The Hole’s Holy Hushpuppies

Catfish Hole
4127 W. Wedington Drive
Fayetteville
521-7008

By Rachel Birdsell

TFW Contributing Writer

Preamble Ramble

This week’s review is stop No. 2 in the Quest for the Holy Catfish. I’m sure that most of you know where Catfish Hole is, but for those who don’t it’s on the south side of Wedington, just past the Rupple Road intersection. Thank you for all of the Quest suggestions so far. I really appreciate you taking the time to be my Quest Advisers. I’m just sorry the gig can’t pay you more.

Food for Thought

It wouldn’t be much of a quest if I didn’t have the catfish, would it? So, that’s what I had. I decided that the small catch fillet plate would be big enough for me. It comes with French fries on the plate, while the coleslaw, hush puppies and green tomato pickles are served family style. I really think they should come up with a different name than “family style” because true “family style” would probably involve a lot more fighting over the last hush puppy before realizing that they’ll bring you more.
The catfish was really good. But it seemed to have something missing, and I’m not sure what. It was most definitely cooked perfectly, and the texture was spot on, but it almost seemed a tad bland. Not much — just enough to make me think that maybe they’d left something out of the coating mix.
The coleslaw was very creamy and mild, and while not great, was good enough for me to eat all of it. Unfortunately, the fries tasted like typical out-of-the-bag fries.
The green tomato pickles were just plain awesome, and I was lucky (intimidating) enough to not have to share a single one.
The hush puppies were the best I’ve ever eaten. They were lightly crispy on the outside and fluffy and soft on the inside. I’m not sure what they do to make them so wonderful. In fact, I don’t even care what they do to them. They just need to keep on doing it, because I swear to the great catfish in the sky, I could just eat the hush puppies by themselves as a meal. In fact, if this were the Quest for the Holy Hush Puppy, we could probably just stop right here. I can’t imagine there being another hush puppy being that good unless it was made with sparkly star dust and cooked by the breath of a baby dragon.

The Sporkcast

(1-5 sporks)

Atmosphere: 3.6 whiskered sporks. As befitting to the catfish, the windows at Catfish Hole are stained glass windows that depict catfish in various poses. I can honestly say that it’s the only time in my life that I’ve ever seen catfish stained glass windows.
Food: 4.3 Cornmeal coated, deep-fried sporks. While the hush puppies reigned supreme at a solid 5, the French fries only ranked a 3.4, with everything else falling in between.
Staff: 4.9 cooperative sporks. The staff was excellent and all seemed to work together to make sure everyone was taken care of. I didn’t have to sit wondering when they were going to show up. As soon as I needed something, there they were. It was like they could read my mind, which would explain why one of the waiters ran out of the building screaming. I’m kidding. He wasn’t screaming, just running.
Dollars spent: My tab was around $12. The menu runs from around $8 on up to $23.99 for some of the all-you-can-eat plates, and there are a few offerings at “market price.”
Chance of returning: I’ll definitely go back to Catfish Hole. I’m not sure it’s the Holy Catfish, but it’s good, and the hush puppies are definitely the Holy Hushpuppies. In honor of the hushpuppies, I hereby declare that “Holy Hush Puppies” is my new expletive of choice. I think it should be yours too.
If you know of a great eating place, drop me a line at rabirdsell@gmail.com. I’ll check it out and let you know what I think.