The Avenue Bar

The Avenue Bar
1128 East Washington Avenue, Madison
Date of Curd Tasting: 03SEP2010

To set the scene: Friday night fish fry…a Wisconsin tradition! In Madison, the place to go is The Avenue Bar on East Wash. We hadn’t been there in years, and we were due. And guess what? They have fried curds! The 30min wait was well worth it.

Menu description:
Wisconsin Cheese Curds: Wisconsin’s finest cheese curds, battered and deep fried
We asked the waitress where the curds came from, she didn’t know and didn’t offer to go find out. The place was packed, she was swamped, so we didn’t push the issue.

The Avenue's Curds

Taste…4
Wow! These were darn good. The best we’ve had so far! Could use a bit of salt, but that minor transgression can be forgiven.

Color…white
We have a bit of a chip on our shoulders against white curds, but these may cause us to re-evaluate that mindset.

Greaziness…5
Perfect amount of glisten left on the finger tips. Lovely!

Close and Personal with an Avenue Cheese Curd

Batter…4.5
Tender, yet crispy. Perfectly browned. A hot debate ensued over the table regarding this score. Cheezaholic was adamant that it should be a 5, Schnapps insisted docking 0.5 due to the salt deficit (ahem, even though the scale in this category clearly judges only batter to cheese ratio, and not taste). So be it, 4.5 it is.

Inside an Avenue Curd

Condiment…ranch
Very nice thin, yummy ranch with perfect curd  coating capabilities.

Value…4
Price of $5.95 for a medium sized order. However they were so yummy, that we would have been happy to pay much more!

Total Score…17.5
Seriously delicious. Worth the wait on a Friday night, however we learned that you can get “Friday Night Fish Fry” at The Avenue every day of the week…and at the same price! So next time, we’ll go mid-week to get our curd fix!