Lenten Project III: Fish Schedule 3-23-12

Here are the final two locations that I will be visiting for the 2012 Lenten Fish Fry season. First up is the overall winner from the first year I started doing this project, St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church:


St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church
8894 Ohio Rt. 14
Streetsboro, OH 44241
(330) 626-3424
4:30 PM - 7:00 PM


Cafe in Stow
4591 Darrow Road
Stow, OH 44224
(330) 688-0200
11:00 AM - 9:30 PM


I plan on being at St. Joan of Arc at roughly 5:15 PM tonight and the Cafe in Stow at around 6:30 PM. Please feel free to join me for either dinner if you are feeling up to it. It has been such a strange Lenten fish fry season with the weather being so warm. In the past two years, I've had to cancel at least one Friday because of impassable roads and inclement weather.

Lenten Project III: Murphy's Law Can Kiss My $$$

Generally speaking, I am a non-religious man. Spiritual, perhaps, but religious, no. I am also not particularly superstitious. I may not walk under ladders in fear of something falling on me, but I have no problem taking the elevator to the thirteenth floor or opening an umbrella indoors in order to let the fabric dry off after a good soaking in the rain. I seldom read my horoscope and when I do, I always think to myself that the scribblings are so generalized that they really could apply to anyone.

However, after days like today, I have to think some force is out there keeping an eye on me and every once in a while, a perfect storm brews in such a way that my life is suddenly made miserable, at least temporarily. Let me walk you through such an example, gentle reader. While the only person truly in pain is yours truly, perhaps my tale of woe will give you some entertainment in this mad cap world we live in.

The setup actually began back in January, earlier this year. I happen to be a substitute handbell ringer in my mother's church choir. It was an activity I did growing up and throughout high school. After graduating high school, I didn't pick up another handbell for at least fifteen years. I've alternated being a member and a substitute for the last couple of years. To make a long story shorter, every couple of years, various handbell ringing groups get together for ... well, for lack of a better word, a "conference" where we all play the same music, just en masse. Back in January, I agreed to pay my $60 to be a part of this year's festival since it will be in Akron this weekend.

Fast forward to this past Wednesday evening. I had shown up early to my weekly camera club meeting and as this was a competition week, the room needed to be transformed to accommodate the night's activities. One of the other members asked me to help bring the lightbox down from the second floor. As I slowly helped to lower the cumbersome (but surprisingly light) box down step by step, I had an odd sensation in my upper right thigh. I didn't think much about it at the time as it was simply a quick tinge of pain, but that was all it took to strain the muscle.

As I walked back to my car after the camera club meeting, I noticed a slight change in my gait. It wasn't until I woke up Thursday morning that I really felt it. "Eh," I thought, "it'll work itself out as I start walking." It sort of did and by the time I went out to grab some lunch, I was doing better.

Last night, I attended the final handbell choir rehearsal for the upcoming festival. Unfortunately, even with the occasional aid of a wooden stool upon which to sit, I essentially stood for about ninety minutes during rehearsal. When I went to leave, I felt a noticeable amount of pain with each step. Hoping that another night's sleep might help, I returned home, plopped my butt down on a chair (which helps immensely) until it was time to go to bed.

I woke up this morning, hopeful that my time spent lacking verticality would pay off with decreased soreness and pain. Nope, no such luck. I'm okay when I sit, but when I stand and/or try to walk, it's quite obvious that I am in pain. Not crippling pain, but enough pain that I kind of hobble along. Since the festival starts tonight, I knew I wasn't going to be able to get in any Friday night Lenten fish fries in.

But then an idea struck me. Just down the road from where I work is a small complex of buildings housing a local chain that does fresh fish fries and an Acme Super Market right next door to it. If I take my camera with me, I could do a review of the fried fish sandwich at On Tap Bar and Grille and then stop in at Acme and pick up something to help me deal with the pain (as there will be a *LOT* of standing at this festival). So, I made sure to grab my camera bag along with my keys and wallet and headed out to my car.

As I pulled into the very packed parking lot that On Tap and Acme share, I found a spot a tad closer to Acme. Not my preference, but on Friday at 12:30 pm for lunch, it was the only spot available. I decided to do lunch first. On Tap Bar and Grille (one of four locations in the area) was located at 3997 Medina Road, Montrose, OH 44333 and can be reached at 330-668-1116. Here was a shot of the front of the restaurant:


Once inside, I asked to be seated in the lounge area. I find that in general, there are fewer children sitting on that side and it is a more relaxed environment as the tables give you a chance to sit comfortably. While I was handed a menu, I knew what I wanted already and placed my order with my server. The room was pretty packed and I knew that they only did the freshly beer-battered fish on Fridays until they ran out. Fortunately, this was the only thing that was working for me today as they still had fish in the kitchen. After only about fifteen minutes, my sandwich arrived at the table:


The sandwich, available year round on Fridays comes with a standard array of sides, some of which came at no additional expense (Fresh-cut fries, applesauce, cole slaw) and some for an additional $1.00 (sweet potato fries, onion rings, pasta shells and cheese, cottage cheese). Having had all of the sides at some point or another, I knew how much I really don't care for most of the fried items. I would normally get the applesauce as my side, but decided in the "macaroni and cheese" spirit of Lent that I would try On Tap's "Shells and Cheese."

Today's fish sandwich was fried nicely -- the exterior was crispy and not greasy. However, the actual fish, scrod, was a tad on the dry side. That being said, a little of the (not-so-homemade) tartar sauce and a bit of ketchup and I was good to go. The bun has always been a bit uninspired, neither having a deliciousness of its own or imbued by the kitchen staff by say, buttering and toasting the roll first. The tartar sauce had a nice balance between sweetness and acidity. The shredded lettuce and March tomatoes were more or less pointless and I removed them before eating the sandwich.

I could tell that the shells and cheese had been plated first and allowed to sit while the fish was finishing in the fryer as the top of the shells were cold and a bit dried out while the shells at the bottom of the dish were lusciously creamy and still warm. Other than that little bit of discontentment, the shells and cheese were actually quite good and I highly recommend them for the extra $1.

My lunch finished, I paid my check (roughly $9 before tip) and wandered back out into the lovely, sunny Friday air. I dropped my camera bag off on my way into Acme, managed to find a bottle of Bayer and made my way to the front of the superstore to pay for my purchase. It wasn't until I got back to my car that Murphy, poised to strike this entire time, delivered his fatal blow. My car refused to start.

