. We were seated with Sid’s sister Diane Lloyd and
friend Dave Anderson, and had Larry and Patti move from their places in the next aisle of tables once a couple seats opened up and they'd finished their first helpings.

Logistics aside, they know how to set up a spread here. Just check out the review below.

Fish Fry Review

- Jumbo shrimp! Worth the wait though they regularly ran out and had to fry up new batches. Only one helping allowed of these, but the fish was all you could eat. (Anthony’s Aunt Pat Hillmeyer said she thought the shrimp were greasy, but the rest of us devoured ‘em with gusto and no complaints.)+

(Editor's Note: It isn't clear whether shrimp are included every week, or only on special occasions.)

– Baked fish came in large portions and got a big thumbs up from Larry, who, again had three servings (and never gains weight, for which we all
deeply resent him). +
– Breaded fish was pretty average, but still tasty. +
– Salad bar was reportedly great, but many of the toppings had run out by the time we got there. We just got mixed greens and dressing.+
– Fantastic tomato-basil soup! +
– Milk, coffee and water available, as well as a cash bar nearby. +
– Dessert available, but it was a separate purchase, so we got none.
Cost: $9 adults, which is very reasonable for all you get.

Verdict: Would we go back next year? YES, YES, A THOUSAND
TIMES YES!!! But we’d get there MUCH earlier and save seats.


Week Four — Friday, February 22, 2008

We veered off the main path to try out the Lebanese fish fry offered at Holy Family Maronite Church, 206 E. Robie St., west side of St. Paul. Larry and Patti, our steadfast pig-out partners, joined us for a deliciously different dinner. Unbelievably friendly folks greet you and
suggestively sell all the things you sample at the dinner as take-home deli items. Anthony doubled the amount we paid by filling a bag with flat bread, hummus, garlic sauce, a meat pie and baklava after we ate. We also met and chatted with some friendly strangers at the other end of our table. They weren’t as impressed as we by this Lebanese-style meal, but we four live for garlic, so we were all in heaven. We gave the new folks our dining agenda and wound up seeing them again at Week Five’s meatless meal!

Fish Fry Review

Menu item: Score +/–:

– Fish was lightly breaded and delicious. +
– Hummus so garlicky there was nary a vampire to be seen on the premises, as well as garlic sauce and fresh flat bread were
served on the side. ++

– Roasted potatoes were tasty enough but unexciting. +
– Rice blend came topped with green beans in a tasty tomato sauce (the name of the dish sounds like “loobia”). +
– Milk, juice, water and coffee available. +

– Fresh salad and coleslaw available. +
– Variety of cakes for dessert, albeit the chocolate was alittle dry. The apple cake was much better, everyone concurred. +
Cost $10 but worth it.

Verdict : Would we go back next year? YES, absolutely! The only bummer was that in years past they’d served aneggplant dish that Larry is bonkers for. This year, justweeks before the fish fry, the fire inspector shut down thefryer they used for that recipe’s preparation. Theypromised Larry it’d be up and running by the time theyhave their fall festival.

Week Five — Friday, February 29, 2008

We gathered together with steadfast feasters Larry and Patti, of course, and were joined by good friends John and Susie Burns of Woodbury at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 401Concord St., St. Paul. As mentioned before, we also ran into our tablemates from last week’s event. They seemed more pleased with this meal and said they’d be at St.Matthew’s fish fry the following week.

Fish Fry Review—Actually, just a meatless Lenten meal rather than a fish fry.

– Cheese and bean enchiladas were decent, but we’d have liked them to have some kind of chile sauce over them. +/-
– Rice and refried beans were fine, but nothing special. +
– Tortilla chips were too salty but the fresh salsa had some fire to it.+/–
– Bottled water and soda available for purchase; coffee provided. +
– Dessert cart, presented by Carmen the Dessert Lady, provided a wide variety of very delicious choices, including a mango/raspberry
cheesecake and an unusual clove-laden Mexican bread pudding, the name of which sounds a little like “compete with your father.” Sorry, that’s as close to Spanish as we can get. +
– The servers and other volunteers, as well as Father Kevin, were all friendly and welcoming. +
Cost $8.50 for a three-enchilada plate; also available by the dozen for $14.

Verdict : Would we go back next year? Maybe, but during lunch. They serve most of the day. We live in South Minneapolis and are spoiled by having innumerable wonderful Mexican restaurants nearby. No one really raved about any of the food here, other than the desserts, so we’d rather keep the evening free to try out another dinner spot.


Next up: Week Six is Church of the Sacred Heart , 4087 W. Broadwayin Robbinsdale. We hear they have a concertina player and we want to see if we can get in any dancing on-site.

Well, there you have our reviews to date.

And last…

As told us at the Sweetheart Dance at Assumption Church in
Richfield, “You must go to St. Bonaventure (in Bloomington) next fish fry. It’s really good!”