I love my stand-by / go-to fish fry places, like Turner Hall, but lately I've been eager to try some long-standing ones in the area that I've inexplicably missed.

The Friday before last, we went to check out the Bartolotta version at the Boerner Botanical Gardens and were amazed at how big and how popular it is. I expected a quiet, candle-lit fish fry with an intimate crowd. Instead, Jim Liban and company rocked a smaller room while a huge ballroom packed in the fish crowd. The fish was great and the accompanying buffet was as fabulous as you'd expect from the Bartolotta family.

Since we had a toddler with us, it would have been nice to be served without a long wait and us finally having to approach someone and request service, but it happens. And they offered us free dessert as an apology. In the end, the food and the atmosphere guaranteed we left happy.

Last week, we went to the Bavarian Inn. I know, how could it have been our first time? But it was. Two of us arrived early and filled up on happy hour noshers in the bar, but still made room for the fish fry once inside the awesome dining room with its huge fireplace and the piano stylings of Jean Rex ("she not singing," my toddler noted, although she did sing, albeit very, very quietly, later).

Here the vibe and the surroundings were the highlight. The food was good, but didn't floor me. The buffet was basic but reliable and the potato pancakes were marvelous. I was a little disappointed that the $11 fish plate includes just one piece of fish. It wasn't that big a deal since I'd eaten some wieners and quesadillas out in the bar, but had I not, I might have left wanting more.

All in all, I'm glad I got to these places and will continue my quest. In the meantime, I'm likely to add these two spots to the fish fry rotation.