It wasn't the case of a dead battery. I've had plenty of those over the course of my driving history. The starter was trying to turn over the engine, but it just wasn't happening. After assuring myself it wasn't the battery, my thoughts drifted to the starter motor. Well, if it WAS the starter, would I even get any reaction at all when I turned the key in the ignition switch? I tried on and off for the next ten minutes to get my car started with no luck. Beginning to see that I might have to accept defeat and actually call AAA, I first called the Firestone store in the mall located across the street from my workplace to see if they could take it. "Sure, have it towed here."

Next I called AAA where a very helpful woman took down my information and told me that as soon as they arranged for a tow service, they would call me back. Fearing that I might now need a ride to the beginning and ending of tonight's festival plans, I called my mother, who as the group's intrepid organizer, began to escalate her voice in full-on panic attack mode. Fortunately, since I was already in Akron and the festival was in Akron, arrangements could be made for someone to pick me up. As I waited for AAA to call me back, I had time to think about the fact that the car more than likely wouldn't be ready today. And if not, I will have to either have someone pick me up on their way in, or just skip the festival until I can pick the car up. Not exactly what I was hoping for when I signed on back in January.

Half an hour went by with no word from AAA, but at that moment, I noticed a tow truck slowly and methodically driving up and down the car aisles. I got out of my car and flagged him down. I told the driver what was going on and he tried to start the car himself. Rrr, rrr, rrr, rrr. Nothing. "Yeah, it's probably your fuel pump. My guess would be $270 for parts and another $250 for labor." Great. Another $500 put into a car I was only planning on keeping for perhaps a few more months.

He quickly mounted my car onto the metal bars of his tow truck and off we went to drop it off at the Firestone store. When we arrived, I hopped out of the car (painfully, I might add), grabbed my camera bag, and a folder I had snatched from my car just as the tow truck driver arrived at the scene. It had all of the information I needed for this weekend's festival. After dropping off my keys at the front desk, I gave the clerk my cellphone number and suddenly realized the impossibility of the task now set in front of me.

Because of an injury I sustained while helping out at camera club and exacerbated by standing for ninety minutes at the handbell choir practice in preparation for this weekend's festival, I had aggravated the pulled muscle in my right thigh to the point where I had a painful walk and noticeably different gait. I had stopped at Acme to pick up some Bayer to help with the pain, only to leave it in the car, now nicely buoyed into the air at Firestone. I had also decided that since the festival wouldn't allow me the opportunity to attend any Lenten fish fry dinners tonight, I further decided to lug along my twenty pound bag of camera gear in order to get a shot of the food for this blog post.

To get back to my office, all I had to do was walk through the mall to the front entrance, cross the main street and walk up to the front door. However, what would take pain-free and unencumbered people ten minutes to do took me roughly half an hour of painful after painful step. Now, I sit here at the festival, waiting for a phone call from Firestone to tell me that it in fact WAS the fuel pump and oh, by the way, might I have $500 laying around with which to pay for the repairs?

I have a feeling if I didn't have a good sense of humor, I'd be a lot more depressed.

So, there you have it for this week's Lenten fish fry. The good news is that On Tap does a reasonably decent fish fry from fresh fish on Friday's, even outside of Lent. If you're going to get a side, get a non-fried one, even at the premium price if necessary. I do still have reviews from several places last Friday to publish, but I will get those up in the next few days.

I sincerely hope that Murphy got it ALL out of his system for now. I don't think I could withstand another round.

Here are the current rankings so far from best overall to worst overall as well as an individual grade for each of the major elements on the plate.

1. Ancient Order of the Hibernians (Akron): Fish, A; Macaroni and Cheese, B-; Cole Slaw, C-
2. On Tap Bar and Grille (Montrose, OH): Fish, B+, Macaroni and Cheese, A-
3. Fat Casual BBQ (Macedonia): Fish, B-; Hushpuppies, B; Cole Slaw, A
4. American Legion Post 281 (Cuyahoga Falls): Fish, B; Cole Slaw, C+; Green Beans, C; Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, B-

Lenten Project III: Fish Schedule 3-9-12

It has been a CRAZY week at work. I know I've already posted Part I of my second week visits already. I promise to get Part II up tonight or tomorrow morning.

That being said, here are the two fish fries that I will be attending tonight. Please feel free to come along if you'd like.


St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (5 to 7 PM)
755 South Cleveland Avenue
Mogadore, OH 44260
330-628-1333


Harbor Inn / Lighthouse Bar & Grill (5 to 9 PM)
562 Portage Lakes Drive
Coventry Township, OH 44319
330-644-1664


I plan on hitting up St. Nicholas right around 5 PM and the Harbor Inn at 6:30 PM. I've been told that homemade pierogi await me at both, so I'm excited to see what I find during tonight's adventure.

Lenten Project III: Week 2, Part 1 of 2

It seems like every year since I started the Lenten Project back in 2010, there has been a Friday with inclement weather that has either jeopardized or threatened to jeopardize the schedule of fish fries I set before myself. The first year, a mountainous amount of snow fell between Thursday and Friday and caused St. Mary's Catholic Church in Hudson to cancel their fish fry entirely. This led me to visit Duffy's Restaurant in its place (as the restaurant was at the end of the street where I lived at the time) and try their rather disastrous attempt at a fish fry. I still have nightmares about the macaroni and cheese served at Duffy's.

Fortunately, this year the winter weather has been much tamer. That being said, as "fried fish hour" approached last Friday night, storms started rolling through the area. Other than a few monsoon-like moments between the two fish fries on the slate for tonight, the weather cooperated for the most part. The first visit of the evening was to another organization with which I am familiar as several of my friends are members, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, located at 2000 Brown Street, Akron, OH 44319. They are operating their Lenten fish fry from 5 PM to 7 PM until March 30.

Here was a shot of the front of the building:


Parking was all around the building and a small unpaved (and muddy) lot behind the building. Since I had arrived precisely at 5 PM, parking wasn't a problem. While there was a door on the right side of the building that said, "Entrance," this was actually to the bar area. The correct door to walk through (unless you want to walk through the bar) is the double set of doors at the front entrance. Once inside, you'll queue up into a line and wait your turn to order.

Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the menu being served at the Hibernians. However, it was pretty straightforward. For $6, you could get an AYCE (all you can eat) fried whitefish dinner with two sides. For $7, you could get either a piece of baked or fried cod and two sides. For $10, you could get two pieces of either baked or fried cod with two sides. Knowing that I still had another fish fry to attend tonight, I opted for the single piece of fried cod. Of the five or six side dishes from which to choose, I went with cole slaw and macaroni and cheese to complete my meal.

