Fish Type: Lake Perch Price: $14.00
Overall, I would recommend this Fish Fry.
| Fish Score: Good Potato Score: Good Tartar Score: Good Bread Score: Fair Miscellaneous Score: Excellent |  |
Comment: We used to live out on the West Side and would go to RP Adler’s fairly regularly since it was right in our “neighborhood”. A couple years back we moved far enough away that it was no longer easy to just swing by and it basically fell off our radar. My recollection of their Fish Fry was slightly hazy and since they didn’t have a proper write up on MadisonFishFry.com I figured this frigid Friday would be a good opportunity for us to get reacquainted.
RP Adler’s is a newer, kind of yuppie-style establishment. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the restaurant is very modern looking and clean but does lack some of the character you find at an old school Wisconsin Supper Club. It features a spacious, well lit bar with a large dining room with cathedral-like ceilings. At a nice place you like this you would expect a nice Friday Fish Fry and that is what you get at Adler’s.
There are two Fish Fry options at Adler’s and they serve them for both lunch and dinner, which is great (it sucks to know of places that have great Fish Fry but only serve it after 5pm). The first option is cod, which comes as 2 or 3 pieces for 8 or 9 bucks. I went with the second option which was the lake perch. It was more expensive at $14 but as I recalled worth the difference. After this round I am not quite so sure. It was good but I’m not sure it is twice as good which it would really need to be to justify the cost. The Perch filets were thin and coated in a rich and thick batter which dominated the taste. It was good but I usually like a lighter batter that lets the fish shine through.
The French fries that came with the Fish Fry were very good and coated with some seasoning salt which really pepped them up. The tartar sauce was good and plentiful which helped to round out a very solid core of Fish Fry items. The coleslaw really didn’t do it for me even though it actually appeared quite appetizing. The bread was also a bit of a letdown for me even though I think I would normally like it. I pretzel log just doesn’t seem to fit with a Fish Fry…
RP Adler’s is a nice place, no doubt about it. Usually if you show up around dinner time you should expect to wait a good 45 minutes holding one of those little vibrate-and-light-up-drink-coaster things but since we were eating a late lunch we had no problem getting in which is great. The service was very good and all the food we had was obviously of high quality. Overall, this is an easy one to recommend. Nice place, nice food, nice service. When all is said and done I guess you can sum Adler’s up in a single word: nice.
www.rpadlers.com
8202 Watts Road
Madison, WI 53719
(608) 828-1250
