Fish Fry #5 2023 – St. Joseph’s in Avon Lake – Visit 2

I made an exception to my rule of no repeat visits on St. Patrick’s Day. Most fish fries were closed, even though a higher up apparently gave the church parishioners a dispensation in order to eat their corned beef and cabbage on a usually meatless Friday. St. Joseph’s in Avon Lake was serving corned beef and cabbage, and I wanted to try the baked cod to complete my tasting of their available items.

I took a friend with me, and it was so nice knowing how things work. We drove around the church and parked close to the entrance shortly before it opened. We had preordered a perch meal for my friend, the baked cod for me and we shared the corned beef and cabbage. I found my friends from the last visit and joined them once again. My friend and I got into line to grab a tray from the soup station and then headed to the food in front of the stage. Since we were splitting a second meal I didn’t order any additional soup.

The first stop was for the corned beef and cabbage – and we were handed an individual homemade Irish soda bread that looked like a fancy cupcake. I really wish I had taken a photo of the soda bread. I found it quite tasty, but my friend was not a fan. More for me! The corned beef and cabbage was exceptional. We got 3 large slices of corned beef (I grabbed the leaner of the three), and it came with cabbage, carrots and potatoes. The carrots were a wee bit underdone, but altogether they tasted great. My friend particularly enjoyed the potatoes and raved about the corned beef. She also enjoyed the green beans once she put salt on them.

The cod was also quite lovely. I ordered a sweet potato to go with it. It was a delicious, low-fat meal. The mango chutney seems to be a doctored Curried Mango Grille Sauce/mango chutney from Stonewall Farms. It was really lovely. The cod as perfectly cooked and flaky, and the chutney really helped it shine (although it was tasty without the chutney as well). I didn’t need any butter or anything on the sweet potato – it was that good.

My friend loved her perch dinner as well and took the rest of the corned beef home for lunch at work. I had also ordered a side of pierogi for her, since she is from cincinnati and hadn’t had a pierogi before she met me. She prefers them a little firmer, but that meant I got her pierogi to take home with my corned beef leftovers. We left with happy, full bellies.

Another successful Friday fish fry visit! I kind of regretted not ordering the salmon, but I’ve been told I can have the recipe for the dill-chardonnay sauce so I can recreate the magic at home. The only criticism I have is that they really need to work on their lemonade and ice tea game (I ordered canned soda last time)! Even though they are free with the meal I expect more than weak watered down beverage. They were just bad. The pitcher of iced water on the table was tastier!

Contact info:

St. Joseph’s Parish
32929 Lake Road
Avon Lake
Fry time: 4:30 to 7 p.m. Fridays Feb. 24 to March 31 (no fish fry on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday).