Fish Type: Ocean Perch (AYCE) Price: $11.50
Overall, I would highly recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Excellent Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Good Bread Score: Excellent Miscellaneous Score: Good |  |
Comment: Our first visit to Talula was a resounding success. I was happy because the AYCE Ocean Perch was very good and the rest of our party enjoyed their veggie options. I heard through the grapevine (and via Talula’s website) that in addition to OP they were also offering Haddock and Walleye on Friday nights so I knew it was only a matter of time before we would make our way to the hot pink cube again.
If you have ever driven down Stoughton Road at night it is impossible not to notice the big blue tree aglow with lights at the Cottage Grove Road exit. Adjacent to this tree is the hot pink cube that is Talula. We arrived at about 7:15 prepared for the worst. We were slightly amazed that not only was there not a long wait but we pretty much got seated immediately. The host led us to a “castle” looking room but I would be more inclined to characterize it is a fallout shelter. The walls were adorn with art for sale (although none of this art is going to be making it into my house) which gave the room some character but not much. The waitress came by about 5 minutes later, dropped some menus and took our drink orders. The OP and Haddock are both $11.50 and of the two the OP is AYCE. The Walleye was considerably more and didn’t even cross my mind.
Gabe put his order in for the perch and I went for the haddock as it was recommend to a couple fellow diners by a guy wearing an absolutely awesome Schlitz Beer shirt. Another group of “very typical Wisconsin folks” (VTWF) near us also went for the haddock based on this guys recommendation. This trio of humanity was a little over the top but did provide us with some cherry quotes to sum up our evening.
Before the fish hit the table we were treated to a choice of soup/salad/slaw. I went for the salad which was absolutely insane. It was a great mix of fresh dark greens and a delicious “ranch” dressing that we dubbed “Ranch Island” since it seemed to be some sort of hybrid. The salad was great and a far cry from the wedge of iceberg lettuce and Thousand Island dressing that VTWF grew up eating. The bread that came with the salads was also spectacular and we had no problem eating the first and second baskets full.
The fish came shortly after and was good and hot. Since the OP was AYCE I got to try both styles and still feel like the OP was better than the haddock. The perch was less salty this time which was nice but otherwise the exact same. The haddock was much “lighter” and had a different batter that was good but not great. It tasted much less fishy than the OP which is to be expected but wasn’t necessarily better. Overall they were both good but I like the batter and the actual fish part of the OP better, plus it is AYCE so that takes that cake.
The straight cut fries were great but hard to come by. When I have AYCE fish I need more fries to balance it out, as it was I was out of fries long before fish which kind of sucked. The tartar was also kind of sucky. It wasn’t truly bad but really had a strong tartar flavor much like you get in premade brands like Kraft. If it was homemade they took it beyond a balanced mayo-relish mix into the tartarsphere.
After a second visit to Talula I can safely say this is a quality Fish Fry. Talula does what they need to do to make Fish Fry fit in with their style of cuisine without trying to make it too unique, it is still just a Fish Fry after all. This is also a great Fish Fry to recommend to those people who usually feel “held hostage at the bar” since the place is large and long waits seem to be a thing of the past. The food is clearly high quality, the servers are professional and the atmosphere works. Overall we echo the sentiments of Sonja a MFF fan: “hats off to Talula!! AYCE perch with a draft Spotted Cow…life’s good”. Amen to that.
www.talula802.com/live/
802 Atlas Avenue
Madison, WI 53704
(608) 441-1977
