Lately we’ve been realizing just how varied pub
grub really is. One pub may serve a decent burger but everything else off
the menu is from Sams Club. A few pubs (we won’t name) serve nothing
but Sams Club crap and call it “homemade, homestyle” or even
name it after themselves. Yeah right! It reminds me of George Carlins “homestyle...
in a can” comedy routine. Come on people, is it really that hard to bread,
batter, bake, fry or sauté? Have your consumer needs been satisfied
by a flash frozen pre-breaded sodium nitrate, monosodium glutamate chicken
butt patty? Mine aren’t. I’ll let you in on a little secret, EV
food reviewers made two previous attempts to write a Pub Grub article at two
other pubs prior to settling in at A.J’s. The first was serving a VERY
limited menu... because it was Sunday. The second pub couldn’t offer
the whole menu due to a broken fryer.
A.J’s was on the way and open. The sign out front proudly displayed “lunch
and dinner served everyday”. That sign pretty much sealed the deal. Hard
to believe Sunday pub-grubbin came down to a matter of who is open and ready
for business. Sundays should be a decent day for the pubs. You have Nascar, Sports
and usually food and drink deals. To be closed or have the kitchen shut down
for that one day of the week doesn’t make good sense. Unless of course
your business is so slow you simply can’t afford it. Ever think maybe the
business is slow because you can’t afford to compete? A.J’s is obviously
open on Sundays, as well as every other day. They have the kitchen going strong
and nothing of what I’ve seen gives me any indication
the freezer is stocked with Sams Club Sh!t.
The Bartender wanted me to choose my order but I wasn’t having any part
of that, so I asked her to choose. Her choice... the ever popular Jack Salmon.
Can’t go wrong with a crowd favorite now can you? Well I see why the Jack
sandwich is so popular, it’s big, crisp and flaky. However, the fish is
actually Walleye not Salmon.
I think I’d re-name it true to its fins as Walleye is much more enticing
to me than Jack Salmon. Who really knows what Jack Salmon is anyway? Well www.freedictionary.com
lists the following description.
Noun 1. jack salmon - pike-like freshwater perches Stizostedion vitreum, walleyed
pike, walleye pike perch, pike-perch - any of several pike-like fishes of the
perch family blue pickerel, blue pike, blue pike perch, blue walleye, Strizostedion
vitreum glaucum - variety inhabiting the Great Lake. I guess it really is a Jack
Salmon. I still like Walleye better. Regardless of what you call it the fish
is fantastic. Lightly breaded, cooked just long enough to turn the wonderful
white meat into a moist, flaky fillet. You could say it was delicious, delightful
or even damn near perfect. You could never say it looked like it was from Sams,
Save-A-Lot or even Sisco.
I’m always uneasy about ordering fish because if I don’t like it
I’m stuck hungry waiting for a replacement so I ordered wings as a back-up
in case of a foul fish experience. I didn’t need the wings after all but
that didn’t stop us from eating every single one of them. These wings were
big fat meaty suckers too! I hate the little skinny wings at BW3’s, it
screws up my whole ordering process. I have to add extra wings to what I normally
get, at A.J’s I have to subtract. A small order of 10 ($4.95) is more than
enough for me, even as a meal! At BW3’s I’d need at least 12 or 15.
My companion opted for a Reuben sandwich ($6.95) with a twist... turkey, sauerkraut,
mayo, pickle and wheat bread. The cook got it right and the sandwich was decent
but the wings and fish stole the show.
The fresh fries were good but even better with some of the homemade tartar sauce
that came with the fish. The rest we ate with the ranch from the wings, hot sauce
splattered and all. The menu has several other interesting choices that I’ll
definitely get around to consuming here soon. I would most likely order the wings
as an appetizer on every visit. I was impressed by the sheer size and meaty girth
the wings have. Obviously they aren’t from your grocers freezer either.
I wonder how many pubs would still serve food if you legally had to make it from
scratch? Better yet, how many would still be serving on a Sunday?
As long as Sams and Sisco are around you’ll never know... but we will.
