Today we made the hour drive southwest to Newnan, Georgia to try out the new Good Catch Fish and Crab Cakes that are being tested at 5 Long John Silver’s locations.
According to Candi, the store manager at the Newnan location (who couldn’t have been nicer), the trial which started this past Monday, July 19th, ends this coming up Monday, July 26th. So, if you want to get in on the plant based fish trial, you need to hurry.
But, the question is, if you don’t live close by a testing location – is it worth the trip?
Yes! Both the Good Catch plant based fish and the crab cakes were excellent!
Plant Based vs Vegan
Before I get into my review, Long John Silver’s is being very deliberate with their use of the term ‘plant based’ instead of ‘vegan’. While the ingredients of the Good Catch products are vegan, there is a shared fryer cross-contamination issue at Long John’s.
Candi informed us that she was having her staff fry the Good Catch along with fries and hush puppies* and not the fish and chicken, but obviously there’s no guarantee that that is happening at all locations. If that’s a major concern for you then make sure to ask before ordering.
*PS… the hush puppies are not vegan or even plant based. According to Long John Silvers’ ingredients list, the hush puppies contain both dairy and egg.
If you use our guides then you know that we do not try to be the referees on what is considered vegan when it comes to cross-contamination. We just try to provide as much info as possible and you can make your own decision.
Now on to the review… Crab-Free Cakes
The crab cakes are the freakin’ bomb. Now, this may be speaking out of ignorance but it seems like mimicking a crab cake would be easier than a straight ‘meat’ because it’s a mix of ingredients. This is not to take anything away from these crab cakes because Good Catch nailed it.
The taste and texture is absolutely spot on. There’s no chance anyone could be able to tell that these were plant based. They also, oddly enough, were really good dipped in the sweet and zesty Asian sauce.
The meal comes with 4 crab cakes along with two sides (I’ll get to the corn and green beans in a second) which is a good amount of food for about eight bucks.
Fish-Free Fillet
While the crab cakes were my favorite, the Good Catch Fish was also excellent and something I’d order and eat again in a heartbeat.
To be clear, the fish isn’t trying to mimic Long John Silver’s fish. At least, not from I can remember. I had my fair share of Long John’s once upon a time, but it has been a little while.
Good Catch’s fish is thinner and has more of a breaded crust on it. The fish itself has a bit of flakiness to it but reminded me more of the ground up texture you’d expect from a chicken patty.
The taste though? Really, really good. It both tasted like a fish filet without being overly fishy. Slight crunch from the crust paired perfectly with the super tender fish.
Sides
The meals automatically come with cut corn and green beans. We didn’t ask whether the fries could have been sub’d for either but you could see if that is an option.
The corn is a sweet corn which ended up being way better than I was expecting. The green beans were okay, but nothing really special. I’d probably consider getting “double corn” for my sides or ask about the fries if I get a chance to order this meal again.
Whether or not I get a chance to order either of these meals again is, let’s be honest, going to come down to what kind of demand they get.
Even though the person right behind us in line was also there to order plant based fish, we were a bit disappointed to hear that this location has only received one case of fish and crab cakes and they weren’t sold out of those three days into the trial.
We were at the KFC trial of Beyond Chicken here in Smyrna, Georgia. There was a line that wrapped around the building and they sold out after a few hours. We didn’t get the sense at all that there had been anything close to that at Long John Silver’s.
We’ll finish this article by strongly encouraging you to find out if any of the Long John Silver’s close to you is a test location for Good Catch. If they are, please show Long John’s that there IS demand for a plant based product. The more plant based options that get on menus the better it is for animals, our environment, etc.
Test locations:
- 82 Bullsboro Dr. Newnan, Ga. 30263
- 1805 N. Slappey Dr. Albany, Ga 30014
- 3801 Ming Ave. Bakersfield, Ca 93309
- 7228 Stockton Blvd. Sacramento, Ca. 95823
- 406 W. Shaw Ave. Clovis, Ca. 93612
If you would like to check out our complete guide to everything vegan at Long John Silver’s, please check out our Long John Silver’s Vegan Guide.
