Laura Zastrow
The lobster roll is pretty solid for a version in the heart of the Midwest.
There aren’t any restaurants advertising fish caught fresh in the waters of Lake Monona, but restaurants that dot the lakeshores around here — Sardine, Captain Bill’s — love to reference fish and fishing, even if there’s no chance anything on the menu came from that body of water.
The latest to dip its toe in is Lake Edge Seafood Co., which sits at the opposite end of the Lake Edge Shopping Center from Crema Cafe and looks out over Lake Monona. And a parking lot.
When you walk into Lake Edge Seafood, the first thing you’re likely to notice is how big the space is. There’s a lot of open floor space right up the middle of the restaurant. That’s because it’s a counter-ordering operation, and when it’s busy, that center aisle is a very popular (and crowded) place to be.
The system is a little confusing. Will there be a table available by the time you order your food, or should you dispatch someone from your party to hold down a vacancy when you’re still way at the back of the line? Table service would be nice, but good service staff is hard to come by. I understand the strategy.
For a place where you seat yourself and stand in line to order, Lake Edge Seafood is not an inexpensive meal. Most menu items are more than $10, though many include a side like fries or coleslaw. Still, two seafood cakes, meaty as they may be, don’t feel like a starter at thirteen bucks.
The “handhelds” section of the menu feels like it’s meant for lunch, though the least expensive item is a bland salmon salad BLT at $11. A little richness from additional mayo would improve this sandwich; in-season tomatoes will, too, when the time comes.
My relationship with lobster rolls was forever changed by having one in New England, but there’s the potential for Lake Edge Seafood to offer a pretty solid version for a Midwestern restaurant. Unfortunately, the roll is served on an inexcusably crusty and hard baguette, which demolishes the tender texture and delicate flavor of a good lobster roll. The po’boys are served on the same roll.
Fish tacos are a dish any seafood-centric kitchen should be able to nail. Lake Edge Seafood does a fine job, putting a crisp golden brown coat on the tilapia and keeping the fried shrimp from turning rubbery. I would have liked variety in the toppings (mango slaw is the only option), or else a little more crema or remoulade or something, but these tacos were generously filled and at $14 with a side didn’t feel outlandishly priced.
I love a good seafood soup, and Lake Edge Seafood regularly offers three. They all need refinement. The smoked salmon bisque is the best by far, but needed to be a little less virtuous — it needs more cream, basically. I wanted the same from the clam chowder, but also a lot less black pepper. The very chunky Manhattan seafood chowder had the right flavors, but too little broth and obvious seafood bits.
The real test of a casual seafood restaurant in the upper Midwest is the Friday fish fry. Lake Edge Seafood currently serves cod, perch, walleye, and shrimp, which are available individually or as a combination platter. This latter option implies a plate heaped with fried fruits of the sea, but there’s just one piece of each kind (and two shrimp). But it already costs $22 — the cost to crank up the output would be too much of a jaw-dropper.
As for the fish itself, the cod was excellent, but the other three were varying shades of overdone, as were the fries, which speaks to a kitchen that’s still getting used to the Friday crush. Grilled grouper on a non-Friday was more appropriately cooked, but so aggressively peppered I wondered if I had been accidentally served the blackened version. The finer details of flavor bedevil Lake Edge Seafood.
Lake Edge Seafood can skate by for a little while on its novelty in the neighborhood and maybe the visibility of a lake out the front window, but it’s leaving a lot of slack in the line. If either price or consistency improves, this’ll be quite a catch.
Lake Edge Seafood Co.
4100 Monona Drive, 608-467-9491; lakeedgeseafood.com
11 am-8 pm Mon.-Sat., 9:30 am-1:30 pm Sun.; $4-$28
