A doorstep I never thought I would cross

LJS (Long John Silvers)

A lot has been said about this particular establishment, much of it bad press, and much of it here on this very blog. Spoken from afar though as I had not had this establishments food myself, until now. Long awaited and much requested from the loyal readers of this blog, I could not hold out any longer in good faith. Waking up on a mild Sunday with nothing to do, gym session had already been hit and I wanted a bite to eat, I turned to a coin to help me decide and I started flipping. Ultimately the coin flipping stopped with Long John Silvers being the place I would be headed. Straight to google and it turns out I had two options for open Long John Silvers, one was 40 minutes away in Taylor, MI and the other was 45 minutes away in Flint, MI. I choose the location in flint, not sure why but it just felt right. Got in the car and started my journey, on the way contemplating every option that was before me not only including the menu of Long John Silvers but of every place I had pass on the way. Once I had finally arrived I placed my order, after perusing the menu for approximately one minute, I succumbed to a number one combo (two pieces of fish, fries, hush puppies, and a Pepsi), a small order of popcorn shrimp, and a piece of cheesecake (from the cheesecake factory). While I will leave the specifics of each menu item to lower in this review from an overall review perspective, I was impressed. This could be an example of having such low expectations that when it is even a little good, then it will seem as though it was actually good. I don’t believe that is what has happened here, it really was quite good, oil was not old and the breading was light and flaky. The hush puppies were no where near the best I have had but they weren’t inedible like I might have thought before going in. Fries could have been crisper, but tartar sauce was good. Again imagine the lowest you can think of something or someone and I had expectations 50ft lower than that.

This establishment exceeded its very low expectations in a stunning way while also not being judged at its best as I had to drive 45 minutes back. The food sitting may have been tough to judge for a novice blogger but not myself. Overall an impressive showing, I won’t be going back anytime soon as it is such a far drive, but the next time I drive by I won’t laugh to myself believing it is suckers inside, but instead tip my cap knowing that there is a group within that knows a thing or two that many others waiting in line at Burger King and other like minded establishments do not know.

Fish

Fresh tasting, not too fishy, seemed to be battered lightly but there were some crumbs in the box that would show maybe a little less could be used. Nothing bad to say, I have had better and I have had worse, but overall these were closer to the former.

7.5/10

Fries

Waffle fries, many seem to do them, many do them poorly as well. They don’t seem to have the same crisp as I like in a hand cut or a shoestring french fry but the surface area allows a certain amount of seasoning to seep into the flavor profile that many other fries do not get the luxury to have. Salt and pepper were on these fries, the pepper being a nice addition. Nothing bad to say just would have liked more crisp and they were old, but the one I had driving out of the establishment wasn’t much better.

5.6/10

Hush Puppies

Round little balls of bread that I have had in the south many of times, done decent by this chain. I would probably scoff at these if I were from the south or lived in the south. But since I don’t and a lot of places around where I live don’t have them, these will suffice for now for me. Good Oil helps, these weren’t good per say but it wasn’t bad, they were light but not overly seasoned.

6.1/10

Tartar Sauce

Oh man do I love a good tartar sauce, this is one thing that it doesn’t matter where you go it has to be done on the premise of where you are going and for some reason people still try to skimp on this. The sauce has to have a little acidity, some establishments use vinegar for this but the real ones know that using the juice from the pickles that are being added is the best way to gain maximum flavor, done correctly here. I can’t say this sauce was light as it is a Mayo based sauce but it didn’t feel like it was sticking to my internal organs in the hours after consumption. The most surprising part of my meal was this sauce, you could tell it was made in house that day and I appreciate them for that.

8.5/10

Popcorn Shrimp

Small little shrimp deep fried quickly with a light batter. It was a nice small snack that I grotesquely consumed with this meal as more of a side item than a snack on the way home. Not much flavor on these but dipping them in tartar sauce was nice, with ketchup they were alright.

7.2/10

Original Cheesecake (From the Cheesecake Factory)

It was light and airy with a slight hint of Cinnamon, the crust was not the star of the show as it has been many a time in my life. It was pleasant, but not much more to say about it than I have already said.

7.1/10

A doorstep I never thought I would cross

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