Tag Archives: ISO fish fry

ISO - fish fry, restaurant

ISO Fish Fry – Kitty Hoynes

Image Leave a comment

Presentation:  I ordered the fish and chips at Kitty Hoynes, substituting standard chips for sweet potato fries.  The presentation – a beautiful piece of beer battered haddock resting on a bed of sweet potato WAFFLE FRIES. (that waffle fry bit was spoken in an Oprah giving out cars voice)!!! It also came with a cup of coleslaw, a dollop of tartar sauce and a lemon wedge.

My friend said it looked exactly like the fish she had at a London pub when she was in England last year.

Taste:  So good!  There was so much food that I couldn’t finish it in one sitting.  I LOVED IT!  The haddock was cooked to perfection.  The sweet potato waffle fries had a wonderful crispness.  I felt like the coleslaw was a bit bland though (if I’m forced to criticize – I mean – how else am I supposed to discern the nuances of the various fish fries when I am in search of fish fry?).

Restaurant Experience:  Tommy Conners was singing in the pub,   He’s amazing!  There were a lot of people milling about for a Saturday afternoon.  We ate in the restaurant space, which was lovely.  There was only a brief wait for a table.  The service was wonderful.

Location:  Kitty Hoynes is located at 301 W. Fayette Street, Syracuse, New York 13202.  It is an authentic Irish pub in the heart of the Armory Square area, a hot spot for bars and restaurants in Syracuse.  In the 1990s, the place was known as The Crown and it was my very favorite Friday night haunt.  The interior has not changed since those days – two sections – a full square mahogany bar serving Guinness and such, and a cozy restaurant space with a variety of table sizes to fit many different parties of foodies.

Parking:  There is no free parking in downtown Syracuse.  We found a spot on a side road Armory Square adjacent.  Check out their website for more information including their full menu and hours of operation.

fish fry, ISO - fish fry, Karen Tashkovski

ISO Fish Fry – Redwood Diner

Image Leave a comment

I drive by the Redwood Diner nearly every day.  I watched the exterior transformation in real time, like a slo-mo of an HGTV Curb Appeal episode and when they added the red siding, I said to myself – I want to go to there.  Today they added their new neon sign.  And today was also the day that the diner’s tight hours of operation (6:00 AM – 1:00 PM) fit into my schedule.

Presentation:  Redwood Diner is primarily a breakfast nook but on Fridays they do a fish fry!  Elaine was in town from Florida and when I said – I think I want to do the fish instead of breakfast, she said – me too!

Elaine ordered the fish with a side of macaroni & cheese and I ordered it with the fries.  Her order arrived first then mine without the fries and I had to wait a bit for them.  The fries were hand-sliced potatoes with the skin on them.  The fish came on a toasted and buttered bun.

Taste:  I loved the fish.  It was very light, very fresh!  I liked the taste of the potato skins.  That was a different take – I’ve never seen that before and it gave the restaurant this homey feel.  Elaine enjoyed the mac & cheese.  I would have preferred a little side of coleslaw but they didn’t have it on the menu as an option.

It was all really good!  And our fish lunches were only $12.00 each.

Restaurant Experience:  So you enter the space and it is a traditional diner with barstools at the counter in front of the short order cook style kitchen.  Then you slide into a back room with six or seven tables and it sort of feels like you’ve entered Dr. Who’s Tardis because it is way bigger on the inside than it looks from the outside.  Lots of customers inside!  Everyone happily eating, mostly breakfast items.  We arrived at 11:30 AM.

The staff was exceptional.  Wonderful people.  Friendly, happy to be at our service, the kind of people who have a passion for their jobs and I just love that so much.

It was a lovely experience.

Location:  Redwood Diner is located at 121 E. Manlius Street, East Syracuse, NY 13057, right in the village of East Syracuse.

Parking:  There is a small parking lot behind the building.  We parked on the street right in front of the diner!  That was a lucky break because the parking lot was a bit icy on this day.

fish fry, Karen Tashkovski

ISO Fish Fry – Cole’s

Image Leave a comment

Yesterday my friend Joyce and I visited the Albright-Knox Gallery and Art Museum  in Buffalo, New York.  It was a spectacular day of viewing the amazing Marisol collection of sculptures, as well as admiring some very famous paintings that we both had studied in art history classes – from Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani and my heroes Johns and Rauschenberg!  We kept saying a variation of “what is this doing here, and, I didn’t know this was here!”

On that high note, we decided to go in search of fish fry.  The gallery store employee directed us to Cole’s, an Irish pub located only minutes away in the Elmwood Village neighborhood.

Presentation:  Haddock is a Friday-only special here and it is prepared three different ways – beer battered (Joyce’s choice), broiled or broiled Greek-style.  I chose the latter minus the tomato addition.

Taste:  I have to say that this meal was the best fish dinner I have ever had.  The fish was mouthwatering.  I was told they broil their fish in white wine but when they do it Greek-style they use a Greek dressing marinade and add spinach and feta cheese to the fish before broiling.  I am in love with these people.  Too bad they are a bit over two hours away.  I asked to be adopted.  The waitress did relay this to the chef and kitchen staff, and she said they were delighted that I was delighted and I was very, very…sooooo delighted.  <3

Joyce thought her beer-battered version rivaled the fish she had last week in London, England.  Yes, that good!  She chose sweet potato fries and soup as her sides.

I loved the flavor of the coleslaw with my salty friend, feta, but as per usual, I was in salt overkill with the fries.  I think they were peppered as well.  Next time I will ask for saltless fries with this meal.

Restaurant Experience:   OMG times infinity.  I highly recommend this amazing restaurant!  We were seated immediately and the waitress was absolutely lovely.  We shared that we were out-of-towners (Joyce is from Binghamton, New York) and were excited to be there.  She welcomed us and matched our enthusiasm.

