McDonald's Filet-O-Fish

[Priscilla]

The profane and the sacred.

OK I had one on Filet-o-Fish Friday, thanks to you all. $1.29, $1.39 w/tax.

It was good! A nitpick would be it now comes in an unbleached-style box, (possibly actually unbleached?) rather than the crackly paper of yesteryear, and by yesteryear I mean like 20+ years ago when I last had one, and I missed the steaming and compression of having been wrapped.

But no big. And then I proceeded on to the farmer's market and bought my usual passel of organic fruit & veg from my friends the farmers.

[Holly Moore]

Did my research. Headed to my nearest McDonald's and ordered up a Filet-O-Fish.

Watched it come together. First came the bun. Hard to tell whether it was steamed to order or was pulled out of a holding area. I think it was being held, but not certain. The bun went into the box. One step to the left. Next one squirt from the caulking gun filled with tartar sauce. This went on the crown (top) section of the bun.

One more step to the left. Then the cheese. Half a slice. That went on the heel (bottom) section of the bun. One final step to the left. The a fried fish filet out of the holding cabinet. Also goes on the heel.

Then the box is closed and latched. Then it is tossed (two bounces) into the pick-up bin.

Opening the box. The crown of the bun is mildly wrinkled - that come from steaming.

Inside - the filet is lopsided on the heel of the bun.

Otherwise looked as I remembered it.

Taste test - bun nicely steamed. Tartar sauce had more of a mayonnaise taste than anything else, definitely lacking the fresh onion flavor of the 1968 Filet-O-Fish. The coating of the fish filet was soft, not crisp. Probably because it had been sitting in the holding cabinet for a while.

Overall impression, edible but disappointing. And expensive. $2.89 including tax. I could have gotten two D&W hot dogs and a soft pretzel for that from the guy on the corner.

[dockhl]

That is disappointing.

I tried one on Friday (hadn't had one in years) and it was pretty darned good but...........

I always ask for no cheese and I THINK I get them made to order that way. My fish definitely wasn't in a holding bin 'cause I had to wait 5 minutes for it to be done ! Way hot and crispy, soft (salty?) bun, uninspiring tartar sauce. All for $1.29 (Friday/Lenten special). Don't know that I'd do it for $2.89.

[Priscilla]

I would definitely not do it for $2.79, the regular price at the store I visited, I saw on the menu. The $1.29 Filet-o-Fish Friday poster in the window was key.

Also, my bun was griddled not steamed, which is OK with me, and had sesame seeds, and the tartar sauce was loaded with pickles, a help.

[adegiulio]

$1.29?? They are $3.19 up here. At five bites per sandwich, that's an expensive treat. Thanks eGullet for re-addicting me to FoF.

[jsmeeker]

I saw the $1.29 Filet-o-Fish Friday poster at a McDonald's in Los Angeles. Haven't checked my local one here in Dallas. I drive by it all the time, but it's set back from the road a bit and I don't focus too hard on the signs on the window.

[Peter Green]

Holly,

Thank you for this thread.

Like a lot of us, my primary memories of McD's are from the 60's and early 70's (I try to blank out the trauma of time spent in Kid's Rooms that I went through with Scud in the 90's).

Of course, being Canadian, it was more climactic for us. We had spent a few years with J.P.Patches and the crowd on KIRO (I think that was the channel, or was it KING?) out of the States extolling the virtues of the Golden Arches, so when the invasion rolled north across the border, we were already in submission, waiting to be taken.

But, I remember when the filet-o-fish came on the menu. It was great. Truly great. I do recall that it was the one item at the time you couldn't just get from the tray. Every one we had then entailed a wait, which meant it was fresh when you ripped the wrapper off in wild abandon.

Like you said, the bun was steamed to a point of soft compliance, the fish was crisp. And that bit of cheese rounded out the fatiness of the whole product with the tang of the tartar sauce to lift the edges of your smile. When my nephew got us on tuna-Velveeta-ramen in Seoul, this is the sort of feeling I was getting.

And, even in those dark, horrible days when I was being told by the McDonald's staff to control my child in the ball pen, the filet-o-fish (and the chips, when they were still deep fried with beef fat) was the item that would anchor my tenuous sanity.

To find out now how the miracle of the tartar sauce was accomplished, to know that the bun was steamed to give it that texture to match the fish, and to be aware of it being only a half slice of cheese......

Well, my life is complete.

Again, thank you.

[takadi]

Wendy's seems to have tapped into the sentiment of this thread and created their own fish sandwich

[emilyr]

I gave up fast food for Lent this year (and let me tell you - I had no idea how often I was eating it!!! ), but the ONLY items I've been craving are FOF's and fries. The rest of my family have been looking at me like I'm crazy becuase Friday afternoons I sit looking at them longingly with my egg salad sandwich.

This past week, masochist that I am, I went out and got lunch for the fam. EVERYONE of those pains in my ass wanted the FOF - even the non-practicing Catholic ones! I was proud of myself, drove the 10 minutes home and only ate the half-fry that fell out of the top of the bag.

