I'm not Catholic, but in recent years, I've found myself enjoying Lenten fish fry events at local churches and civic venues. This year, the time was right to get this blog started up, so what better way to get it started with a series of fish fry reviews? Hopefully this will be the first of many special series of reviews!
I couldn't wait to get started this year, so as soon as the whistle blew on Ash Wednesday, I was on the hunt. With fewer selections on Ash Wednesday than a Friday during Lent, it was a bit easier to choose. I quickly settled on the Silver Grove Volunteer Fire Department's fish fry as my first stop of Lent 2012. After promising my daughters there would be mac and cheese, they were along for the ride.
We arrived at the fire department about 6pm, and found one of the last parking spots. We quickly located location of the event at the site, which is not always an easy task at a fish fry. Often they are in basement cafeterias, back rooms, and other places that don't exactly have a red carpet rolled out. At Silver Grove, the old fire house building is where the action is.
Upon entering the fire house, we found a makeshift dining hall with long rows of covered tables assembled. Each table had plenty of condiments, flatware, napkins, etc already laid out. With no wait, we quickly made our way to the ordering station and selected our food. Fish dinner setup on rye for me, with fries. Chicken strips and Mac and cheese for the girls. Typical fish fry fare, except for the chicken, which was a welcome appearance for my kids who don't care for fish. On to the pickup station, and finally to drinks. Speaking of drinks, there were plenty of soda choices, plus bottled water and Milwaukee's Best for sale.
After we got our plates and drinks, we headed to the tables to chow down. The first thing I dug into was the fries. Not bad, but seemed to be a bit soggy. Maybe it was just bad timing. The fish, though was crispy, mild in flavor, and flaky. Not exactly gourmet fare, mind you, but pretty solid. The run-of-the-mill rye it was served with didn't do it justice. Also included with the meals were cole slaw and hush puppies. These were no institutional hush puppies. They were obviously hand made and delicious. The slaw on the other hand, not so much. A little dull and mushy, not tangy and crisp. I did dip into some of my daughter's leftover mac and cheese, and found it to be cheesy and creamy. It wasn't my favorite homestyle mac, but it was just the way my kids like it.
Overall the experience at Silver Grove was fine, exactly what you'd expect from a fish fry at a fire house in semi-rural Campbell County. A somewhat noisy (and certainly not fancy) environment with long tables of families and old friends chatting an enjoying a nice meal and maybe a cheap beer.
If you go:
Silver Grove Volunteer Fire Department
5011 Four Mile Road
Silver Grove, KY
4:00pm - 7:30pm Fridays during Lent
859-441-6251
Menu:
Fish, shrimp, frog legs, macaroni, green beans, hush puppies, fries, onion rings, chicken strips and desserts.
Benefits Silver Grove Volunteer Fire Department.
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