Tag Archives: fish fry

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ISO Fish Fry: Bailiwick Market & Cafe

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I stumbled into this fish fry. I went to Bailiwick Market & Cafe because they’d advertised the grand opening of their sunflower walk in the field adjacent to the restaurant. It happened to be Friday and they happened to have fish fry specials that is a Friday only thingy.

Presentation: The fish dinner is served on a large white plate placed on a tray with plastic cups for the slaw and tartar sauce. It’s a huge piece of haddock, don’t you think? It’s like a foot long!

Taste: I ate everything on my plate. Fish was tender, the coleslaw incredibly fresh (cabbage and carrots in a mayo dressing) and as you can see from the picture, a small portion of fries.

I didn’t think it was salty until later. I feel thirsty right now just thinking about it. But that is not a dis. It tasted great!

Restaurant Experience: When we first arrived for the sunflower experience at Bailiwick Market & Cafe, we paid at the entrance to the cafe then decided to go in and look around. I noticed they had a fish fry special on Friday only so I said – oh, let’s get that after we take some pictures of the sunflowers.

When we returned, it seemed everyone had the same idea. The line to order was quite long and slow with only one register in operation. They hadn’t anticipated such a huge lunch crowd of sunflower patch visitors spilling over into the cafe. I guess I hadn’t either. But I patiently waited in line while my friend got a table for us.

I finally ordered, paid and received one of those buzzer thingys then headed to the table. The fish dinner was $14.99.

The food prep took a lot less time than the initial wait. I picked up my order at the kitchen window, collected utensils and ketchup, napkins, etc. at the little condiment station and finally sat down to eat.

Everyone was incredibly friendly. All customers very patient. I think we were all so happy to be there!

Location: Bailiwick Market & Cafe is located at 441 Route 5, Elbridge, NY 13060. I have passed it on my way to Auburn or Skaneateles many times – I’d always say to myself, I should investigate that place. It looks so cute!

The building has been in operation since 2016 or maybe it was renovated then. It is a spectacular place – a restaurant and cafe, a music venue, there is an ice cream station, and it operates as a store selling artisan goods.

I bought Pablo a fish-shaped cat nip toy for $8.00. He loves it!

Parking: There is an ample parking lot, although we arrived at around 11:30 AM when there were several available spaces and when we left the parking lot was full.

I highly recommend Bailiwick Market & Cafe. It is an absolutely lovely place.

Cafe Hours

Mon – Wed   7AM – 7PM

(Kitchen closes at 7pm)

Thurs – Sat  7AM – 9PM

(Kitchen closes at 8pm)

Sunday        7AM – 5PM

(Kitchen closes at 5pm)

fish fry, ISO - fish fry, Karen Tashkovski

ISO Fish Fry – Harpoon Eddie’s

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Last night I found a fried haddock dinner at Harpoon Eddie’s in Sylvan Beach, New York. We were there to listen to the harmonies of SAMMY nominated Syracuse band Master Thieves. They do great versions of classic rock songs interspersed with originals.

They played indoors due to the inclement weather.

Presentation: This massive fried haddock dinner came served with lager fries, char-grilled Brussels sprout and homemade tartar sauce presented on an adorable aluminum fish plate.

I love how every time I go in search of fish fry I am delighted by the variety in presentation. This one is so fun!

There are several haddock choices on the menu – sandwich, bites, dinner – and several side items. Crinkle cut fries were available too or garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli in place of the sprouts. But no coleslaw.

Taste: I enjoyed the meal, especially the fries – they’d been recommended by the bartender. I liked the Brussels spout but flavor-wise I felt they competed with the fish and it seemed an odd choice. The fish tasted great – flaky and airy. I split the dinner with my friend. Half was really plenty meal. It was $23.00.

Restaurant Experience: I’m not going to lie – Harpoon Eddie’s is so much better on a beautiful summer night, as depicted in photographs on their web-site. My hair would agree with that assessment. It transforms into full gremlin when wet. But, you know, despite that – still fun. Sparsely attended yet everyone there was enjoying the band and their respective meals. The waitstaff appear to love their jobs. They are very helpful and friendly, and smiley.

Location: Harpoon Eddie’s is on the beach overlooking Oneida Lake, located at 611 Park Street, Sylvan Beach, New York 13157.

OPEN MON-TUE 4-10 PM, WED-THU 12-10 PM, FRI-SAT 12-1130 PM AND SUN 12-9 PM

Parking: Parking is tight in the small parking lot. There are more spaces across the street, as well as a larger parking lot within walking distance that services other businesses and the amusement park.

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ISO Fish Fry – Fat Cats

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When you find yourself in Little Falls, New York, you ask the locals where to go in search of fish fry. And that’s how we found Fat Cats.

Presentation: I ordered the broiled fish dinner, which came with tartar sauce, a dinner roll, coleslaw and fries. Penny ordered the fish and chips meal. My fish came wrapped in foil. When unwrapped, I found a juicy paprika and butter flavored piece of fish – beautiful!

Taste: Everything was delicious. I swallowed every bite of the fish without even chewing anything. The coleslaw tasted like mayonnaise with carrots. It was all very finely chopped. Fries were perfection.

