WESLEY LOY / Anchorage Daily News
McDonald's Filet-O-Fish, the mac daddy of fish sandwiches, had a "billowy softness" that was hard to beat in a recent taste test.
Get your fish on
More fast-food chains give props to pollock from the AK -- see how they rank
Published: April 19, 2007
Last Modified: April 20, 2007 at 11:50 AM
A few weeks ago KFC, the fried chicken people, added something unprecedented to menus nationwide: a fish sandwich.
The company said its new Fish Snacker sandwich is made exclusively with Alaska pollock, a bland, bug-eyed bottom fish that swims in great abundance in the Bering Sea.
KFC joins a growing school of fast-food outlets offering their customers something fishy for lunch or dinner.
From McDonald's to Burger King to Arby's, all the major chains seem to have a fishwich -- most all of them made from Alaska catches.
Why do places best known for drumsticks and burgers bother with fish?
Restaurants diversify their menus to hook more customers, and fish is perceived as healthy. But the answer also is rooted in religion. For many people of faith, Fridays are for fish -- a day to abstain from eating the meat of warm-blooded animals as a form of penance for the crucifixion.
Some McDonald's franchises began offering Filet-O-Fish sandwiches in 1962 to shore up sagging Friday sales in Catholic neighborhoods, says Michael Foley, a Baylor University professor and author of the book "Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday?"
The religious significance of fish explains why KFC, after debuting its Fish Snacker, actually asked Pope Benedict XVI to bless the new product.
Fish sticks and sandwiches are a big piece of Alaska's billion-dollar bottom-fishing business. This year, boats dragging enormous nets will scoop up more than 3 billion pounds of pollock, plus millions more pounds of cod and sole.
Alaska is one of the world's largest suppliers of white fish such as pollock. Hence, the love the industry receives from titans such as McDonald's.
Rick Muir, a vice president with Seattle-based American Seafoods Co., which runs some of the biggest fishing ships, says the Alaska fleet offers the best and freshest pollock -- a fish that can be filleted, minced, frozen, shaped, breaded or coated however wholesale customers want.
"It's wild and it's natural and it's flexible," Muir says.
OK, so pollock is good for Alaska's fishing industry. But is your average fast-food fish sandwich good to eat?
We cast around to find out.
Here's a general conclusion: These fishwiches aren't exactly health food. All are deep-fried. And all are slathered in tartar sauce and very salty.
With that, let's go fishwiching.
Arby's Classic Fish Sandwich and Spicy Cajun Fish Sandwich
Rating:**
Price: $2 each
Calories: 543
Saturated fat: 30 percent daily value
Comment: Really big for two bucks. Classic is built on a large, toasted sesame seed bun with a thick cut of breaded fish, tomato slices, leaf lettuce and a sloppy shot of tartar. Fish flesh was gray, rubbery, with dark spots and a slightly bitter aftertaste. Breading was much thicker than the Filet-O-Fish, and the lettuce wasn't clean. Only difference for the Cajun version was an orange, mildly spicy tartar.
Compare: Regular Roast Beef Sandwich, $3.15, saturated fat 30 percent daily value.
Locations: Anchorage 5th Avenue mall (320 W. Fifth Ave.); 1135 Muldoon Road; Northway Mall (3101 Penland Pkwy.); 2850 C St.; 8800 Lake Otis Pkwy.; Dimond Center (1750 W. Parks Hwy.); 1750 W. Parks Hwy., Wasilla.
Burger King BK Big Fish
Rating:*
Price: $2.99
Calories: 630
Saturated fat: 40 percent daily value
Comment: Billed as "massive," the sandwich has a thick tile of breaded fish swimming in tartar and topped with a pinch of green iceberg lettuce on a toasted "corn-dusted" bun. Fish was reasonably white and notably tender but was heavily breaded, though not as badly as the Arby's sandwiches. Overall, a grease bomb best avoided.
Compare: Whopper, $3.09, saturated fat 62 percent daily value.
Locations: 1405 W. Northern Lights Blvd.; 700 Northway Drive; 900 E. Dimond Blvd.
Carl's Jr. Carl's Catch Fish Sandwich
Rating:***1/2
Price: $2.99
Calories: 660
Saturated fat: 25 percent daily value
Comment: A really big sandwich on a sesame seed bun made with two haphazardly shaped battered fish portions and the obligatory mudslide of tartar, plus iceberg lettuce and tomato slices. Sandwich served in a helpful paper pocket, which helps tame the tartar. Fish was white, flaky, not fishy tasting and not overly battered. Veggies were refreshingly green and red. Ranks behind only the Filet-O-Fish, but it's bigger.
Compare: Bacon Cheese Six Dollar Burger, $5.59, saturated fat 148 percent daily value.
Locations: 650 W. Northern Lights Blvd.; 1137 Huffman Road; 2242 Abbott Road; 12319 Old Glenn Highway; 1741 Palmer Wasilla Highway, Wasilla.
KFC Fish Snacker
Rating:**
Price: $1.49 (99 cents Outside)
Calories: 280
Saturated fat: 8 percent daily value
Comment: The minnow of fishwiches. Dinky, thin cut of battered fish on a rectangular, sesame roll with anemic, shredded iceberg lettuce swimming in tartar. Server tonged the fish from a warming drawer. Fish was whiter and tastier than Arby's, but the battered fillet glistened with grease. Why buy this in a joint serving greasy, yummy chicken?
Compare: Buffalo Snacker chicken sandwich, $1.49, saturated fat 8 percent daily value.
Location: Only available at combo KFC/Long John Silver's at 2514 E. Tudor Road.
McDonald's Filet-O-Fish
Rating:****
Price: $2.70
Calories: 380
Saturated fat: 20 percent daily value
Comment: The oldest and best fast-food fish sandwich going. A square of flaky, white fish, lightly breaded, on a toasted bun with half a slice of American cheese and a dollop of pickly tartar. My sandwich was fast, not greasy, warm with a billowy softness I liked. Fish tasted only faintly fishy.
Compare: Big Mac, $3.30, saturated fat 51 percent daily value.
Locations: 701 E. 36th Ave.; 2601 E. Tudor Road; 4350 Spenard Road; 8915 Old Seward Highway; 800 W. Northern Lights Blvd.; 3035 Muldoon Road; 225 Muldoon Road; 3006 Mountain View Drive; 5716 DeBarr Road; 1320 E. Huffman Road; 8900 Old Seward Highway; 3828 W. Dimond Blvd.; 9100 Lake Otis Parkway.
Note: Some nutritional figures from www.nutritiondata.com and www.dietfacts.com.
• Daily News business reporter Wesley Loy can be reached at wloy@adn.com or 257-4590. He hosts The Highliner, a blog about Alaska's commercial fishing industry, at www.adn.com/highliner.
