Caleb Westphal hasn’t missed a Friday fish fry since 2013. Follow his never-ending adventures—sponsored by Miller High Life—HERE. This week: fish fry #600, at Michael’s On The Lake in Kansasville, Wisconsin.
“Man, that’s a great view of the lake,” I commented to the man behind the host stand.
“Could be yours someday,” the man deadpanned.
I was at Michael’s On The Lake (3101 Eagle Rd., Kansasville; 262-878-3313) and talking to a man named Michael about a lake. He was the owner, Mike Molitor, and the lake in view was Eagle Lake. I was there for consecutive Friday fish fry number 600. There was no big gathering of friends like there have been for some of my other milestone fish frys. Instead, I had enlisted as my sole company my friend Nick, who is someone I’ve been going to fish frys with since before I started keeping track of them, and someone I haven’t seen since last year. With reflection on what fish frys mean in mind, and with newfound inspiration from Don Gorske, I settled into a seat at a high-top table near the bar and outside of the dining room, with the lake to my left.
Open since July 2012, Michael’s On The Lake is a family operation, with Mike and Theresa owning the business and their daughter Kimberly running the kitchen. It’s located in Kansasville, an unincorporated community inside of the Town of Dover. I’d never had a fish fry in Kansasville before, let alone been there; I think the closest I’d been for one is Union Grove, where I had a fry at the TinCan Roadhouse in December 2021. Nick had suggested Michael’s as an option, along with some other places, and what caught my eye was not only that it was in a community where I’ve never had a fish fry, but the decor, including the lake view, and especially the online menu, which says they have all-you-can-eat haddock.
Startlingly, there was no mention of all-you-can-eat haddock on the physical menu. There was hand breaded haddock ($15) and baked haddock in lemon dill butter sauce ($16). Each was listed as also being available in the “Senior Citizen Size” for a dollar less. The haddock was listed as coming with a choice of soup, a side salad, or coleslaw, as well as with a choice of potato pancakes, garlic smashed potatoes, baked potato, or house fries. Walleye Shore Lunch ($25) was also listed. The fish frys are available on Wednesdays and Fridays.
“Is there any all-you-can-eat option that’s off-menu?” I queried.
“It’s twenty,” my server replied, without missing a beat.
I ordered the all-you-can-eat breaded haddock, chose the clam chowder as my side, and picked the potato pancakes.
It was over 80 degrees outside, but inside Michael’s On The Lake it was cozy, comfortable, quiet, and cool, with the air circulating well. It was close to 6 p.m., but the dining room and the bar were both less than half full, as they would remain for the duration of my time there. The clientele trended older, older than the usual fish fry crowd, which is already old. It felt like the type of place you’d take your mother on Mother’s Day. Indeed, they did have specials in honor of Mother’s Day this year. They call themselves “casual fine dining” online, and it’s an apt description.
The chowder came out with a slice of marbled rye. It was lathered with lots of butter, almost so much that it was hardly apparent what kind of bread it was unless it was viewed from its bottom. Along with the clams, the chowder had liberal amounts of carrots, celery, and especially potatoes. The potato-heavy soup was mild in flavor (Nick put pepper on his), with a thin consistency.
The first fish plate came with three pieces of haddock, suggesting that’s what the standard fish fry would have come with. The breading was crisp and coarse-grained, coated the fish evenly, and had a gentle flavor. While the breading could have popped more with flavor, its near-perfect texture more than compensated for it. The haddock was meaty, more so than most haddock. Substantive, it was more filling than flavorful. But again, this wasn’t necessarily a drawback. If the haddock provided the meat and the breading provided the texture, the tartar provided the flavor. Dill was up front, with relish tucked behind it in a typical dressing base.
The potato pancakes looked more like breakfast pancakes than some breakfast pancakes do, and they had the softness and thinness that aligned with it. There was seasoning inside, but what was most noticeable was they were on the salty end of the spectrum. There was something mysterious about them that kept me coming back bemused, but in the end I decided it was just their salt-forward tilt.
As I was blazing through the first three pieces of haddock, the thought was creeping in that I should have ordered a second round immediately. But as the third piece was almost gone, my server flashed by and said “fish is on the way.” “Oh, you get it,” I thought. The second plate had two pieces of fish and a fresh tartar. Then I had two more pieces and another tartar.
I could have kept going. This was a celebration of 600 Friday fish frys in a row, after all, an affirmation of all that is right in the world. But I reined it in. I lassoed the beast and tamed it. Cleavon Little found his limit after 15 schnitzengruben, and seven fillets of haddock was enough for me. Of course, I also turned down the dessert, for dessert for me would have just meant another piece of haddock.
Michael’s On The Lake has the lake views, comfort, and haddock to satisfy a Friday fish fry itch. Just don’t try to go there tonight, on the Fourth of July, because they will be closed. I assume all their workers will be making fish frys at home. That’s what I’ll be doing, and I know you will be too. It’s patriotic!
Takeaways: Lake views; well-circulating air; vegetable-heavy chowder; potato pancakes similar to breakfast pancakes but saltier; all-you-can-eat haddock for $20 with consistent, crisp, and coarse-grained breading; dill forward tartar; honking 12-ounce fillet of hand breaded walleye also available; also has a banquet hall.
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