Fish Fry Interlude - North Irwin VFC, March 3, 2023

Last Friday, Chip and I attended one of our favorite fish fries which had been cancelled in both 2021 and 2022: the North Irwin VFC. We didn't know until last week whether they planned to hold a fish fry this year, so there was some minor celebrating going on once we heard the affirmative.

Pennsylvania has a convoluted system of boroughs, municipalities, townships, and cities, with similarly convoluted levels of government bureaucracy. I won't spend any time on that soapbox, other than to say North Irwin is a PA borough with a population of only 846 but its own governing council, tax structure, and volunteer fire company. It's a charming "town" on a hill with several streets of well-maintained older frame houses. At the end of one residential block sits the VFD.

We've been to the North Irwin fish fry at least 5 times prior to this year, so we knew to expect a crowd and a wait. We left the house around 4:45 and when we arrived a half hour later, the parking lot was mostly full but there wasn't a line outside (a good sign). 

Amazingly, the dining room was full but not packed. The person manning the door told us to grab two seats where we could find them, and that someone would come take our order. We asked a group of four if we could join them, and they enthusiastically said yes. 

Todd and Ann Patterson (I hope I have that right) and their daughter and her boyfriend were wonderful dining companions, and we shared stories of other good western PA fish fries and disbelief that Todd said he'd never met anyone named Brown before. As we stared at the menu I was super excited to see hushpuppies, as well as canned or bottled beer. 

We each ordered a beer. Chip decided on the "Catch of the Day" which included fries and coleslaw. I ordered a fish sandwich, mac and cheese, and - of course - the pups. 

Based on our past experiences of long waits for food, we thought we might have time to finish our drinks and perhaps start another before the food arrived. But we clocked the wait at somewhere around 30 minutes; I must be a slow drinker 'cause I still had several ounces of beer left.

The fried cod was breaded, and seasoned perfectly. Admittedly, the filets were not quite as thick as the ones we had last week. But they were delicious. The hoagie rolls were fresh and ever-so-slightly chewy (in a good way). However, they were a bit thick for the fish. Each bite of the sandwich resulted in a little too much bun relative to fish. Ann agreed. A much better bun-to-fish ratio would have been achieved if I'd cut the fish in half and piled it up on a smaller piece of the roll. Instead I just cut the sandwich in half as it was and slathered on some tartar. Which, by the way, was exceptional.

The fries were good, and Chip liked the coleslaw although he said there wasn't quite enough of it (he likes to put it on his fish sandwich, Pittsburgh style).

The macaroni and cheese was VERY good. It was a bit dry, and the cheese was zesty. It was also packed into the container. I ate a few hearty bites and saved the rest for the next day.

The star of the show was - amazingly - the hushpuppies. Most fish fries in this area don't serve them, although I'm starting to see them on menus here and there. But they're typically small, and dry, and not very flavorful. These were perfectly fried, AND they had diced onions in them, AND they weren't at all dry. Chip loved them, too.

Todd ordered baked fish, so the Pattersons' food took longer even though they'd ordered before us. He said the fish was great, but that there wasn't really enough of it. And there weren't too many gluten-free options to supplement the fish.

North Irwin continues to be a fun and tasty way to spend a Friday evening during Lent. We'll patronize them in hopes that they open their doors for yummy fish dinners for years to come.