Another fun time at Wahlburgers! I completely forgot to take pictures this time so we will have to go picture free. I know, it stinks! Feel free to do a google search so you can see what everything looks like. I found pictures on the Wahlburgers facebook page and ours looked like the picture! You know how rare and beautiful that is?
I haven't been feeling well at all lately. Partly due to my Lyme disease, partly because of hormones and partly because of circumstances completely out of my control. I just feel like garbage a lot. And when I feel like garbage, I just want someone else to cook for me. While in this place I texted my friend Tonya and said I wanted to eat at Wahlburgers the next day. I asked her what she was doing, and like a good friend she said, "Going to Wahlburgers with you!" Yep, she's a great friend. And explaining how I felt, she even offered to pick me up and drive me there. Sadly because it was such short notice we didn't have any other ladies join us. Must plan better next time.
Tonya and I had talked a bit the night before about what we may order. I thought maybe the fish or sloppy joes; Tonya wasn't sure. When we arrived we were seated by the nicest young man named Miguel. He fit right in at our table. He was chatty just like we were. We learned a little bit about his girlfriend - guys, he's fallen HARD! It was adorable! We told him we were on a mission to try the whole Wahlburgers menu. He thought that was a pretty cool idea. After chatting a bit more we quickly decided what we would do. We both wanted to try what I had mentioned the night before.
Tonya ordered the Crispy Haddock sandwich - "hand breaded, panko crusted Haddock filet, lettuce, tomato, and housemade balsamic tartar sauce". She also added a side of Thin Crispy Onion Rings. I've had many fast food and restaurant fish sandwiches. They are all pretty similar. If you opt for a cheaper version $2 or less you get a minced/pressed fish patty. If you spend closer to $4-$6 you usually receive a whole piece of fish that's been battered and fried. All pretty much the same after that as far as the basic white bun, mayo or tartar sauce and lettuce. Some have cheese, some don't. And honestly for the life of me I can't figure out why you'd put cheese on fish in the first place. It just ruins everything. Moving on...the breading is what initially stood out to me visually with this sandwich. It's not the typical beer battered fish. I wish I would have gotten a picture so you could see what I'm talking about. It was just .... different. We decided to dig into this first and I am so glad we did! Oh my goodness! Let me start out by saying the bun itself was typical but it was buttered and grilled to perfection! Buttered and toasted buns take any burger or most sandwiches to the next level. This was no exception. The lettuce and tomato were there; not quite as noticeable but I'm glad they were there. The balsamic tarter was very mild and honestly tasted more like regular tartar sauce to me with less relish. It was a beautiful compliment to the fish without overwhelming it. And the fish. Oh my goodness, this is hands down the best piece of fish I've had in a restaurant for a long time! The only other time I can remember liking fish so well is when I was up north at a restaurant by the Great Lake where they caught fresh fish daily. In fact while I'm typing this I wish Wahlburgers had delivery. I'd be seriously tempted to order a fish sandwich at 9:55pm because it's just that good. The only thing I would change is to lightly salt the fish before assembling the sandwich. With that lovely sandwich came the onion rings. They are truly what the description says they are - thin and crispy! Very thinly sliced onion has been dredged just lightly in a batter of sorts and fried. They come out looking like a big haystack of onion rings. Seasoned and cooked perfectly. And the sauce - yes please! I'm beginning to think the Wahl Sauce will go well with just about anything.
I give the haddock sandwich a 5/5 stars. I cannot wait to go back and have another one of these guys. The onion rings I give a 4.5/5. Pretty tasty combination indeed! Great picks Tonya!
I ordered Mom's Sloppy Joe - "Mom's housemade sloppy Joe, smothered on thick-cut grilled bread finished with crispy onions, Paul's housemade signature waul sauce, & cheese sauce. I added a small order of Alma's Macaroni salad and at the end of the meal added on a chocolate shake which is made with ice cream and milk. No shake mix!! Earlier while chatting away with our waiter, we mentioned that we share our food. He said he could have the mains cut in half and plates brought out. Perfect! But, when I ordered the Sloppy Joe he said that may not work because it's open-face. Boy was he right! As soon as it was placed on the table, Tonya and I both saw how cutting this sandwich in half was going to be tricky. But, it had to be done. Thankfully I had finished my half of the fish sandwich (sadly I might add) and figured now would be a good time to try to slide 1/2 of that messy sandwich onto my plate. Now, I need to first say I LOVE sloppy joes. There's rarely a sloppy joes I do not like. I was excited to try this but a little apprehensive because of not only the extra sauce but cheese on it as well. But, everything I have ordered and tried from here so far has been amazing so maybe I was getting a little nervous for nothing. There's no picking up this bad boy, so I sliced into it and made sure to get a little bit of everything on my fork for my first bite. After all, first impressions are everything. The first flavor that hit my tongue was processed cheese sauce. The next thing I noticed was how soggy the bread underneath was. With a little dissection of the sandwich it was pretty clear that my bread was buttered well, sadly if it hit the grill it had to have been only seconds. It just went downhill from there. The wahl sauce was just too much. You have the sauce from the sloppy Joe, the wahl sauce and the cheese sauce all competing for their chance to shine but sadly none of them did. I tried some Sloppy Joe by itself and it wasn't too bad. I think if I ordered this again (if), I would ask them to grill the bread extra long and not put any wahl sauce or cheese sauce on it. I would however have them keep the lovely onion rings on the top along with the pickle slices that came on the side. Moving on to the macaroni salad. I was also a bit apprehensive with this. I'm very particular with my macaroni salad. I don't like a sweet dressing, and I don't like it dry. I scooped a small portion out onto my plate and my first impression was, "this looks pretty dry". Indeed it was. But just a bit. The flavor was spot on! I couldn't figure out at first what seasoning they may have put in it, but then thought it was just allowed to sit and all the flavors marinate overnight maybe? I picked up on celery, onion, possibly some bell pepper and you could actually see some chopped parsley along with the mayo. The noodles were cooked PERFECTLY! That is so, so rare these days! If I'm in the mood for a macaroni salad again I wouldn't hesitate to order this. Bonus - with my leftover macaroni salad I made a quick and easy dinner. I added in some canned tuna and a bit more mayo and dinner was served. Last but not least I ordered a shake at the end of the meal. I needed some chocolate, people! It was one of those days. Oh wait, let me take that back. I ordered a frappe. It's described as, "made with farm fresh milk and ice cream". To me, it's still a shake. It's the only place I know of in the area that uses the real thing instead of a nasty shake mix like you get at most ice cream parlors or fast food joints. This was pretty good. I would have added just a bit less chocolate but overall it was a nice treat to end the meal and satisfy my chocolate craving.
I give Mom's Sloppy Joe 2.5/5 stars - sorry mom.
Alma's Macaroni Salad 4/5 stars.
Chocolate Frappe 3.75/5 stars.
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