It was relatively quiet inside the restaurant with soft rock music playing.  We were able to continue our conversation in between bites and oohs and ahhs over the food – mostly me, as I am the crazy fish lady, let’s make that clear.

Location:  Cole’s is located at 1104 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14222, a two-minute drive from the AKG Art Museum (or a nine-minute walk).

Hours

Monday – 5pm- 12am
Tuesday – 5pm – 3am
Wednesday – 5pm- 2am
Thursday – 5pm- 2am
Friday – 11:30am – 4am
Saturday – 11:30am -4am
Sunday – 11am – 12am

Parking:  We parked on the street.  I didn’t see a parking lot.  We were there around 3:30 PM on Friday afternoon, which is between lunch and dinner so it wasn’t a problem finding a spot.

 

fish fry, ISO - fish fry, Karen Tashkovski

ISO Fish Fry – Atlantic Seafood Company

Image 1 Comment

Atlantic Seafood Company is a take-out restaurant.

Presentation: Behold the beauty that is this fish! And perfectly cooked fries. I ordered the fish dinner. My friend ordered the fish sandwich. The sandwich fish is smaller but comes on an oblong sesame seed-topped soft bun. 

Taste: Someone in a foodie Facebook group suggested that this fish was the best in Syracuse. I will put this in my top three (Golden Spike and Fish Cove are the other two).

After every bite I was like, this is so good…this is sooo good, which probably annoyed my lunch mates. The fish is fried in peanut oil. It was so moist and tender, and the batter remained firmly on the fish – it didn’t separate the way others do.

So fresh – so amazing!

The coleslaw is very finely chopped and there is a hint of onion in every bite. And the fries were the perfect portion. I noticed they’d already portioned them out into individual baskets and those are fried to order rather than any pre-frying and scooping a la McDonalds. Nicely done, ASC!

I ate everything on my plate and did not feel overly full afterwards. Just content. 🙂

Restaurant Experience: The place is SO CLEAN! It is very small compared to the Fish Cove, which is also a take-out only seafood restaurant. The fryers are directly behind the counter.

There is a refrigerator chock-full of sides including some desserts. We arrived about twenty minutes after they’d opened for business. We’d decided to try the fish yesterday (Thursday) to avoid the suspected crowd for Friday lunch. I’d heard a line forms out the door on Fridays. 

About six customers were there when we arrived. After ordering, we paid then stood around and waited for our orders. I feel like it was less than eight minutes? It was very quick.

There is no seating at all. My friend lives down the street so we lunched in her dining room. Food was still hot when we arrived at Dexter Parkway.

Location: Atlantic Seafood Company is located at 69 East Genesee Street, Baldwinsville, NY 13027.

They are open Tuesday-Thursday & Saturday 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM, Friday 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Parking: There is a decent-sized parking lot adjacent to the building. A little tight but not bad when your car beeps at you to indicate that someone or thing is moving behind you.

art of fine dining, fish fry, ISO - fish fry, Karen Tashkovski

ISO Fish Fry – Golden Spike Pub

Image 1 Comment

Three of us had lunch at Golden Spike Pub in the village of East Syracuse last Friday. It is a family-owned and operated restaurant. It used to be called Marko’s Golden Spike after Marko Klapan, a dear friend of my father’s. Dad even worked there, briefly. Now it is run by Marko’s daughter Mary Celletti and her husband Jim, and their children.

Presentation: Jim designed and made all of the tables in the dining room! The room has a rustic feel to it, very welcoming. There is an entrance to the dining room but you can also access it through the large bar area (think Cheers!). We all ordered the fish and different sides. As you can see from the pictures, the presentation is inconsistent – plates used depending on the order. So Mom’s fried fish had the french fries on the plate and my broiled fish had the sweet potato fries in a separate basket.

Kathy had ordered onion rings as an appetizer as well as clam chowder soup for herself. The rest of the food came at the same time. The waitress had to make two trips. We were there around 1:00 PM and it wasn’t crowded. There were three other groups dining at that time.

Taste: This is hands down THE BEST broiled fish in town. It is mouth wateringly good. Buttery, hot, fresh. Mary removes the skin from every piece of haddock in the morning then the fish is cooked to order. They never have leftovers. They order a certain amount, have the fish delivered for Friday-only lunches and dinners, so it is not an every day thing. I came here once with my friend Joey, but we’d arrived after 7:00 PM on a Friday night and they were out of the haddock. That is why Joey thought The Retreat was his favorite fish dinner – because he’d never tasted this!

Everything else was fabulous as well. The sweet potato fries are served with maple syrup on the side and they are delish! I also had the coleslaw. I didn’t try to poach Kathy’s cucumber salad or the macaroni and cheese but I should have! It looks so good, doesn’t it?

Restaurant Experience: It was pretty quiet in the dining room. The waitress was lovely. She came to get our orders right away. I just felt so happy there!

Location: Golden Spike Pub is located at 411 West Manlius Street, East Syracuse, NY 13057. They also do parties and catering. You can contact them by phone (315) 565-5691 or by email GoldenSpikePub315@gmail.com.

They are not open on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the summer. Call them for updated hours of operation.

You can also find them on Facebook. That’s where they post the daily specials menu. I love everything! They do a superb roast beef sub with homemade chips. In fact, everything is homemade! They have the best food – and you know what a picky eater I am! <3

Parking: There is a parking lot adjacent to the building. I parked at the post office across the street because I was approaching via East Road and the parking lot appeared full. But when I crossed the street I saw plenty of room behind the apartment building next door. Oh well, next time I will know better.