Review # 5 Campbell's Barn 1852 S.R. 125, Amelia, OH 45102 513-797-8019

An unlikely setting brings me to the next great fish sammich adventure. Campbell's Barn is exactly what it says in the name, a barn. This barn was once a reception hall for weddings, but under new ownership it has been remodeled into a country cooking/sports bar type venue. It a local feedbag, filled with white haired seniors mostly, in search of home cooking without having to dirty all the pots and pans. I had heard by word of mouth that they had a really good walleye sammich and I was dying to find out.

Today's target: A menu item called Battered Jack's Salmon Sandwich. I am not sure where the salmon comes in because the description is clearly a breaded walleye fillet on marble rye. At $9.29, it comes with a side. By suggestion of the waitress I had the jalapeno cheddar potatoes which were really delicious. Basically Au gratin style potatoes with jalapeno slices and some crunchy bread crumbs mixed in.

Bun: Not a bun at all, but rather a thick double slice of marbled rye. It was soft and full of flavor which complemented the flavor of the walleye nicely. It was a largish slice, but in contrast to the size of the fillet, it didn't quite fit the sammich. I ended up having to cut it down to size to fit the bread in fact.

Batter: A nice combination of what appeared to be corn meal and large bread crumbs. The fillet had a wonderfully crunchy and bumpy texture.

Fry: Lightly deep fried to a light brown finish. The batter here is light in nature so you can actually see bits of the fillet through it.

Toppings: Onion, Lettuce, Tomato and a side of tartar sauce. Normally I like to add a bit of ketchup into the mix as well to get some nice acidity, but in this particular case I was not disappointed at all with just the tartar sauce and toppings.

Portion: Just have a look at the picture....this was a generous portion which completely hangs off the sides of the bread. I was full and content and though my mouth was still wanting more, my stomach was clearly searching for the exit.

Service: The wait staff was helpful and courteous, attentive and honest. I had asked the waitress if the mac and cheese was any good and she in fact replied, "Umm...no, you don't want that. If you had come earlier I would say yes, but it has been sitting for a while and I don't think you would be happy with it." That kind of honesty is smart and refreshing.

Wait: It was a weekday afternoon and there was no wait time whatsoever. I do believe we did get in at the right moment as the initially empty dining room began to fill around us as we debated our menus. In the time we were there, however, I never did see a backup of a queue waiting to be seated.

Bottom Line: In truth, I have realized how much that the standard Alaskan Cod is really the french fry of the sea. Its plentiful, cheap, filling and tastes okay and so it gets piled onto nearly every menu that offers a fish sammich in its line up. Here, while happily munching on some fresh lake walleye it was clear to me how superior in flavor these fresh lake fish are in contrast. It was the difference to me between an okay restaurant I would some day go back to eventually to one that would be sought out again for its really delicious menu offering. True, I did not taste and salmon and the name was clearly misleading, but the walleye sammich itself is up near the top in deliciously tasty fish sammiches done right in my book!