Headliners Bar and Grill (Neenah, WI)

This was my first trip to Headliners so I didn't know what to expect.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Headliners had an unique idea of serving both white and yellow curds in one order. I have never heard of that being done anywhere so Kudos for trying something new. Oddly, the white and yellow curds seem to have been cooked separately as the white curds were more well done than the yellow curds.

Both types are battered which scores points in my book.  The batter was light and crisp, with a light saltiness and no noticeable seasoning.  It's a very clean tasting recipe.

There was no sauces provided with the curds, which was just fine because these curds can stand on their own.  I tried them with some ranch dressing I asked for.  The white curds were not improved by the sauce and are probably best left solo.  The yellow curds on the other hand blended well with the Ranch, though it's not needed.

The cooking is a tough one with these as the yellow curds were cooked to perfection, but the white curds were just a little too well cooked.  The white curds would have probably taken my rating of these way up if they didn't have just the slightest bit of burnt flavor to drag them down.  This however leaves these curds with some serious potential.  The other note on the cooking was the stretchiness of the white curds.  They were phenomenally stretchy, it may have been the quality of the cheese, but the pictures don't do justice to it.

I am ranking the entire order as one ranking so the strengths and weaknesses of the two almost cancel each other out.  These are an excellent order of curds and if you wanted to test in one shot the difference between white and yellow curds this is definitely one to try.  With a current score of 7 / 10 I will definitely be coming back to try these again and hopefully next time the white curds are not overdone.  With the combo of yellow and white curds with a clean, crisp batter and excellent cheese, there is potential for these to be some of the very best curds around.

-Matt

Website: http://www.headlinersbar.com/

Irish Cheese Curds at Dublin's Irish Pub, Oshkosh, WI

Last week I ventured out to Dublin's Irish Pub for some fish and chips, and while I was there I decided to try their Irish Cheese Curds. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. These little nuggets of cheesy deliciousness were absolutely wonderful.

Now these cheese curds had a very unique batter.  It makes for a different than normal taste, but one that is surprisingly good.  The curds were browned to absolute perfection.  There was enough crunch to not be greasy, but they were still delicate enough to not be tough.

The cheese was a very good flavor, creamy and salty.  However the cheese didn't stretch as well as I would have hoped and seemed just a touch on the chewy side.  But the flavor was absolutely exceptional.  

These curds can absolutely stand on their own, but with a bit of ranch sauce they are divine. 

Out of a ten point scale Dublin's Irish Pub's Curds score:

8 out of 10

They are definitely worth taking a trip for.

Your guide to the fried,

-Matt

Tom's Drive In

I ordered a large order of cheese curds at Tom's Drive In on CB in Neenah.  This is more along the lines of what I expect from a fast food restaurant, as in bland.

I'll start with the good:
The portion size was very good.  I ordered the large which was a bit more expensive I got quite a big load of curds.  The breading was cooked well, nice color and crunchiness.  The cheese was almost well melted, just a bit short.

Now the bad:
This is one of the first times I've ever had an order of fried cheese curds that I didn't want to finish.  The breading was overpoweringly bland.  Not just a taste of nothing bland, but a bland that sucks the flavor out of your mouth.  The cheese while having a decent texture lacked flavor as well.  When I peeled the breading off of a couple curds to get a gauge of what the actual curd tasted like I was still disappointed. This cheese doesn't provide much of a base.  I also tried the breading by itself, it tasted like flour and hot frying oil ( this is not a compliment).

Overall Score: 3 out of 10

I can't even imagine a dipping sauce that would save these.

Red Robin Mozzarella Sticks (Single Order)

Stringy cheese, but as with most things at large chains it's rather bland. The sticks were cooked nicely breading was browned well and the cheese was melted thoroughly. The breading was too thick and kind of bland. Overall rating 6 out of 10. They did a great job of cooking a bland product. Portion size was also very decent for the single order.

Players Pizza Oshkosh

To start off, I'm hitting the places in Oshkosh that have cheese curds on the menu.

First up is Players Pizza. http://www.playerspizzaoshkosh.com/

Players offers white cheese curds (which are usually my favorite). These curds clearly use very good cheese as they were salty and stretchy. There is a good portion size and the curds were browned quite nicely. At best they could have been just a touch darker, but that's just being picky. They offered a selection of dipping sauces, I tried them with some ranch dressing and they were quite delicious.

Overall, I give these curds a very strong 8 out of 10 and say they are some of the best cheese curds in Oshkosh.

Oh and I need a sign off. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Stay cheesy,
Keep squeakin,
And that's the way of curds,
Yours in fried deliciousness, etc.

-Matt