Mid-Michigan Dining

• 1979 Aurelius Rd.
• Holt, MI 48842
• (517) 694-4020
• No Known Website
• Menu

I wasn’t planning on eating out, but an outbreak of severe weather late in the afternoon kept me glued to my scanner and Accuweather.  Being a former news photographer, I’m a weather junkie.  I’m still learning my way around Mid-Michigan, so it was hard trying to keep up with where the spotters were located, but that adrenaline that used to flow everytime the storm clouds built up started flowing again.  Because of that adrenaline, I wasn’t able to concentrate on cooking dinner.  My girlfriend called about the time she normally comes home and said she wasn’t going to be able to make it home for dinner so I figured, screw it, I’ll eat out.  I heard about Carlin’s Catch by reading about it on another blog.  It’s fairly close to my place so I jumped on Cedar St towards Holt.

Carlin’s Catch is located in a small building next to the 7-11.  It looks like it was a chain fast food place in a former life.  The set up is still the same.  There’s a counter when you walk in where you order.  The menu board is above the counter. The menu is not at all complicated.  The sign outside boasts “Seafood – Beef – Chicken” and that’s about all that’s on the menu.

I don’t really like seafood and the only beef on the menu is a hamburger, so I went with the chicken dinner.  It didn’t say on the menu what the chicken was.  Was it a half a chicken?  Was it a breast and a wing?  Was something else entirely?  I wasn’t going to find out until I got my meal.  You get the choice of getting your mystery chicken either fried or broiled.  It’s nice they don’t make that decision for you.  I choice fried.  You also get your choice of two sides. I picked fries and coleslaw.  A biscuit and two corn fritters also came with the meal.  Since I ws getting it to go, I didn’t order a drink but they have Pepsi products.

The cashier (who may have also been the owner) took my order and told me to take a seat.  They would bring my dinner out to me when it was done.  I only sat there about five minutes before my order was ready.  WhenI got home, I finally got to see what the mystery chicken dinner was.  It was four deep fried chicken strips.  Not at all what I was expecting.  Often in places like this, the chicken ends up with a fishy taste because the same oil is used for all the deep frying.  That wasn’t the case here.  The chicken didn’t taste like fish, but it didn’t really have a distinct taste at all.  It was nice and juicy and the portion was a pretty good size for a chicken strip.  The fries also didn’t have a fishy taste which is very much appreciated.  The fries were basic fast food fries.  With a little bit of salt, they were pretty good and there was just enough to make the chicken and the fries a satisfying meal.  I don’t really like coleslaw so I didn’t try it.  That’s a not a reflection on the coleslaw.  I just don’t really like coleslaw so I didn’t taste.  The roll that came with the meal was nice and soft.  It wasn’t homemade, but it was cooked just right.  They included a little portion of Land-O-Lakes butter in the styrofoam to-go container which was melted by the time I got home.  That’s a pretty good indication that my food was nice and hot when it was packed up.

Carlin’s serves it’s purpose.  I was hungry and sort of in a hurry and had a craving for chicken.  I was going to go to Kroger and get eight pieces of their fried chicken, but I decided to give a new place a shot.  The staff was friendly and talking with the patrons dining in and the food came up in a hurry.  It’s nothing to write home to mom about, but is a good, quick place to satisfy a chicken or fish craving.