François Hertel

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.

Oil on canvas, 40 × 29,5 cm

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