Restaurant Experience: We waited in a short line. Two people were taking orders so it went quickly. We ordered and paid then sat down to wait for our order. The wait was about fifteen minutes. While we waited, we searched the room for hidden plastic Easter eggs. That was fun. We each found one. The restaurant was full at 2:30 pm on this Good Friday. This is a casual dining experience with plastic cups and utensils and a vintage feel.

Location: Fat Cats is located at 200 King Street, Herkimer, New York 13350. Call (315) 866-5716 for more information. They will be open tonight until 8:00 pm.

Parking: There is plenty of parking in front of the restaurant and also in an adjacent lot.

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ISO Fish Fry – Eclectic Eats

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On a recent excursion to The Eclectic Chic, an antique store in Oneida, Janine and I decided to try the fish fry at the restaurant inside the store. It is located on the left side of the store.

Presentation: I had the potato chips and my friend had the fries – we shared them. The chips were homemade! They came in these darling little mini fryer baskets. The coleslaw was a pretty pink, the fish presented on a toasted brioche roll. 

Taste: So good! They use canola oil in the fryer. The french fries had a crunch to them. The fish was crispy on the outside and flaky/juicy on the inside. Perfecto! The coleslaw had a lovely sweetness. I really enjoyed this meal.

Restaurant Experience: The restaurant portion of the antique store is quaint, as though you’ve just stepped into an episode of the Andy Griffith Show. It is called Eclectic Eats. Everyone is so friendly. They take pride in what they do. There was joy on the face of the chef as he prepared the meals. The food is made to order and took about twenty minutes. We browsed the vendor shoppes as we waited while carrying those buzzer thingys, like they have at Panera, to corral us back to the restaurant when the food was ready. 

There are daily specials including prime rib, burgers and sandwiches. Lots of choices. Fish is on the menu every day, not just on Friday. It is like this amazing secret delicious place. Go once and you will decide to be a regular. It’s just amazing!

Location: Eclectic Eats is inside The Eclectic Chic Antique store, 2044 Glenwood Shopping Plaza, Oneida, NY 13421

Parking: Tons of parking!!!!!! It’s in a shopping plaza.

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ISO Fish Fry – Glenwood Pines Restaurant

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Presentation – During Covid, the Glenwood Pines Restaurant changed the way they operated. No more waitresses – instead customers ordered food and drinks at the bar. This became the new normal. So, this is what we did.

The food was ready rather quickly. It was presented at the bar in to-go styrofoam with the option of dining in or out. It smelled so good – I couldn’t wait to taste it! We paid for it then decided to sit outside and enjoy the view.

I selected the haddock dinner, which was the fish with coleslaw and fries. Joyce had the fish sandwich and ordered onion rings to go with it.

Taste – Everything was delicious. The fish was very lightly breaded and not at all greasy. The fries were fine – not a huge portion. As for the coleslaw, it was mainly cabbage – no carrots or other stuff and it was rather flavorless in comparison to other coleslaws – but still good. I ate everything.

Restaurant Experience – The bartender was really friendly and the other customers seemed very happy. We had been directed to this particular restaurant by the cashier at Found in Ithaca. It is always smart to ask a local where they like to eat.

There was a condiment and napkin station by the front door – ketchup, salt, pepper, straws, etc. We collected what we desired.

We sat outside, as I mentioned. It was a beautiful day. The picnic table had an umbrella over it for shade, which was nice. My only complaint is that the seat was lower than it should have been. I don’t know – it was weird because we felt like we were little children or something, like we couldn’t reach our food properly. It was kind of funny. Once outside, we were on our own as far as needs. No waitstaff there to ask if we wanted anything else. When we were ready to leave, we picked up after ourselves and threw the debris in the garbage can. But we knew it was like that. The info is in plain site on two large signs by the front entrance. I guess if you are looking for something less casual, this is not your place.

Location – Glenwood Pines Restaurant is located at 1213 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca, New York 14850. It has a breathtaking view of Cayuga Lake.

Call 607-273-3709 for more information including hours of operation.

Parking – There is a large parking lot. We were there around 3:30 pm and there were plenty of spaces. After lunch, we visited the Taughannock Falls. We drove past Glenwood Pines on the way home and the parking lot was full.

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ISO Fish Fry – Swifty’s

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After viewing the Norman Rockwell exhibit at Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute yesterday, Penny Santy and I had lunch down the street at Swifty’s Restaurant & Pub.

Since it was Friday, I decided to try their fish fry.

Presentation: Pub style beer-battered fish fry is always welcome! It arrived in a basket with homemade hot potato chips, coleslaw and a big helping of tartar sauce.

Taste: In the ’90s I used to love the beer-battered haddock at the Empire Brewing Company in Armory Square in Syracuse. This fish tasted exactly like it – OMG, it was so familiar and wonderful. I didn’t have many of the chips because I wasn’t that hungry and I loved that it was such a small portion of coleslaw. Everything was delish!