Having paid, I was handed a yellow meal ticket. The main hall had been set up with long rectangular tables and chairs. Since it was just myself for the visit, I went up to the bar to procure a beverage (there was a bar area with a bar, but there was also a bar in the main dining hall, too). The Hibernians does sell beer, wine, and spirits (and quite cheaply, I might add), but in order to be eligible to purchase them, you must show a membership card. Fortunately, water and soft drinks require no such identification. I grabbed my glass of water and headed toward the rear of the room.

I sat down and within a few moments, a woman approached my table and asked for my ticket. She returned a short time later with a basket of bread and pats of butter:


The bread was fresh, the pats of butter cold. That being said, this was typical American sandwich bread. Nothing remarkable here.

In an interesting twist, my server brought out the side dishes before the fried fish. Here was a shot of the Cole Slaw:


I originally asked my server if the sides were homemade. She kind of squirmed and said that she really didn't know. As soon as I tasted the cole slaw, I had the answer I needed: this was DEFINITELY homemade. Sadly, in this case, being homemade was not a good thing. While I could tell just by looking at the cole slaw that it wasn't mayonnaise based (which is fine), bite after bite of this incredibly bland dish of shredded vegetables left me wondering if the person who made this actually tasted it before serving it. In addition to lack of salt, there was an incredible lack of acidity. It was like eating shredded crunchy vegetables with a barely acidulated water dressing it.

I moved onto the Macaroni and Cheese:


Having not been particularly impressed with the cole slaw, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this rendition of the American classic had excellent cheese flavor and was creamy without being soupy. The downside was that it had been cooked nearly within an inch of its life and the phrase al dente had long left the building by this point. Remember that I had shown up at 5 PM on the dot for dinner. Imagine how much worse the texture would be on the macaroni and cheese that wasn't served until 6:45 PM. If you like the texture on your pasta to be near mush, this might just be up your alley.

Having just finished assessing the other components of my meal tonight, the star finally arrived:


I'll have to admit, with the two sides being served ahead of time, this lone piece of fried fish looked a little lonely sitting on the plate next to a cup of tartar sauce, adorned by a single wedge of lemon. Visually, I could tell that the fish had been fried very well -- no signs of oil either absorbed by the paper plate or when I put pressure on the crust to cut it with my fork. As I cut into the fish, I was rewarded with rising steam. Unadorned by either lemon or tartar sauce, I tried the first bite of fish and was pleased as punch to find that it was delicious. It was salted well, was juicy and overall tasted like what fish should taste like. It wasn't the juiciest nor the hottest piece of fish I've ever eaten, but for the crap shoot that I collectively call the Lenten Project, this was an excellent piece of fried fish.

I also tried the fish paired with a squeeze of lemon and a bit of tartar sauce. For those that enjoy tartar sauce, it was an excellent pairing with the fish. I doubt the tartar sauce was homemade, but in all fairness, I didn't ask. After finishing with my meal, I packed up my camera gear and headed back out into the wet Friday evening, glad that I had about an hour before the next stop on my pescetarian tour.

I would definitely go back to the Ancient Order of Hibernians for another fish fry, but I would definitely avoid the cole slaw the next time.

Here are the current rankings so far from best overall to worst overall as well as an individual grade for each of the major elements on the plate.

1. Ancient Order of the Hibernians (Akron): Fish, A; Macaroni and Cheese, B-; Cole Slaw, C-
2. Fat Casual BBQ (Macedonia): Fish, B-; Hushpuppies, B; Cole Slaw, A
3. American Legion Post 281 (Cuyahoga Falls): Fish, B; Cole Slaw, C+; Green Beans, C; Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, B-

Lenten Project III: Tonight's Fish Schedule

Tonight's Fried Fish schedule for those who might be interested is as follows:


Ancient Order of Hibernians (5 - 7 PM through March 30th)
2000 Brown Street
Akron, OH 44319
330-724-2080

Bialy's at the Lake(s) (11 AM - 9 PM, also on Wednesdays)
433 Portage Lakes Drive
Coventry Township, OH 44319
330-644-7177


I plan on being at the Hibernians at 5 PM sharp when they first open for business and at Bialy's at 6:30 PM. Last Friday I was fortunate enough to have readers attend both locations. If you'd like to join me for either dinner, you are cordially invited. Perhaps this week I can find that 'A+' rated piece of fried fish.

Lenten Project III: Week 1, Part 2 of 2

After a somewhat successful attempt at getting a great piece of fried fish at my first destination of the evening, my second fried fish dinner involved a stop out and see the guys at Fat Casual BBQ in Macedonia. I missed their Lenten fish fry last year because at the time, I was still only reviewing non-commerical (i.e., not restaurants) organizations. Given that I greatly enjoy their regular menu (and have written about them twice already), they were a shoe-in for a stop on the search for fabulous fried fish.

Fat Casual BBQ was located at 223 East Highland Road, Macedonia, OH 44056 and can be reached at 330-748-4690. Parking was in the lot surrounding the building. Here was a shot of the front of the building:


I arrived slightly after 6:15 PM to find one of the three large tables filled with regulars, the communal table only slightly filled and the only other table in the room, a six-seater, completely open. Knowing that I was being joined by several guests, I claimed the empty table and waited for my tablemates to arrive. Shortly after everyone arrived, we headed up to the counter by the front door to place our orders.

Fat Casual belongs to a category of restaurants known as "fast casual." This means that you order and pay for your food up front and when your order is ready, they will run it out to the table for you. Here was a shot of tonight's special Lenten menu:


Normally, I might have tried the clam chowder in addition to ordering the fried fish dinner, but because this was my second meal of the evening, I decided to exercise a bit of restraint (so says the man consuming two fried fish dinners in one evening). After ordering my dinner, it wasn't ten minutes before this arrived at my table:


This was a Cornmeal-dusted Fried Catfish with Cajun Hushpuppies, Cole Slaw, Tartar Sauce and a squeeze of lemon. From a technique perspective, both the fried fish and hushpuppies were cooked perfectly -- crispy on the outside without being at all greasy. While I normally expect to find finely chopped onions in my hushpuppies, Fat Casual had decided to put a twist on the standard recipe and went a different route with some added cajun seasoning. The texture of the hushpuppies was nice, but the cajun seasoning left me a little disappointed. The catfish was wonderfully moist and I found it amazing that these thin catfish filets which had been thawed from frozen and dusted before frying were still moist and juicy.

The two issues I had with the catfish were that the seasoning in the coating was a bit aggressive. Whereas my earlier fish in the evening had been quite bland, the catfish was close to being too salty. The second issue I had with the catfish was the catfish itself. While I am in no way doubting the quality of the fish, catfish in general has a very unique flavor profile that you either like or your don't. This particular catfish had a very pronounced fishiness to it that may be off-putting to those normally averse to fishy-tasting fish.

I had absolutely no issues with the homemade cole slaw. It was crunchy, creamy, slightly acidic, and barely sweet. It hit on multiple flavor and textural combinations and was (and has always been) one of my more favorite versions of this side dish. The tartar sauce, also homemade, had a better balance between tart, salty, and sweet that my earlier dinner's version did not. One of the co-owners, Walter, suggested that I also try the catfish with the house BBQ sauce, which I did. It was an interesting combination, fried fish and BBQ sauce, but not one that I found worked great together.

While the execution in the preparation of the dishes was flawless, some of the flavors and seasonings were a tad off tonight. Would I go back for another fish fry at Fat Casual? With catfish on the menu, probably not. Were they to switch to a different kind of fish, absolutely. And, of course, I will always return for their mainstay, the barbecued meats and side dishes. That stuff is killer good.

Here are the current rankings so far from best overall to worst overall as well as an individual grade for each of the major elements on the plate.

1. Fat Casual BBQ (Macedonia): Fish, B-; Hushpuppies, B; Cole Slaw, A
2. American Legion Post 281 (Cuyahoga Falls): Fish, B; Cole Slaw, C+; Green Beans, C; Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, B-

Lenten Project III: Week 1, Part 1 of 2

For my first stop on this third year of the Lenten Project, I was happy to be returning to a place where I've gotten pretty good fish fries in the past, The American Legion Post 281 located at 1601 Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. This wasn't my first Friday fish fry at the Legion as they offer these fish dinners starting in the fall through the winter and finish up in the spring. While the fish has never been spectacular, it has always been in the sort of "very good" category and I was looking to a nice piece of fried fish to kick off this year's search for good fried fish.

I pulled into the left parking lot around 5:00 PM to find a nearly packed lot. Here was what the front of the Legion looked like:


After parking, I approached the rear of the building and the entrance to the hall was located at the very center of the wall. Once inside the door, I found myself in the outer room, lined with tables, chairs, and patrons. Moving towards the inner room, I found a bar, more tables, chairs, and patrons, and the kitchen. Here was a shot of tonight's menu:


Here was how the system worked at the Legion. There was a person sitting at a table by the menu on the wall. After giving her my order, my name, and paying for it, she submits the written ticket to the kitchen and gives a carbon yellow copy. Keep this ticket as you will need to submit it when they bring your food to the table. Between the end of the bar and the spot where I ordered my food were several other service tables. One contained such items as napkins, silverware, coffee, etc. The other contained a variety of "side" dishes. There were three salads from which you can choose (you can have one, two, or three), slices of white bread and pats of butter, and other pre-dispensed condiments (such as tartar sauce).

After building up my sides, I was fortunate to find a four-top table open up and cleaned off. I should also mention that drinks were my own responsibility at the bar. After unpacking my camera get and getting it ready, all I had to do was wait ten minutes or so before the food runner called out my name. As she approached my table, I retrieved the yellow ticket from my shirt pocket and we switched ticket for plate. Here was a shot of my dinner tonight:


This was fried whitefish, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans. There were other forms of potatoes I could've ordered instead of mashed, and they were available sans gravy, but the green beans were the vegetable of the evening. Let's talk about the star of the plate first. The batter was light, crunchy and grease-free. The fish was moist and tender. The seasoning was nowhere to be found. One could easily make the assertion that since most of the people attending these fish dinners were seniors, perhaps the kitchen was just being prudent and allowing people to season their own food, given the presence of salt and pepper shakers on each table.

One could make that assertion until trying either the mashed potatoes and gravy or the green beans, veritable salt bombs that were straight from the box (or can). While the mashed potatoes and gravy weren't bad, they were also clearly not homemade. I tried the green beans and images of every bad school cafeteria vegetable came rushing to my brain. If you like this flavor, you'll certainly be happy with the results. I personally don't like the taste of canned green beans.

For one of my side salads, I decided on a small dish of the cole slaw:


It was food service, but was decent enough and I appreciated the slight horseradish kick to it.

The other items I had retrieved before sitting down were a slice of the white bread and a small plastic ramekin of pre-portioned tartar sauce:


The bread was ... well, plain old white bread. I did try the tartar sauce with the fish and found it to be a bit too sweet for my taste. It did add some seasoning to the largely unsalted fish, but the sweetness it added didn't help the cause. Fortunately, there was ketchup on the table and I found that because of the acidity and salt in the ketchup, it made a much better pairing with the fried fish.

My meal finished, I asked for a "to go" box and crated up my other large fish filet and cole slaw (I still had one more meal to review tonight and I didn't want to completely fill up) and packed away my camera gear. As I got up to leave, I heard a "Tom?" from behind me. At first I didn't respond, but when the voice repeated the question, I turned to discover that two of my blog readers had decided to come to tonight's dinner and were seated at the table directly next to mine. We chatted for just a minute or two before I thanked them for coming tonight and made my way out into the dimming light.

Would I go back the American Legion again? Absolutely. For all of the negatives I identified above, the notion of fish cooked to order that was juicy and fresh, even if not seasoned properly, would be enough of a draw to get me to return. The fact that the Legion does these fish fries every Friday, even outside of Lent, is a big plus, too.

Here are the current rankings so far from best overall to worst overall as well as an individual grade for each of the major elements on the plate.

1. American Legion Post 281 (Cuyahoga Falls): Fish, B; Coleslaw, C+; Green Beans, C; Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, B-

Lenten Project III: The Search For Fabulous Fried Fish

It is upon us once again, gentle reader, the season of Lent. And with the season of Lent comes the third annual installment of the Lenten Project. While I am not a particularly religious person, I do look forward every year to a good fish fry. Sadly, and if last year was proof of this, it isn't easy finding a good fish fry. So I've decided to take the fish by the tail and try and improve my odds.

Two years ago, I came up with the idea to use the list of churches and organizations published in the Akron Beacon Journal to determine which churches and organizations to visit during the surprisingly short fish fry season. And because of my love of pierogi, the first year I used the criteria of selecting only those establishments that served both fried fish and pierogi. This yielded me nine different places to visit over the course of five weeks. That first year, I found an overall winner and a runner up where the pierogi were mundane, but the fish was great.

