Marie Callender’s Golden Battered Fish Fillet

September 24, 2007 | Reviewer: Andrew

Price: $2.50 (on sale)
Serving: 1 tray, 12oz.
Calories: 450
Fat: 26%, 16g
Cholesterol: 12%, 35mg
Sodium: 49%, 1,170mg
Protein: 22g
Carbs: 18%, 53g
Fiber: 16%, 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 10 Points

Marie Callender says: At Marie Callender’s, our fish fillet is lightly dipped in a golden batter and served with seasoned rice and tender broccoli in a creamy cheese sauce

Andrew says: I'm not much for fish.

When I was a kid in rural Indiana, fishsticks were among the most vile foodstuffs I could imagine, and the McDonald's Filet-o-Fish was like a steaming patty of briny fish poo. This was how I saw most seafood for several years.

But I occasionally dip my toe in the sea and try some fish or some shrimp or clams or whatever else lives in water, just to see if my tastes have evolved. And lo and behold, they are starting to! Tilapia, for instance: I love it! And salmon! And calamari, when done right, is actually pretty tasty! A whole new world of culinary delight was beckoning to me!

But then I went and tried this Marie Callender meal. I should have known: Frozen fish product, particularly in a TV-dinner-type setting, is hardly ever representative of how fish ought to taste. And this meal is no different. We'll start with the non-fish parts, though.

The rice somehow ended up very dry, and despite the so-called "seasoning" on it, there's not much flavor to speak of, save for what it picked up from the fish product laying nearby. It's certainly not one of the better rice performances I've had in frozen fare. And the broccoli and cheese comes up short of even frozen-food expectations as well, with cheese sauce that's somehow lumpy and watery all at once, and doesn't even pack half the cheddary tang of cheese sauces in Smart Ones meals. The broccoli itself ended up rather limp and mushy, but retained a decent flavor. I never know if texture failures are on me for under- or overheating, or if they're systemic and indicative of a failure on the part of one Marie Callender. I guess I'll probably never know (like I'm ever going to buy this again).

Now back to the fish: It may be the saving grace in this sorry meal. It's not the worst frozen fish I've seen, and it keeps a somewhat "fresh" fish flavor that doesn't make me feel like I'm licking the barnacles off a schooner. I've always preferred the crispy, flaky beer-style batter to the crunchy, crumby style batter of, say, fishsticks, even though on this piece of fish, the batter was a bit soggy in spots. Who am I kidding, it was a bit soggy all over, and I'm gonna blame the microwave for that one.

But even if you heated this meal in the ol' convection oven, I doubt your taste buds could extract much joy. I can't imagine either fish-lovers or fish-haters taking pleasure this soggy, bland meal. I guess that means pretty much everyone ought to hate it.

comments

16 Responses to “Marie Callender’s Golden Battered Fish Fillet”

Abi Jones on September 24th, 2007

My email account didn’t want to show me the photo before I downloaded it and I immediately learned why. That fish looks seriously gag-worthy.

I’m glad that I grew up in a seafood-intense environment. So, what are your thoughts on deep fried catfish?
Andrew on September 24th, 2007

I’ve actually never had catfish, though we just got a Popeye’s Chicken in the last year or so, so I may take my newfound courage with fish and give it a shot.
Crow on September 24th, 2007

Um, tilapia is the least tasty of fish. It doesn’t really count for the seafood phobic. Try raw scallop.
Andrew on September 25th, 2007

I don’t know about raw, but I’ll investigate scallops next. Also, as a landlubber, I resent your statement that tilapia “doesn’t count.” If it grew up in water, it counts.
Jeri on September 25th, 2007

DANGER WILL ROBINSON! (or Andrew, anyway)…for the person trying to expand their seafood palate, scallops are fraught with peril. If overcooked they resemble fishy erasers and even if they’re cooked nicely, there can be a bit of sand lurking. I once had a dish of “singing scallops” at a restaurant…they were delicious until I bit into one that crunched. I nearly lost them right there at the table, and was unable to eat another bite without gagging. I have the same reaction to getting a fish bone in my mouth. It ruins the meal for me. Getting over childhood seafood phobias isn’t easy!
Steph on September 25th, 2007

Let’s just put this puppy to rest: There is no WAY a frozen fish meal will ever satisfy either man, vegetable, or mineral. Fish and microwaves may provide some scientific research (or act as a torture device by the government…) —– but that’s about it.

Then again, my mother LOVES McDonald’s Fillet-o-Fish sandwich.

Another reason why I think I’m adopted.

- S
Ace on September 25th, 2007

Microwaved fish is a horrible, horrible thing. I bought a frozen salmon meal from a Japanese market a few years ago and it nearly ruined my life. Sort of. Well, it was awful at the very least.

I’m a big advocate of fresh seafood, though. I can’t think of any seafood I don’t like! Mmm…getting to the cajun crawfish restaurant this weekend.
Julie on September 25th, 2007

Don’t listen to anyone Andrew, just try things for yourself.

I grew up in the midwest and I LOVE scallops. We could get them fresh when I used to snorkel in the Gulf of Mexico. We used a little net like deal. MMMMMmm delish.