Restaurant Experience: We picked the restaurant because it was close to the museum and it was open. There wasn’t anyone sitting in the outdoor seating section and no one was dining in the restaurant. A handful of regulars were seated in the bar area. So – this is not often a good sign, lol, that the food would be good. But, it was around 3:30 PM, which is that in between time, between lunch and dinner. We sat inside near the front windows. It was very clean and comfortable. The waitress was extremely welcoming and friendly. It was such a positive place!

The food came rather quickly. It was an excellent restaurant experience.

Location: Swifty’s Restaurant & Pub is located at 257 Genesee Street, Utica, NY 13501. Call (315) 733-6611 for reservations and hours of operation or visit their web-site. They offer catered parties, take-out orders, live music and a children’s menu. They also have locations in Delmar, NY and Albany, New York!

Parking: We parked on the street in front of the building. It was one of those easy parking manifestations, the way it always seems to happen in movies, so that was nice. There is no parking lot.

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ISO Fish Fry – Shaughnessy’s

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I attended Winter Fest kick-off on Friday night – cover band Hard Promises performed in the Persian Terrace of the Syracuse Marriott (formerly the Hotel Syracuse). Two hours of dancing to music from the ’70s and ’80s was soooo fun!

At 7:30 pm, we headed to Shaughnessy’s for fish and chips.

Presentation: So beautiful! It was a huge piece of haddock with a beer battered crust, a small cup of coleslaw, two helpings of tartar sauce and fries. I selected tater tots instead and they arrived in a separate basket.

Taste: I love haddock. I had to disrobe it from the fried batter, which was too salty for me. The fish was so fresh and delicate, and moist. I brought the tater tots home and turned them into breakfast hash browns.

Restaurant Experience: I love Shaughnessy’s. There is a huge bar space – and plenty of booths to accommodate large groups. They had live music as well. The hostess and waitresses were lovely – upbeat and positive. We were seated immediately and it did not take long to order and receive our dinners. All four of us ordered the same thing so it was easy-peasy.

Location: Shaughnessy’s is located on the ground floor of the Syracuse Marriott – 550 South Warren Street, Syracuse, NY 13202 Contact them at (315) 554- 3542.

Parking: There is a parking garage next door for a fee. On street parking is available if you are lucky. We parked across the street for free.

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ISO Fish Fry – The Retreat

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The search for the best fish fry in town may be over – OMG – last night at The Retreat!

Presentation: I ordered the fried haddock with sweet potato fries and coleslaw and my friend ordered the same but with regular french fries. Love!

Taste: The coleslaw had celery in it. It is probably the best mayo-style slaw I have ever had! The sweet potato fries came with maple butter, which was insanely good. And the fish was soooo fresh!

The only negative is that it was so good that I ate everything. As you know from my last blog entry, I don’t eat like this every day – and so, later I couldn’t sleep because it was all so salty – not for other people, I am sure, but for me. I was ridiculously thirsty and I ended up with a headache this morning, lol, like waking up from a food coma. Why does it have to taste so good??? I ended up getting a late start to my day this morning because of it. I’m going to admit here that it was worth it. <3

Restaurant Experience: We didn’t have a reservation so they put us on a list – said it would be a half hour wait for inside and an hour wait for outside (it was 6:30pm when we arrived). We went to the outdoor bar for a drink and within five minutes the call came through that our table was ready.

The waiter promptly took our order and within about ten or fifteen minutes we were eating! The waiter was a wonderfully cheerful person and, truly, I felt like I was in a scene from a movie.

Our conversation turned to manifesting dreams and I thought that was incredibly apropos, as I felt I had manifested the entire experience in a dream.

Location: The Retreat is located at 302 Vine Street, Liverpool, NY 13088

Parking: There is a huge paved parking lot marked specifically for guests of The Retreat. There is also street parking around the building.

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ISO Fish Fry – Kiki’s

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Kiki’s Authentic Greek Cuisine is located in the heart of Camillus, New York. They offer a daily fish fry (no coleslaw, but they do have spanikopita, which is amazing). It is a beautiful little restaurant with outdoor seating.

I was there last Friday. I am in search of the best fish fry in the area. The criteria will be as follows:

*Presentation

*Taste

*Restaurant Experience

*Location/Parking

I am no foodie/food critic, lol. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t cook, preferring microwaved oatmeal with blueberries and a banana for breakfast, peanut butter out of a jar and a yogurt for lunch, and a handful of deli turkey for dinner – so , naturally, I will not be scoring these categories.

Presentation: I love their use of the color blue throughout the restaurant, as a nod to the Greek flag. They use a blue checked waxed paper on the plates – very cute!

Taste: The fish was fresh – very good. I didn’t eat the bread and all the fries and I wished they had coleslaw. They did have tartar sauce and lemon, which was nice.

Restaurant Experience: An overall fun restaurant experience!

Location: 64 West Genesee Street, Camillus, NY 13031 – It was a great day for lunching outside at one of their umbrella-ed tables.

Parking: They have ample street parking, as well as a small parking lot. It doesn’t seem to be a heavily trafficked place – only a couple storefronts were open when we were there around 3pm – some, like the antique store across the street, are only open on weekends. We got a space right in front of the place. <3

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(Here is the link to another fish fry article.)