My mom grew up with a dad who was allergic to fish and shellfish, so she isn't a fish person, but she's always the first one in the family in Lent to say, "Oh, yeah, Filet-o-Fish sounds good..." She won't eat the double, though, because there's not enough of a tartar sauce-cheese-bread to fish ratio going on!

[Pierogi]

Back in my less, ummmmmmm, temperate youth, my friends and I swore that a Filet-O-Fish and a root beer was the best cure for a hangover commercially available.

Not that *I* ever needed such a cure, of course............

But to this day, they are my favorite (usually only) choice at a Mickey D's.

[feedmec00kies]

It's good to know that other people don't mind/like the Filet-o-Fish.   It's one of the only ways I survive being pushed into a fast-food-eating situation when traveling (usually traveling upstate). My boyfriend claims it's supposed to be the least healthy of all of their food (supposedly he heard that somewhere), but looking at the nutrition info... it's not the best by any means, but it's certainly not the worst. And I think that it being an actual piece of fish, and not composed of ground [insert animal meat here], I try to think of it as a bit less sketchy..

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next time you find yourself in a McDonalds, order a salad. I suggest the southwestern salad (if it's on the menu. That one vanished from the menu at a McDonalds in L.A., but it's still here at my local McDonalds in Dallas). They aren't a half bad alternative.

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Yeah, salads have been the other thing I've eaten at fast food places... though I'm not a fan of (white meat) chicken, so I usually get the salad if there isn't the Filet-o-Fish (so that I'm still ingesting protein), or a side salad instead of fries.

[DCP]

I'm not sure whether to blame it on the extremely late night volunteering after work, or the nagging subliminal suggestions originating from this thread, but... I had an FOF last night. I had to wait several minutes for them to make it fresh (which they were quite nice about) as it was just prior to closing.

First impression: liquid hot magma. Yes, I was told it was being made fresh. No, I did not stop to think about that before sinking my teeth in.

The processed cheese was a little strange, and the tartar sauce not evenly spread - I had to let it gush out of one portion, then dip a dry one in the fallen blob. Somehow, it all tasted decent enough, but made me crave a fish sandwich I had about 6 years ago. (A 'motorcycle hill climb' in rural Pennsylvania to which a friend dragged me - absolutely incredible fried fish sandwiches stole the show from the main attraction.)

In any case, if memory serves me (it rarely does) this may be the first time I've had the FOF. Pretty good for McD's food, but I still think I'll go back to avoiding the place now.

[prasantrin]

For comparison's sake, I bit the bullet and went to McD's yesterday.

Here's the filet-o-fish in Japan.

No fancy box, but a slightly better-for-the-environment paper wrapper (supposedly recyclable, but I have my doubts), complete with the cell phone URL to get nutritional data (that part didn't make it into my picture).

My bun is not only wrinkled, but pock-marked!

And it's lopsided, too! Perhaps that is one of the traits of FoF around the world--they must be lopsided. The fish definitely wasn't fresh out of the fryer, unlike the very popular shaka shaka chicken I saw them pulling out.

FWIW, I watched the guy making my FoF, and it wasn't lopsided when he put the top of the bun on. I think the fish slid around a bit when it got wrapped up.

I liked it. It's pretty much the only thing I ever order at McD's, other than the apple pies (can I post my fried apple pie pics here, too? I think Holly needs to discuss the tragic loss of fried apple pies in North America...and the fried cherry pies, too).

[smallworld]

Mine wasn't fresh either and to me that totally defeats the purpose of deep-frying it. What good is fried food if it doesn't have that crunch?

I guess McDonalds Japan really has switched to pre-cooking everything. When my husband and I went last everything we got was lukewarm and soggy, even the fries. They can't possibly get away with pre-cooking the fries, can they? Do you know any tricks for getting stuff freshly made (My husband's usual tactic of asking for no mustard and ketchup didn't work)?

[prasantrin]

For fries the only thing you can do is to ask for them unsalted. Pretty much everything else is made ahead, so unless you're lucky enough to get there when they've just run out of whatever you've ordered, you're going to get something that isn't as fresh. The shaka shaka chicken is very very popular right now, and sells out almost as soon as a batch is fried, at least in my area, so you could just order that all time! When I returned to Japan in 2004, everything at McD's was fresh when ordered. How I miss the "good ol' days".

[pennbrew]

Count me among those who loved these as a kid, but who hasn't had one in years (decades?). I also used to love the orange drink McD's served--it must have been in the late 60s/early 70s?

Anyway this thread inspired me to try one. It was a disaster--a soggy, mushy, salty mess. It was hard to tell where all the salt was, but it was over-the-top salty. Was it in the sauce? The cheese? The breading? All of the above???

I gave up on McDonalds years ago. I've always found their sandwiches to be too soft and squishy, lacking in any texture. Great for kids who think solid food is icky, I guess.

The final straw was during one of their promo blitzes for a (now long-forgotten) Whopper challenger, a burger they bragged was for grown-ups. I tried one, sure enough, it was a soft, mushy, disgusting experience.

Whether today's FoF had simply sat too long or the mushy texture was intentional, I don't know. I doubt I'll try again to find out...

