LEO/LHB: No need to roll your own at Mazzoni's

[Robin Garr]

LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes.com

Mazzoni's, the 125-year-old Louisville tradition, moved out to Middletown from its longtime quarters on Taylorsville Road earlier this year. I wandered out the other day for a couple deep-fried delights and found its new shopping center quarters virtually indistinguishable from the old, complete with the trademark 27-foot-long walnut serving bar (which dates all the way back to its old downtown location) and gallery of old Louisville pictures on the walls.

It boasts pretty much the same down-home, seafood-heavy menu, but Mazzoni's is surely best known for its iconic rolled oyster ($3.90 for one, $7.80 for two, $11.70 for three). Fresh-shucked oysters are rolled in a secret-recipe cornmeal batter called pastinga, breaded in a thick cracker-crumb coating, and deep-fried until what's left is sizzling hot and mahogany brown: a delicious fried oyster sandwich that you eat out of hand. Mine were pretty good, although they bore a couple of burned-black spots that had to be torn off and discarded. I hope this innovation won't last.

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Mazzoni's
12003 Shelbyville Road
451-4436

Ate at Mazzoni’s 6-13-08 and ordered two fish sandwiches and half order of onion rings with each sandwich. Each sandwich contained two pieces of fish. The size of the fish sticks was about 4 inches long by 1 inch wide and 1 inch thick. Very small, especially since I did not get bread. There were about six soggy small rings per half order. Each sandwich and rings cost $8.10. The fish reminded me of the frozen fish sticks and had the same taste, no taste. What a rip off.
I did try one of the rolled oysters and it was what I remembered from the old location.
The fish sandwich used to be a large thick piece of fish. What happen to the size and taste? Not worth going back to. I wish PassTime Fish House air conditioner was working that night because that is where we went first. PassTime serves the best cod fish sandwich in town. Size and taste!
Doug Chin