Fox and Hound Shenandoah The Woodlands Review

Fish & Chips in Shenandoah

There are likely a dozen or more places to get Fish and Chips in The Woodlands. This popular food item of the British name is really nothing more than good old southern fried food. Even though I am trying to avoid fried foods, and burgers, it's easier said than done; having grown up eating all sorts of delicious foods all cooked up in that hot oil. I remember sitting in a McDonald's several years ago when I picked up one of their French fries and began to squeeze it and mash it down to a pulp like state and all of the oil that came out of it... That was one of the things that contributed to my never eating there again, as well not eating any French fries from anywhere for a very, very long time.

Fish & Chips

But that was then, and this is now and now, I eat French fries again.. especially those from Five Guys! But that's another story.
Present day, 2013AD and we find ourselves at Fox and Hound in Shenandoah, Texas with a desire to satisfy a craving for some fried fish and French fries. I've been to Tewbeleaux's in Spring a couple of times and theirs is not bad, nice flaky white fish served up in what at first appear to be Grande size fish sticks. They aren't Mrs Paul's and they aren't processed crap either; pretty good actually.

For reasons I can't really explain we went with a serving of the Black Bean Nachos with Chicken ordered to be an appetizer, the fish and chips, and a Black Forest sandwich. She's had the sandwich before and enjoyed it but, I was trying something different at Fox & Hound this time.

The Service

As it was a slow time of the day for this place, we were obliged to seat ourselves and our server Jenna, appeared in short order. After returning with our drinks, we were ready to place our order which included our 3 afore-mentioned dishes. It took a while for the food to arrive, Jenna brought out the nachos and subsequently returned with our main dishes within about two minutes. Now we all like to get our food hot and fresh from the kitchen but at least give us some time to enjoy the appetizer first! We both gave her a quizzical look as she began to set the plates down on the table but it didn't even phase her that we weren't ready for them. The nachos were actually pretty good, way more Tex than Mex but this ain't no Tex-Mex restaurant, so far, so good or at least not bad.

In comparison, the fish portions at Fox & Hound are quite different than those of Tewbeleaux's (which are made with Atlantic Cod) they look more like actual fish fillets cut along the entire length of fish and looking more like slices of pizza. The batter was light and crunchy with a decent flavor but the fish itself did not appear to be thoroughly cooked. I inquired with management about this to which she cheerfully replaced the plate with a new service and it was indeed, cooked to completion. She also explained that they were in a transitional state with their new menu and that the fish was not Cod but was Pollack which is a north Atlantic fish and they were transitioning from Pollack to Haddock based on a lot of people with the same concern as I - Is the fish thoroughly cooked? The Pollack doesn't cook up to a flake white like Cod does and they were supposed to have started serving it already but had not yet received their first shipment. Overall, the fish wasn't really to my liking - had I known beforehand it wasn't Cod, I would have ordered something else.

I have eaten the Black Forest sandwich here before and decided to stay with what I knew to be good and wasn't dissapointed. After having finished our meal, the manager came back by our table to check on us and explained that our dinner was on her tonight and asked that we would return soon and try them again. The manager handled the situation quite well, no excuses, just a reasonable explanation as to why things were as they were. I'm looking forward to the Cod being served and we plan to return in the near future.

Black Forest Ham Sandwich

Fox and Hound Pub & Grill Shenandoah, Texas 19189 I-45 South, Suite A Shenandoah, TX 77385 Closed July, 2013

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