The second year I did the Lenten Project, I decided not to visit any of the organizations from the previous year that were in the lower half of the standings. I again used the criteria of fried fish and pierogi as the determinant for which establishments to try. Sadly, last year's crop were mediocre at best and really, even though there was a church that finished on top, it wasn't a knock-out winner. To top that, several of the organizations I ended up visiting two years in a row not only didn't improve, but some actually got worse. As Joshua so eloquently stated in the 1983 movie Wargames, "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."

Bound and determined to get a nice piece of fried fish THIS time around, when Lisa Abraham published her annual list of commercial and non-commercial fish fries, I immediately realized that the list needed to be in a more computer friendly form so that I can add notes and sort more easily. Thus, I transcribed the entire list into a Google spreadsheet. It is free for anyone to view and no software needs to be installed, but obviously I've set it up so that only I can update it.

Since none of the descriptions in her article listed whether the fish being used was fresh or fell off the back of a Sysco food truck, I took it upon myself to call each and every organization on both lists. What shocked me (and might go a long way in explaining why last year's fish fries turned out so poorly) was that virtually none of the organizations were using fresh fish. Of the forty-three non-commercial organizations listed in the Beacon article, only TWO were using fresh fish. Pierogi fared a little better, percentage-wise. Of the seven establishments offering pieorgi, only two were homemade and one of those was only being offered this Friday, February 24th -- so if you miss it, too bad.

Now, gentle reader, before I get a deluge of emails and comments saying that you can fry up a perfectly nice piece of fish from frozen, I agree. You can. But a good majority of these organizations are getting the fish pre-battered and frozen and simply frying them from that state. There just didn't seem to be an emphasis in the past on putting out a piece of fried fish that was moist on the inside, crunchy on the outside and not greasy. Thus, save a few exceptions where I know that care has been taken to make sure the fish will be at its best, I have decided to only include places where the fish is fresh.

However, given that only two non-commercial establishments are serving fresh, how will I be able to come up with eight to ten places to try during the next five Fridays? I've decided that I am going to open it up to the commercial (e.g., restaurants) locations listed in the Beacon article, too. Instead of telling you where NOT to go as in the past two years, I want to tell you where you SHOULD go. I want you to have options. Just to be sure, I also called (actually, I'm still in the process of calling) all of the restaurants on the list to determine which places I will visit.

Because I haven't quite finished calling all of the restaurants yet, here is the list of places I will be going for a fried fish dinner during the first Friday of the Lenten Project III, Friday, February 24th:

American Legion Post 281 (4:30 to 7 p.m.)
1601 Front St., Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221
330-920-9379


Fat Casual BBQ (5:00 to 8:00 p.m.)
223 East Highland Road, Macedonia, OH 44056
330-748-4690


I'm planning on hitting up the American Legion right at about 5:00 PM and then venturing my way up to Fat Casual between 6:30 and 6:45 PM. If you'd care to join me for either location, you are cordially invited, no reservations required. Once you arrive, you surely cannot miss me, I'll be the guy sitting by himself with a massively-sized camera on a small tabletop tripod. It's hard to miss, really.

So, with that, the Lenten Project III: The Search For Fabulous Fried Fish officially kicks off for 2012. After finishing up my research on the final twenty-ish restaurants, I will post the remainder of my fish-eating schedule next week. If Lent has a more spiritual meaning for you, I wish you the best during this next forty days. For me, I'm looking forward to some good fried fish!

Lenten Project II: Week 5, Part 2 and Conclusion

Ah, gentle reader. It's been a slippery slope of mediocre to poorly fried fish, mostly commercially-available pierogi and less than stellar macaroni and cheese. Of course, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church did do its best to elevate the humble Lenten fish fry and honestly, while not exceptional, did an above average job across the board. That being said, I still had one final stop on my culinary Sisyphean journey; one final chance to discover fried fish and homemade pierogi redemption: the Polish American Club of Akron, Ohio.

Now, I knew ahead of time that the pierogi would be homemade. And that little beacon of hope was enough to sustain me through the weeks of eating the same monotonous pierogi that I can get EVERY SINGLE DAY at Giant Eagle or Acme. And just like pizza, even bad homemade pierogi are better than the mass-produced and marketed commercially-made frozen ones that are designed to appeal to all demographics. The question in my mind tonight as I pulled off of Route 8 onto Glenwood Avenue was whether the rest of the dinner would live up to those little potato dumplings.

According the to the U.S. Post Office, the Polish American Club was located at 472 East Glenwood Avenue, Akron, OH 44310 and questions about the Lenten fish fries can be directed to 330-253-0496. For the purposes of successfully getting you this fish fry, I have to tell you that the Polish American Club was not visible from the road as I turned onto Glenwood from Route 8. What you need to do is go to the very first intersection east of the exit (Dan Street) and make a right. Almost immediately on your right you will see this roadside sign:


Pull into the driveway packed with cars (this was a good sign that the food coming out of the kitchen might be fresher, but a bad sign that there might be a wait), find a spot, and walk to the rear entrance of the club:


Once inside, if it was as packed with people as it was on Friday night at 6:30 PM, you'll need to give your name and the number in your party to the person working the entrance. Fortunately, the Polish American Club was running like a finely tuned machine and within fifteen minutes, a table had opened up right in front of the kitchen and I took my seat anticipating what this final meal held.

The Polish American Club had quite the extensive menu and I quickly (and I thought discreetly) pulled out my camera and began snapping photos:



Apparently, my server saw the tail end of my less-than-nefarious photodocumentation and questioned me.

"Are you taking pictures of the menu?"
"Yes." (My standard answer which is usually enough to discourage further questions.)
After a slight pause, she said, "WHY are you taking pictures of the menu?"
At this point, I decided not to lie, but also not to give up too much information, too. "I'm a food writer and I'm covering local fish fries. This will be my last of nine locations."
"So do you work at the Beacon?"
"No, I'm an independent food writer."

She actually seemed excited that a food writer was sitting at her table. While I knew that giving away too much information might compromise the review (meaning in this case, receiving preferential treatment), at this point of the project, I was absolutely through with crappy fried fish. If this ensured that I got a pristine piece of fried fish, then so be it. I didn't specifically ask for it, so I honestly don't feel especially guilty about my revelation. Plus, that meant I didn't have to hide the camera to capture pictures of my meal. A trade-off, I suppose.

After careful consideration, I decided to go with the regular size Foster Lager Battered Cod Dinner and picked Coleslaw and Macaroni and Cheese as my two included sides. I also ordered an extra side of the homemade Potato Pierogi. Within a few minutes, bread and butter arrived at my table:


There wasn't anything special about this bread, but it was fresh and soft and I appreciated that.