Edited February 28, 2008 by pennbrew (log)

[onrushpam]

Oh... I just have to tell this FOF story!!!

Last fall, a little black greyhound girl came to the track and was terrified of everything. On her fourth night in the kennel, the regular trainer was off and the fill-in guy didn't really understand how freaky this little girl was. When she went out to "do her business", something spooked her and she jumped the fence outside the kennel. I didn't hear about it until she'd been gone more than a week. We tried to find her, but there is a LOT of empty land, woods, swamps, etc. around the track and we live an hour away. We never saw her. Then, FOUR MONTHS later, we got a call...

She started visiting a plant nursery across the road from the track, hanging out with the owner's dog. He called us and we started trying to catch her. We tried for DAYS, but no luck. She'd come close, but not close enough.

So, my DH drove 8 hours round trip to borrow a live trap large enough for her. We told the nursery owner not to feed her that day.

When DH arrived with the trap, I went to Mickey D's and bought 2 FOF.

(I was trying to think what would be the most enticing thing I could put in the trap and my dogs LOVE fish!) We baited the trap and went away for a few minutes. When we came back, Beth was in the trap!!!

After four months "on the lam", FOF brought Beth to safety! She's now in a wonderful home and I got a cute framed photo of her for Valentines Day!

I've since told other greyhound folks about our FOF success and they've used it to capture several lost dogs.

We ordered them sans tartar sauce, because I think it has onions, which is a no-no for doggies.

Do ya think Mickey D's would want to do a commercial featuring the FOF as bait???

Pam

[dockhl]

Awwww........

I want a rescue greyhound. I'd feed her fish (occasionally).

My dogs (not greyhounds) would love FOF. However, the only thing I have seen that dilated my girl dog's pupils (that she had NEVER seen before) was a fresh hot glazed Krispy Kreme donut !

Of course, I've not brought a fresh FOF into the house, either. Might be an experiment worth doing.

I come away from this thread with two guiding principals:

1. If you cannot get it right out of the fryer, don't bother.

2. Price point: Lenten Friday special: $1.29

Any more may well be too much to pay.

K

[Priscilla]

Well, my goodness, if FoF can save nice greyhounds and collaterally usher them to good rescue homes, that lowly fast-food sandwich has far exceeded whatever potential I might imagine its provenance could provide.

I have neighbors with three beautiful rescue greyhounds, all brindle (which I consider the canine equivalent of my beloved feline tortoiseshell), and I never fail to stop and admire the array when the greyhound rescue people are outside the pet food big-box emporium on the wknd. Extremely sweet nice dogs.

Puts me in mind of how the writer Daniel Pinkwater on his NPR commentaries said how his Malamutes howled for English muffins when they saw by the Golden Arches.

[jsmith]

Hope nobody minds me going little off topic, but the above discussions raised a couple questions for me:

Are Catholics not supposed to eat meat every Friday throughout the year, or just during Lent?

I know Kosher doesn't allow mixing meat and dairy, but is fish considered meat?

[tino27]

I'm not sure whether to blame it on the extremely late night volunteering after work, or the nagging subliminal suggestions originating from this thread, but... I had an FOF last night.

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So I'm headed off to class last night and the only thing even close to the school is a McDonald's. I begrudgingly pull in not even thinking about a FOF sandwich until I get up to the microphone. I think I have to agree with DCP here, this thread must be subliminally affecting me because I open my mouth and out pops "FOF combo please".

It was actually better than I remember it being. Although the cheese is forgettable. And when I peeled off the top bun to check out the tarter sauce, it was lopsided as well (as noted in a previous post).

Given my predilection not to eat the burgers at McD's, I think I may now have a "go to" sandwich for when a visit cannot be avoided.

[BeeZee]

Hope nobody minds me going little off topic, but the above discussions raised a couple questions for me:

Are Catholics not supposed to eat meat every Friday throughout the year, or just during Lent?

I know Kosher doesn't allow mixing meat and dairy, but is fish considered meat?

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I can answer the 2nd part: Fish is not considered "meat" for Kosher meals, since it is not a mammel (and doesn't feed it's young with it's own milk).

[tino27]

Hope nobody minds me going little off topic, but the above discussions raised a couple questions for me:

Are Catholics not supposed to eat meat every Friday throughout the year, or just during Lent?

I know Kosher doesn't allow mixing meat and dairy, but is fish considered meat?

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I can answer the 2nd part: Fish is not considered "meat" for Kosher meals, since it is not a mammel (and doesn't feed it's young with it's own milk).

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And hopefully, I can answer the first.

My grandmother (who is very Catholic) and I just had this discussion last week. The current trend is fish on Fridays during Lent only.

[prasantrin]

My grandmother (who is very Catholic) and I just had this discussion last week. The current trend is fish on Fridays during Lent only.

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My grandfather still does it all year round.

[JimH]

For comparison's sake, I bit the bullet and went to McD's yesterday.

Here's the filet-o-fish in Japan.

And it's lopsided, too!...FWIW, I watched the guy making my FoF, and it wasn't lopsided when he put the top of the bun on.

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It looks like the bun is trying to spit the fillet out.