FFC Week 4: Oxus Grotto
Fish Fry Week 4 Review: Oxus Grotto, Asbury, IA
This week's fish fry was an impromptu decision. On my way home from work I had seen signs for the Oxus Grotto fish fry but hadn't really considered it until my mother and I were looking for a place nearby to grab a quick fish dinner. So we settled on the grotto.
The Oxus Grotto is located just slightly off a neighborhood road in Asbury. If there weren't signs, you'd probably miss it. The building has no signage except for a small metal nameplate on the building, and is a very plain looking building.
Upon entry, we were greeted by a friendly older gentleman. The inside of the grotto was not very big, but was more of an open cafeteria sized room with long tables and chairs, and a kitchen in back. A sign listed the fish fry for $8, but you could purchase an extra piece of fish for just $1 more (you got 2 pieces with the meal). I wasn't sure if I'd want an additional piece but the gentleman was very persuasive and said I would not be disappointed. So, what the heck, we both ordered an additional piece! We were then told to head to the back of the room toward the kitchen where we were greeted by other servers to told us to grab a tray and silverware.
We then proceeded through the line (like we were back in grade school) and we were asked what type of fish we wanted--baked or fried. I chose all fried, my mother took one baked and 2 fried. We then were also offered green beans, french fries or baked potato, coleslaw, a dinner role, and a cupcake. I chose green beans, a baked potato, coleslaw, a dinner role, and of course a cupcake.
As it was cafeteria seating, we chose a spot at the table. On the tables were bottles of tartar sauce. Yes, you read that right. Bottles of tartar sauce. This was surprising to me as I would think it would be more cost efficient to by in bulk and not buy small bottles of individual tartar sauces. The brand of tartar sauce also caught my eye as I noticed it was Burrman's, which is a brand that Aldi's carries. Now I am not saying that Aldi brands are bad, in fact, I love most of their brands. What I am saying is that this tartar sauce definitely tasted cheap. It had almost a watered down taste to it. It wasn't the worst I've had, and if you've read my blogs from the past, I've had worse!
The fish was lightly breaded, sprinkled with a light seasoning. It had good flavor to it. The pieces were not terribly large, so I had no problem eating the entire 3 pieces. I did add some tartar sauce to my fish, which like I said, wasn't terrible, but was not something I'd ever buy in the store. I ended up eating most of my fish without any tartar sauce. Not something I do often. I next dug in to my green beans, which tasted like typical green beans, so these didn't really stand out. Normally I take my baked potato home and eat later but since I wasn't really too full and my baked potato was not very big, I decided to cut in to it. The potato was cooked perfectly and with a little sour cream it was very good. For dessert I had a small chocolate cupcake, and it was very good. It looked like it was probably homemade. And not to forget the drinks, that we had to pour ourselves, were lemonade and water.
Overall comments: this fish fry turned out to be very good! For only $9 total we got a full meal, that was really good. And the workers at the Oxus Grotto were all very nice and accommodating. The only downside of the meal was the tartar sauce. Because of that, I'm going to have to give it a 8 out of 10.
If you ever find yourself on a Friday night in Asbury looking for a reasonably priced fish fry, I would suggest finding your way to the Oxus Grotto.
This week's fish fry was an impromptu decision. On my way home from work I had seen signs for the Oxus Grotto fish fry but hadn't really considered it until my mother and I were looking for a place nearby to grab a quick fish dinner. So we settled on the grotto.
The Oxus Grotto is located just slightly off a neighborhood road in Asbury. If there weren't signs, you'd probably miss it. The building has no signage except for a small metal nameplate on the building, and is a very plain looking building.
Upon entry, we were greeted by a friendly older gentleman. The inside of the grotto was not very big, but was more of an open cafeteria sized room with long tables and chairs, and a kitchen in back. A sign listed the fish fry for $8, but you could purchase an extra piece of fish for just $1 more (you got 2 pieces with the meal). I wasn't sure if I'd want an additional piece but the gentleman was very persuasive and said I would not be disappointed. So, what the heck, we both ordered an additional piece! We were then told to head to the back of the room toward the kitchen where we were greeted by other servers to told us to grab a tray and silverware.
We then proceeded through the line (like we were back in grade school) and we were asked what type of fish we wanted--baked or fried. I chose all fried, my mother took one baked and 2 fried. We then were also offered green beans, french fries or baked potato, coleslaw, a dinner role, and a cupcake. I chose green beans, a baked potato, coleslaw, a dinner role, and of course a cupcake.
As it was cafeteria seating, we chose a spot at the table. On the tables were bottles of tartar sauce. Yes, you read that right. Bottles of tartar sauce. This was surprising to me as I would think it would be more cost efficient to by in bulk and not buy small bottles of individual tartar sauces. The brand of tartar sauce also caught my eye as I noticed it was Burrman's, which is a brand that Aldi's carries. Now I am not saying that Aldi brands are bad, in fact, I love most of their brands. What I am saying is that this tartar sauce definitely tasted cheap. It had almost a watered down taste to it. It wasn't the worst I've had, and if you've read my blogs from the past, I've had worse!
The fish was lightly breaded, sprinkled with a light seasoning. It had good flavor to it. The pieces were not terribly large, so I had no problem eating the entire 3 pieces. I did add some tartar sauce to my fish, which like I said, wasn't terrible, but was not something I'd ever buy in the store. I ended up eating most of my fish without any tartar sauce. Not something I do often. I next dug in to my green beans, which tasted like typical green beans, so these didn't really stand out. Normally I take my baked potato home and eat later but since I wasn't really too full and my baked potato was not very big, I decided to cut in to it. The potato was cooked perfectly and with a little sour cream it was very good. For dessert I had a small chocolate cupcake, and it was very good. It looked like it was probably homemade. And not to forget the drinks, that we had to pour ourselves, were lemonade and water.
Overall comments: this fish fry turned out to be very good! For only $9 total we got a full meal, that was really good. And the workers at the Oxus Grotto were all very nice and accommodating. The only downside of the meal was the tartar sauce. Because of that, I'm going to have to give it a 8 out of 10.
If you ever find yourself on a Friday night in Asbury looking for a reasonably priced fish fry, I would suggest finding your way to the Oxus Grotto.
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