Along with my bread came the Coleslaw:


While I didn't verify if this was homemade or not, the cabbage had been shredded quite finely and was different from the other coleslaws I had eaten prior to this one. It had a nice flavor to it, but it was nothing out of the ordinary.

A few minutes later, my Potato Pierogi came out of the kitchen:


These were large, obviously homemade, and HOT! My first bite was filled with the heat that had come from being fried on the flattop before being plated. I loved the fact that the outside was crispy (without being tough, which had been one of Our Lady of Guadalupe's issues) and the filling was pillowy and soft. The onions could have been caramelized a touch more, but the seasoning was decent. It wasn't until I isolated a bite of just the filling that I realized it was a touch underseasoned. Not as badly as the homemade pieorgi at St. Nicholas, but it definitely needed a touch more salt. To verify this assumption, I took a bite of the filling and sprinkled a bit of the salt on it from the shaker already on the table. Yep ... that fixed it.

I originally thought that the pierogi had made it to my table so hot and quickly because my server had said something to the kitchen staff. However, given that the wait for my fried fish and macaroni and cheese took just as long for me to get it as others around, I questioned that notion. However, while waiting for my main meal to arrive, the kitchen manager, who had obviously been tipped off by my server, came out to my table, introduced himself, and shook my hand. I won't go much into our conversation as it was quite similar to the original one I had with my server.

A few minutes after this impromptu conversation, the remainder of my meal finally arrived:


The "regular" dinner comes with four fish fillets. Had I known this ahead of time, I probably would've gotten the small, not so much to save money, but because this was my second dinner of the evening. Ah, well, I knew that they had take out containers.

I started with the Foster Lager Battered Cod:


All hopes of finishing out the Lenten Project on a high note vanished with the first touch of the coating: greasy. The kind of greasy where it didn't look greasy sitting on the plate, but the minute you put any pressure on the fish to cut it with your fork, the wet sheen of oil suddenly appears. After cutting into it, I took a picture of the interior flesh:


While this wasn't as dry as the previous meal of the evening had been, it also wasn't that juicy, lush, moist fish for which I had been pining since the beginning of the fish fry season. The seasoning was decent and I had confirmed with my server that both the fried catfish and the fried cod were being fried from frozen. That certainly isn't a death sentence, but it does mean you have to pay attention to making sure that the fish is properly fried. My guess is that with how greasy the fish was, either the kitchen had tried to fry too many pieces at once (thus lowering the temperature of the oil in the fryer) or the oil wasn't at the proper temperature to start with.

Additionally, and I will give the Polish American Club a pass on this one, the fish was a little warmer than lukewarm, not screaming hot like the pierogi had been. While I admit that it took a minute or two to photograph the fish and macaroni and cheese, it is possible that the cooled fish might be a result of my delay in tasting it. Thus, my final grade on the fish takes this into account.

After so many poor renditions of Macaroni and Cheese, I came upon my final version for the Lenten Project:


About fifteen minutes after placing my order with the server, the table behind me got re-sat and when the couple tried to place an order for macaroni and cheese, the server apologetically told them that they had run out for the evening. Apparently, I was one of the last few patrons to receive a portion. Having a seat so close to the kitchen, I could see that the kitchen staff was dishing up the macaroni and cheese out of a chafing dish being heated by Sterno. Knowing how poorly macaroni and cheese can hold up when served in such a manner, I wasn't entirely shocked to see the contents in the bowl that came with my fish dinner.

The sauce had been absorbed into the pasta and as a result was somewhat dried out on the outside. The texture of the pasta wasn't complete mush, but it also didn't have the nice toothy bite that both Annunciation and Slovak J's versions did. The cheese flavor was decent, but in a surprising twist, the pasta was slightly underseasoned. Just to make sure, I cleansed my palate several times with the water from my glass and re-tasted, just to be sure. Each time I came to the same conclusion. It wasn't wholly unsalted, but it still needed just a bit more. Who knows? Perhaps the same people who made the pierogi filling also made the macaroni and cheese.

My meal now at an end, I asked my server for a to-go box and proceeded to put the remaining food into it for a late snack last night (it certainly was edible and I wasn't about to throw out a pound and a half of leftovers). When my server dropped off my check, the total with tax had come to roughly $10.65. After giving her the cash for the check (plus tip, of course), I left one of my blog business cards with her and told her to look for the review on Sunday morning. I have no doubt that someone from the Polish American Club will read this review and I hope they take what I have to say, both positive and negative, in the light in which it was meant: constructive criticism. I suppose like most restaurant reviews, the people in charge can be upset with me for saying something negative, or they can take it, learn from it, and improve for next year.

Before I finish off with the final ratings for the 2011 Lenten Project, I will finish this review by saying that if you are looking for excellent homemade pierogi in the Akron area, the Polish American Club is the place to go. Which, knowing that pierogi are Polish in origin, I would rather hope and expect.

Here are the final rankings from best overall to worst overall as well as an individual grade for each of the major elements on the plate. Note that second and third place was incredibly close this year and I actually thought about having them tie for second place, but the inclusion of a very tasty dessert that was included in the price of the meal put St. Andrew at just a slight advantage over the Polish American Club.

1. Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church (Akron): Fish, B+; Macaroni and Cheese, B; Coleslaw, C; Roasted Potatoes, B; Baklava, A-
2. St. Andrew Ukranian Catholic Church (Parma): Fish, C; Macaroni and Cheese, C; Coleslaw, B; Pierogi, A; Honey Cake, B
3. Polish American Club (Akron): Fish, C; Pierogi, A-; Macaroni and Cheese, C+; Coleslaw, B
4. St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (Mogadore): Fish, C+; Jo Jo's, B; Pierogi, B-; Coleslaw, C+; Punchki, B+
5. Slovak J Club/Jednota (Akron) : Fish, D; Macaroni and Cheese, B-; Coleslaw, C; Hot Rice, B; French Fries, B-
6. St. George Catholic Church (North Canton): Fish, C-; Macaroni and Cheese, C-; Coleslaw, C+; Mamaliga, C
7. Queen of Heaven Catholic Church (Green): Fish, C+; Macaroni and Cheese, D; Roasted Potatoes, C; Pierogi, C; Coleslaw, B-
8. Our Lady of Guadalupe (Macedonia): Fish, B-; Pierogi, D+; French Fries, C; Coleslaw, C
9. St. Mary Church (Hudson): Fish, D+; Pierogi, C-; French Fries, B

Lenten Project II: Week 5, Part 1

Of all the fish fries I would be attending this year, I knew that two would be repeats from last year's project. Queen of Heaven was the first and turned out to be almost completely identical to last year's meal. I was curious to see if the other repeat contender, Slovak J Club (aka Jednota Club) was going to fare in a similar light as last year. While Slovak J's previous meal was good enough to find them in a spot on the top half of my final scorecard, I do remember that it wasn't particularly stellar. It turns out that really good fish fries are surprisingly hard to find; mediocrity is often enough to guarantee you a spot in the top 50%.

