#fishfry gal

[buffaloareafishfrygal]

June 2, 2023

Potters Field Restaurant and Pub

425 Potters Road

Buffalo, NY 14220

I decided to venture out for an out of season fish fry to celebrate “National Fish and Chips Day!” Every year the first Friday in June! Mark your calendars for next year. Why is it that South Buffalo has so many great fish fry joints?

We pulled up around 5:30 pm. Tiny parking lot that holds maybe 8 cars but we were able to find side street parking on Woodcrest Drive without a problem. Fun neighborhood pub vibe with friendly people enjoying a drink at the bar to kick off the weekend. We sat ourselves inside at one of the 12 tables surrounding the bar. There was outside seating available on their front patio too. (6 tables) It’s a small venue but I really like how it doesn’t feel crowded as you eat.

Our waitress Molly greeted us and got us a our beers. She was very sweet. Nice selection of everybody’s favorites. Not a ton of choices, but something to please all tastes. I ordered the beer battered fish but they also had Italian breaded and panko. Broiled options were lemon pepper, Cajun, or Parmesan crusted. Skinless haddock also available in a half size. Fish came out crisp and piping hot. Great taste and perfectly cooked. (9)Just a wee bit greasy but not overwhelming. Besides that my only complaint was the portion size wasn’t huge like others in town. I’m afraid if I ordered the half, I would have wanted more. They had a great offering of sides. You know I need my holy trinity! Each fry comes with coleslaw and Mac salad and then you choose your potato. (Choices! Now that’s the bomb in my book!) Cole slaw was not very crispy. A mix of green and purple cabbage with carrots mixed in. Oil based dressing. Kinda bland. (7) Mac salad was elbows with carrots, egg, and celery. Lightly dressed. Good not great. (8) Now here is where they get MAJOR props from me… you can choose your type of potato. Fries, sweet potato fries, potato salad or German potato salad. I wanted to try more than just one, so I ordered fries and a side of German and American potato salad. They only charged me $1 extra for each. What?!? I was ecstatic. The holy trinity just became the fab five! Fries were skin on. Nice and crispy with the perfect amount of salt. Run of the mill but nicely done. (9) Potato salad featured onions and peppers with cubed white potatoes. Flavor fell short. Definitely missing something.(6) German was a pleasant surprise. Again featuring cubed white potatoes. Had a nice vinegar kick but could have used a touch more bacon. (8) Tartar was really yummy. Creamy with a heavy pickle presence.(10)

Overall a very solid fish fry. (8.5) Just the choices alone bump it up a notch. Great atmosphere and from what I hear, new owners. South Buffalo peeps. Staff was friendly and very efficient. I will be back for sure!

[buffaloareafishfrygal]

April 6, 2022

Dockside Bar & Grill

153 Sweeney St

North Tonawanda, NY 14120

What a fantastic little gem! As soon as I walked in I loved the warm inviting atmosphere right on the water. Our server, Alyssa, was warm and had a cute factor of 10! Imagine my joy when we found out Resurgence was having a free tasting. Plus we got a free pint glass when we ordered a draft. What an unexpected bonus! Parking on the street or in the small lot across the way. The fish was skin on haddock in beer batter, broiled, or Cajun broiled. Batter was a light golden brown and you could really taste the beer in the batter. I’m generally not a fan of fish with the skin on, but it was quite tasty. It was served piping hot and retained it’s heat much longer than other fish I’ve reviewed. (9) Potato salad was standard but with skin on potatoes and had a really nice taste and texture. (10) Coleslaw was a vinegar base that was quite bitter. Seemed to have no sugar involved at all and really bit back. (5) Fresh cut, skin on fries were good. (9) Here’s where they fell short, no bread and no mac salad. A must to get a great score. The real show stopper here was the tartar. A rose colored blend that featured wonderful dill flavor. Definitely a must try. (10) Overall, I really enjoyed it and give it an 8. If they added on mac salad and change the slaw and they could be pushing perfection. They also serve fish frys everyday. That’s fantastic!!!I will definitely be back in the summer whether by boat or car because the ambiance is not too be missed!

[buffaloareafishfrygal]

March 3, 2021

Brother’s takeout cafe & catering

1281 Hertel Ave

Buffalo, NY 14217

Usually the places I review have no idea that I am coming. They had the luxury of a heads up since I would be bringing Channel 7 with me to do a story on my take out review quest during the pandemic. Ordering is online. Which is easy and efficient. The only problem is you cannot order for an advance time. So depending on when you order and how busy they are, the pick up times can be anywhere from 30 to more than 60 minutes. This was a very different fish fry offering. You can order a fish fry with fries and coleslaw or a fish fry with 2 sides. The choices include rice, mashed potatoes, french fries, sautéed broccoli, cabbage, yams, butter beans with rice, mac n cheese, collard greens or green beans. They are known for their southern style cooking. I sampled the collard greens and mac n cheese. Both were quite good. Mac n cheese reminded me of what my grandmother would make. Fries were a skin on steak fry. They were ok but a bit limp. Now on to the fish. The chef served up a cornmeal breaded haddock. I did not enjoy it... fish was quite dense and the coating was gritty and lacked flavor. I elected to return on Friday the 5th to try their beer battered cod and give them a shot at redemption. It was ok. It was advertised as cod but I think it was frozen haddock. The batter had good taste but it was heavy and quite greasy. The coleslaw was standard run of the mill. Nothing bad about it but nothing to rave about either. Tartar was nice, liked it a lot. Parking is tricky since you have to find a spot on busy Hertel. Overall, I was disappointed. I give it a 5.5. They are famous for their home style southern cooking. So if you go there I would recommend you stick to what they do best, and it’s not the fish.