A Flood of Fish Sandwiches Day 12 – Long John Silver’s D.I.Y. Fish Sandwich

“Hello, darlin’. Nice to see you. It’s been a loooong time (since we’ve had Long John Silver’s).”

Even though there’s no Lenten deadline to get a fish sandwich at Long John Silver’s, there is a deadline to get the fish and fries special for $1.99. Since I can’t pass up a bargain, I loaded up the Toyota Fish Critic Mobile and dropped by to put my $1.99 plus tax on the counter. Now, I expect a few naysayers are ready to take the bait and call me out on the fact that a fish and fries special is not a fish “sandwich” and fries. Pish-posh! That’s a mere technicality for which I prepared in advance. When planning for this caper, I made sure to pack my utility belt with a sandwich baggie containing two pieces of bread. In true punk rock fashion, I wouldn’t pay for a corporate-approved sandwich! I used the old “Do It Yourself” ethic and created my own sandwich out of their fish. That’s sticking it to the man! Anarchy now! This is what we call “living on the edge” in our forties.

Long John Silver’s AND A&W???? Sheiiiitt.

It’s amazing what you take for granted when you work outside of the box. In this case, I really discovered how much difference the right bread makes. I know I typically comment on the bread when I review these sandwiches but I’ve always thought of the bread as a very minor part, with the meat being primary. Although I still believe that to mostly be the case, the bread makes a much bigger difference than I had initially given it credit for. For instance, I brought a couple of slices of pretty good whole wheat/whole grain bread. It’s good bread on its own both in taste and nutrition, and it works well with most sandwiches. However, it just didn’t taste right with fried fish. Even though the piece of fish was pretty thick, I tasted more bread than fish. Usually that’s a sign that the fish is flavorless, but I tried the fish alone and it was pretty tasty, especially for fast food. In fact, it was one of the tastiest pieces of fast food fish that I’ve ever eaten. The secret is the batter. It’s extra crispy and although extra salty, it enhanced the fish taste rather than buried it. It’s also pretty greasy, but in a good way. It will turn a cardboard container clear if you let it sit long enough but it’s not so greasy that it’s slimy to the touch. I think it might be saturated with vinegar, which explains why adding vinegar makes it taste even better.

Overall, this was a pretty decent visit, except for the restroom. It was mighty nasty but that’s another story.

Overall Ratings:

Taste: 4 out of 5 smuggled booty

Appearance: 3 out of 5 ….Wait a minute. A middle aged-man in business casual wear just walked in and he has his pants tucked into Superman knee-socks. I thought you needed to hear about that. Heck, you need to see it. I included a picture for you (below).

Value for the money: 5 out of 5 high-seas piracy

Sock it to me, Superman!