St. Barnabas in Northfield

Did I save the best fish fry for last? I enjoyed an outstanding fish fry at St. Barnabas in Northfield tonight. It was one of the few churches offering a fish fry on Good Friday. Most pull back to focus on the Good Friday services, but this fish fry is put on by the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and hosted by the church. They serve from 4:30 to 7 PM every Friday. The new priest arrived at the same time I did and was asked by the guy holding the door open for guests how the service went.

Finding it was pretty easy. My GPS brought me straight to the parking lot and the signs pointed me where to go. The fish fry was being held in the Gynasium. It was easy enough to find, and there wasn’t a line at all. They had two cash registers taking the orders, and I was able to pay with my debit card, which was nice because I had just spent my cash earlier today at State Meats getting the fresh kielbasa and lamb butter for our Easter dinner. I ordered a little bit of his and a little bit of that, so it added up.

The cafeteria was a good choice for it. The food was being served out of the kitchen at the back wall, and the drinks and cake were along the right wall. The Boy Scouts were conscientiously roaming the room with rolling carts, collecting trays, empty dirty plates and running to grab condiments as needed.

Let’s talk about the meal. They advertise the fish fry by talking about serving “pub style” Icelandic cod and fresh squeezed lemonade. They should also emphasize that they have a different special every week. This week they were serving Baja fish tacos. I decided to get a fish dinner with two pieces of fish and a crab cake and pierogi as sides. The Icelandic cod was flaky and moist. I ate one piece and saved the second one for tomorrow. The crab cake was great – served with a special mustard and more crab than breading. The pierogi were probably Mrs. T’s but they were cooked perfectly and had a nice amount of carmelized onions. Even the cole slaw was tasty – fresh veggies with a creamy sauce. But let’s talk about the real star in my eyes – the French fries. The fries were amazing! They are billed as “premium long cut french fries”and were crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. There was no additional flavoring – just pure potato goodness. They were honestly the best fries I have eaten in a while. I also really enjoyed the fresh squeezed lemonade. It was totally worth the cost.

 If you choose to get your meal as a carryout meal, you can phone in your order starting at 2:00 p.m. each Friday at 330-800-6804 (Note new phone number) or order online at http://www.mkt.com/575fishfry. I asked for a to-go box (biodegradeable!) as soon as I sat down and took half of my meal home for tomorrow. This fish fry is going on the rotation next year for sure. I enjoyed every single item on my tray.

Contact info:

St. Barnabas Catholic Church
9451 Brandywine Road (fish fry is at 9200 Olde 8 Road)
Northfield, OH 4406
(330) 800-6804