Tonight's meal at Slovak J was during my earlier Friday time slot and I turned onto Morgan Avenue promptly at 5:00 PM to see the following familiar edifice:


This building was located at 485 Morgan Avenue, Akron, OH 44311 and questions about the fish fry can be directed to 330-786-9972. After pulling past the front of the building, there was a driveway immediately to the left which I turned into and pulled into the rear parking lot. The entrance to the fish fry was actually located at the very rear of the building:


After entering these doors, I walked down a small flight of steps into a dimly lit corridor and approached the double set of doors at the end of the hall. I'm guessing during at other times of the year, a membership was required to gain entrance, but fortunately, a simple tug on the door revealed the underground bar area and just beyond, the fairly well-lit dining hall.

Last year, Slovak J had sit down service. This year, it was an all you can eat (AYCE) buffet. A hostess stand was in front of the dining hall and after paying my $8, I was stamped (a fish, how appropriate!) on the top of my hand and told that while water was available inside, soft drinks and other beverages could be purchased at the bar. I walked into the dining hall and immediately noticed on my right a series of tables holding chafing dishes and volunteers efficiently scooping out various fish fry items.

I grabbed an empty plate and essentially went down the line, getting a serving of everything they had. When I got to the end and didn't see any pierogi, I asked about its odd absence. I mean, come on, they had pierogi last year, even if they were commercially made! That's when I discovered that I hadn't read the original Akron Beacon Listing posting about Slovak J closely enough. Towards the end of my meal, I pulled up the original article on my smartphone to discover that pierogi were only being offered on Ash Wednesday, the day the Beacon's article went live. Drat!

I took my meal and found a nice empty table towards the rear of the hall where I proceeded to pull out my camera and start taking pictures. Here was a shot of the entire dinner:


Slovak J was definitely not shy about loading up the plate with food! If your Lenten fish fry desire is to load up on sheer volume of food, Slovak J would probably be first on the list. Here was a shot of the Fried Fish with French Fries sitting on top:


The first item I dug into was the fried fish. I noticed almost immediately that the two predominant descriptors that kept coming to my mind were dry and salty. Neither of which was so strong that it made me spit it out, but both kept nagging at me as I continued to try and eat it.

Here was an interior shot of the fish:


While it looked like it should be moist, it simply wasn't. I also thought that since this was the first bit of food I had eaten since lunchtime, maybe my palate just hadn't adjusted yet to the saltiness. I purposely came back to the fish after trying everything else out and it still tasted too salty. After cleaning up after myself at the end of my meal, I approached the hostess in the bar to ask her if the fish was fresh or fried from frozen. She replied that the fish was actually fresh pollack.

She then made the unfortunate choice of asking me how it was. Normally when I am doing these reviews, unless something is WAY off, I usually respond with answers like, "Fine." or "Good." By this point in the Lenten Project, however, I had pretty much had it with crappy fried fish. I responded with a back-and-forth tilting motion of my palm and said, "Eh ... so, so." When I mentioned the saltiness, she quickly added, "Yeah, I kind of thought it was too salty, too. But then again, I'm sensitive to salt." So am I. Especially when there is too much of it. But I digress.

I should mention that the French Fries were okay, but a little bit on the lukewarm side and not quite as crisp as they would be straight out of the frier. I suppose that's the trade-off you get when you put them into a chafing dish on a buffet table.

Next up on the plate was the Macaroni and Cheese:


I was very happy to see that the noodles the woman dishing this cheesy pasta dish out were creamy and not an amorphous clump of overcooked dough. One look and one taste confirmed that the texture on the pasta was quite good, the creaminess was nicely balanced (meaning that it wasn't swimming in sauce nor overly dry), and the cheese flavor was decent. The only odd note about tonight's macaroni and cheese was that it had quite a bit of black pepper in it. I've used freshly cracked black pepper in my own macaroni and cheese before, but tonight's version at Slovak J almost bordered on too much. It competed a bit too much with the cheese flavor.

Something that is very common in northeast Ohio but has been lacking at any of the fish fries this season was Hot Rice:


A staple of Barberton chicken joints, this combination of cooked rice, tomato base, onions and peppers is definitely an acquired taste. I don't know that I personally have acquired a taste for it, but I've eaten enough of it to know whether tonight's rendition represented a proper hot rice. For the most part, it did. It lacked some depth of flavor that I've found in better tasting examples, but I'd say that Slovak J's hot rice was about on par with most restaurant offerings.

Next up was the Coleslaw:


Food service. Average. Nothing out of the ordinary to see or taste here. The dinner roll, as with the coleslaw, while fairly fresh, was also a food service product and not particularly interesting.

All said and done, I finished my macaroni and cheese and that was about it. I felt bad throwing the rest out, but it wasn't particularly noteworthy and I had another fish fry to attend in about an hour. Normally, I'd ask for a "to go" box and take the rest home and have it later that evening or for breakfast the next morning, but I had absolutely no compulsion to do so. If AYCE is your cup of tea, perhaps Slovak J is for you. Me, not so much.

Here are the current rankings so far from best overall to worst overall as well as an individual grade for each of the major elements on the plate.

1. Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church (Akron): Fish, B+; Macaroni and Cheese, B; Coleslaw, C; Roasted Potatoes, B; Baklava, A-
2. St. Andrew Ukranian Catholic Church (Parma): Fish, C; Macaroni and Cheese, C; Coleslaw, B; Pierogi, A; Honey Cake, B
3. St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (Mogadore): Fish, C+; Jo Jo's, B; Pierogi, B-; Coleslaw, C+; Punchki, B+
4. Slovak J Club/Jednota (Akron) : Fish, D; Macaroni and Cheese, B-; Coleslaw, C; Hot Rice, B; French Fries, B-
5. St. George Catholic Church (North Canton): Fish, C-; Macaroni and Cheese, C-; Coleslaw, C+; Mamaliga, C
6. Queen of Heaven Catholic Church (Green): Fish, C+; Macaroni and Cheese, D; Roasted Potatoes, C; Pierogi, C; Coleslaw, B-
7. Our Lady of Guadalupe (Macedonia): Fish, B-; Pierogi, D+; French Fries, C; Coleslaw, C
8. St. Mary Church (Hudson): Fish, D+; Pierogi, C-; French Fries, B

Lenten Project II: Extra Helpings At St. Andrew

When I discovered that fellow food blogger Alicia from Poise In Parma was doing her own version of the Lenten Project up near her home, I was delighted and honestly, just a little bit flattered. While I am well aware of the fact that there are a ton of great fish fries out there, I am but one person, only able to cover a fraction of the churches, clubs, and organizations in the Akron area, much less others. Through a short Twitter conversation, Alicia thought it would be a fun idea to join forces and cover a church fish fry somewhere between Parma and Akron. I couldn't have agreed more.

I looked around the Internet for a church doing both fried fish and pierogi in the Richmond area (a city roughly halfway between us), but alas, I could find nothing. Knowing that my fried-from-frozen pierogi experience so far (with the exception of my visit to St. Nicholas earlier in the evening) had pretty much been devoid of any kind of homemade pierogi, I expanded my search and ended up finding two churches pretty much in Alicia's back yard that she hadn't covered yet. I presented both options and we both agreed that for my second meal during the fourth week in Lent, I would be attending the fish fry at St. Andrew Ukranian Catholic Church in Parma, Ohio.

St. Andrew was located at 7700 Hoertz Rd, Parma, OH 44134 and can be contacted at 440-886-3258. Parking was somewhat tricky as there was a cemetery between the church and the fellowship hall where the fish fry was hosted. My best advice to you, gentle reader, is to go up the main driveway and then once you are behind the church, take the exit to the back left of the parking lot, not the one that leads straight into the cemetery. I made this mistake and ended up having to backtrack to finally find the correct parking lot.

Here was a shot of the front of the building hosting tonight's fish fry:


Once inside, I met up with Alicia and her husband Hans as well as fellow food blogger Jill, from ClevelandRocksClevelandEats. We were warmly greeted and told of the award-winning pierogi (as judged by Cleveland Magazine three years ago) that we could expect to be served tonight. I knew that I was looking forward to it. While the general procedure at St. Andrew was to place and pay for your order before sitting down at the table, Alicia happened to retain one of the printed and laminated menus. Here was a shot of the menu:



I opted to go with the fried fish and pierogi dinner (clearly) and being in a good mood, decided to add a side of the macaroni and cheese as well. My total came to $11.50, which while a bit pricier than some of the other dinners I've had, wasn't crazy either. Once I ordered and paid for my dinner, I took my meal ticket and proceeded to make the rounds at the various stations inside the main room to pick up my food. Here was what I ended up with at the table:


Of course, the first place I started was with the Fried Fish:


By the time we arrived at paid for our meals, it was already close to 6:45 PM. Since the dinner ran only until 7:30 PM, almost all of the fish required for the remainder of the evening had already been fried and was simply being held in the kitchen and served as needed.

Here was a shot of the interior of the fish:


The outer coating was very crispy (initially a good sound and sign), but once we started to tuck into the fish itself, we discovered that it was decent to poor in terms of moisture. The flavor was fine, but both of my pieces were a bit dry. Alicia's husband, Hans, had one fillet that was moist and one that was not, but the rest of the diners tonight found the fish to be lacking in the moisture department.

After being a bit disappointed in the fried fish, I next turned my attention to the "award-winning" Pierogi:


Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a a winner! These were not only tender, but also incredibly flavorful. The filling was nicely seasoned and the fried onions and included packet of sour cream meant that I could truly savor my three potato-laden pockets of love tonight. THIS was what I had been craving during the past four weeks of Lent. Regardless of the other components on my plate tonight, the pierogi were enough for me to recommend St. Andrew.

I next moved onto the Macaroni and Cheese:


This had wonderful cheese flavor, but unfortunately, it was overcooked. I'd be curious to try this just after the dinner service started at 5 PM, but by 7:00 PM, the pasta had only a slight bit of texture. It was definitely homemade and clearly pasta doesn't do well being held for a long time, but in the grand scheme of things, the overcooked pasta made this a less-than-stellar version of this American staple.

As opposed to the woman at St. Nicholas who claimed that homemade coleslaw just wasn't possible for the masses during Lent, St. Andrew brought serious game to their version:


Clearly homemade, the slaw was tasty and refreshing. Just like the pierogi, I had grown accustomed to food-service coleslaw. Having the fresh stuff available was both surprising and welcomed. While it wasn't perfectly balanced between sweet and sour, it did go a long way towards satisfying my need for something made from scratch.

Finally, every meal included one of several sweet treats. Tonight I decided to go with a slice of Honey Cake:


While the cake definitely tasted of honey, it was just a touch dry (most likely due to the fact that it had been sitting out in the open air before I approached the dessert table and requested a piece). At the same time, I also ate the entire piece of cake fairly quickly, so clearly my objection to its dryness wasn't too overpowering. There were a selection of desserts available (poppyseed rolls, amongst them). Like my meal earlier in the evening, I liked being able to finish my meal with something small and sweet, but not overpowering.

I finished my meal tonight very happy with the pierogi, but somewhat disappointed in the fish and macaroni and cheese. That being said, I'm guessing that if you show up sooner rather than later, both of those issues might be corrected, at least somewhat.

Here are the current rankings so far from best overall to worst overall as well as an individual grade for each of the major elements on the plate.

1. Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church (Akron): Fish, B+; Macaroni and Cheese, B; Coleslaw, C; Roasted Potatoes, B; Baklava, A-
2. St. Andrew Ukranian Catholic Church (Parma): Fish, C; Macaroni and Cheese, C; Coleslaw, B; Pierogi, A; Honey Cake, B
3. St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (Mogadore): Fish, C+; Jo Jo's, B; Pierogi, B-; Coleslaw, C+; Punchki, B+
4. St. George Catholic Church (North Canton): Fish, C-; Macaroni and Cheese, C-; Coleslaw, C+; Mamaliga, C
5. Queen of Heaven Catholic Church (Green): Fish, C+; Macaroni and Cheese, D; Roasted Potatoes, C; Pierogi, C; Coleslaw, B-
6. Our Lady of Guadalupe (Macedonia): Fish, B-; Pierogi, D+; French Fries, C; Coleslaw, C
7. St. Mary Church (Hudson): Fish, D+; Pierogi, C-; French Fries, B