I also was eating a Stouffer’s Corner Bistro Shimp meal while I was reading this and I think it’s great. I even forked out full price for it. I won’t go near any kind of frozen whitefish aka cod which is what most of this crappy fish stick/filet stuff is made from.

Although I have a friend who celebrates Lent by eating those crappy McDonald’s fish filets. Then the rest of the year she returns to paganism.
Andrew on September 25th, 2007

Jeri: I saw Crow’s comment about scallop and was ready to put him on blast for suggesting a seaphobic eat “raw” anything, but I decided I’d consult my newly minted culinary school graduate sister since she was sitting right next to me. She said scallops are indeed fairly mild and can be quite tasty when prepared correctly. She even, unbidden, made the same comparison Crow did: that if I like tilapia, I probably would like scallops. That said, I can understand how a bad experience can ruin a food for someone. When I was about 6 I ate the grossest onion ring I think man ever created (from a Burger King box, of course) and I couldn’t even smell onion rings without retching for about 8 years.

Steph: I agree that frozen meals with fish in them are batting just about .000, but I guess I wouldn’t put a good fish meal out of the realm of possibility. It seems just a few years ago the only meats in frozen meals were stamped patties of filler meat slathered in “Salisbury” gravy. And now look how far we’ve come! I never doubt science.

Ace: Here in the upper Midwest, most of our fish, even the “fresh” stuff, is on ice. Ask 10 people around here if they eat seafood and you may see as many as five of them say they can’t stand the stuff. I think there’s a strong correlation between those two facts. That said, I’m going out to Seattle in about a month and I’ll be sure to sample some actual fresh seafood and see if my attitudes change.

Julie: I was reading just a few weeks ago about how, as the seas have been overfished, the common, generic “fish” in fish sandwiches and fishsticks, etc., has changed. I can’t remember how many steps down in quality its taken, but it’s pretty amazing to see how often we’ve had to change our fishing patterns because we accidentally drive a common fish near extinction. As for shrimp frozen meals, I find it’s POSSIBLE to have decent shrimp with them, but it’s not exactly the rule. Generally the shrimp are quarter-sized or smaller, and nearly flavorless. If you found a meal with good shrimp, I don’t even think you can be guaranteed you’ll have good shrimp the next time you buy that same meal, but by all means continue to experiment!
Rob on September 25th, 2007

re scallops, I only have experience with the smaller bay scallops, but the way you cook them is you throw them in a pot of tap water, put the burner on medium-high, and when the water starts to boil they are done. very easy to overcook.

re fish, only way I like it is fried, and then only if the place has a good fry cook, no way it comes out good out of a microwave. frying seafood properly is a real skill.

american raised catfish is very good, american raised tilapia is good, grouper is heaven. you have to watch out for the china imports because they have all kinds of antibiotics and stuff in them.

in this day and age ALL seafood has been frozen unless you are paying an arm and a leg for it, what you want is seafood that has been thawed only once, it will still be good. but if you thaw it and re-freeze it, the seafood is worthless.

if you think about it, seafood in a frozen meal HAS to have been thawed at least once, when it came to the factory and cooked it. so the fish is frozen, thawed, cooked, frozen, and then cooked again. no way the fish will hold up well to that.
Crow on September 25th, 2007

I think it’s unfair that fish has been labeled as an “unmicrowavable” food. Microwaving raw fish, or raw previously frozen fish, can be done both very well and very easily. You can even microwave (steam) mussels and lobsters. Although you’ll want to toss the lobster into the freezer for a few minutes to quiet the thing down. It’s no worse than steaming or boiling it.
Anna on September 26th, 2007

We share similar backgrounds re: fish.

I try to like it….I want to like it, but can’t deal with any of it. Even the tilapia you’ve grown to love still leaves me reaching for something to wash the nasty fish taste away. However, the fact that your tastebuds are starting to accept these things is highly motivating. Maybe there’s hope for me yet.

By the way. I don’t think the picture looks too bad. The little grains of rice strewn all over the fish take away from it, but the fish itself looks okay. I can see why you were drawn to it and then subsequently repelled.
Mr. Buzzard on September 26th, 2007

abi: I grew up in mississippi, I loves me some fried catfish. The girlfriend likes to broil it, and a little part of me dies every time…
Andrew on September 26th, 2007

Rob: I’ll put grouper on my list of things to try as well someday. Thanks for the insights! I won’t pretend to know who’s right in regards to thawing/reheating standards, but I think I would agree that the truth is probably somewhere between you and Crow, that seafood CAN be carefully microwaved in some cases, but generally the fewer thaws it’s gone through, the better quality you’ll have.

Anna: I think back to my days before I started drinking beer, when beer tasted weird and unsatisfying. Now, a proper beer can taste delicious to me and sometimes even sorta quench my thirst. I see a similar evolution in my tastebuds toward seafood and fish. It just takes a willingness to try things and frequent exposure to quality goods.
Rose on September 27th, 2007

I hate fish, and the rice looks dry. but, to me, the broccoli and cheese looks delish. mm mm.
Anna on September 28th, 2007

Well, I’m starting to like beer….so there’s hope.