Last weekend was the Taste of Madison! The weather was pretty nice, a little on the warm side for my preference, but definitely better than if it had hotter or raining! There were crowds, but the lines weren’t too long for any of the booths. It was a pretty great event.
We started at the State Street corner of the Capital Square. (We prefer to park at the Lake Street ramp and walk down rather than fighting for a parking spot close to the square.) It is always a little overwhelming at first with the crowds and all of the different food choices, for some reason no matter how many times I go this isn’t really something I get over. Luckily, this time, I had not only done the tasting a few weeks ago but I had also looked at their website so I had some idea of what I wanted to get.
The husband took the first bite with a Texas BBQ slider from Plata’s Restaurant. He said it was pretty good. (I didn’t have any of the sandwich, but it sure did look adorable!)
Next stop was TNT’s for the Chocolate Birthday Cake Waffle. Yes, the same one that I had and raved about at the judging. So good. I am honestly not a huge fan of vanilla ice cream, but the Chocolate Shoppe Birthday Cake ice cream that they serve it with is so good with the chocolate waffle! It was a little bit hard to eat while walking though.
Just around the corner, the Husband got some fries with cheese sauce from Po Boy’s Catering. (I couldn’t find a business website so this links to their Yelp page.) Fresh cut fries are one of my favorite things! One of the reasons why some people don’t like Taste of Madison is because they think it overpriced. Although nothing is more than $4, the portion sizes are generally pretty small and some people don’t think they are getting their money’s worth. Well, these fries are definitely a good buy if you are trying to be frugal with your money! The fries were $3, and the cheese sauce was an extra $1. The portion was quite large – it definitely would be a good snack for a couple of people, or even shared with more. I think this was the largest portion that I saw around the square!
Next I spotted Bluephies. It is kind of a tradition for me to get a cookie dough egg roll every year at the Taste of Madison. The first time I ever had one was actually at Taste of Madison years ago. I actually debated not getting one this year in the interest of trying new foods and not filling myself up with desserts. But the people that we were with had never had the delicious dessert before, so I couldn’t just let them have one and not get one for myself! 🙂 It was delicious as always. (Some day I will remember to take a photograph of the inside so you can see the gooey cookie dough!)
Our final stop for the day was deep fried cheese curds. There are many cheese curds to choose from at this event but I really believe that The Old Fashioned has some of the best.They have a pretty distinct beer battered flavor rather than just tasting like deep fried cheese and oil like many generic deep fried cheese curds do. Some people also really love the sauce that they come with, but I am not a fan, I enjoy them just the way they are.
Random side note: While writing this I realized that when I think of cheese curds, as in something I order at a restaurant, I think of it as deep fried automatically. It didn’t cross my mind that others may just think I am talking about a regular small piece of cheese, (or not even know what I’m talking about at all!) which is also delicious, but deep fried cheese curds a whole other kind of wonderful. So anyways, I realized that I needed to clarify them as deep fried when I was talking about them.
Another year of Taste of Madison, more delicious food. There is always so much that I want to try, if only I had a never ending stomach.
Did you go to the Taste of Madison this year??
What was your favorite thing you ate?
Filed under: Words Tagged: | food, madison, Taste of Madison
As promised, I tried the butter rum banana cheesecake – amazing! Easily the best thing I had. 🙂
I was also happy that People’s Bakery had baklava (some years they do, some they don’t), and I scarfed that down pretty quickly, too.
Also loved the mac and cheese from The Old Fashioned (though I thought it needed some salt; then again, I think most things need salt). <3
Yay, I’m glad you liked it!!
That mac and cheese from the Old Fashioned always tempts me! Luckily (or unluckily I suppose) they are toward the end of our usual route, so I’m pretty full already by that point!
awww, this makes me even more bummed that i missed it! everything looks delicious. 🙂 i love those cookie dough egg rolls! i’ve only had them once, but i’m sure they’re something i’ll get every time i go to bluephie’s now.
Maybe you should start planning ahead for Taste of Madison 2013?? Its always over Labor Day weekend, so just plan on it! 🙂
I had a coworker who made sure we knew what cheese curds were- but when we first saw them at her wedding (going out to eat before) we were confused. We didn’t realize they could be fried. She had said that good ones would squeak on your teeth and we were all eating the fried ones, trying to hear the squeak ahaha. We learned once we got to the Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha on the way back 🙂 PS I need that little fried cookie dough bittie in my life. NOW.
Oooh, Mars Cheese Castle, that is a must for any visit to Wisconsin!
We also could not leave the Taste Of Madison without getting the cookie dough Eggroll! So yummy! We also had the deep fried cheese curds and the jalepeno popper grilled cheese from the new grill cheese food cart! That was awesome!
Although I didn’t get anything from them, I am definitely excited about that grilled cheese food cart! I’ll have to to try them sometime!
So jealous of your trip to the Taste of Madison. I want some Bluephies 😉